1953 ALCORT Sunfish ZIP Hull Repair

signal charlie

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Replacing a patch on ZIP, using the letterbox plug repair method. Backer piece is epoxied in with THIXO Wood and now we'll shape the new plug to fit. We repaired a hull puncture the same way. ZIP will also get a bottom repaint and fresh coat of epoxy on the sides. We have a few small leaks to chase down.

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Hull repair faired with TotalBoat TotalFair, ready for primer and paint.

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Full story on ZIP's log.
 
Patch trimmed to fit. Need to clean some stray epoxy bits from the backer plate and then we'll be ready to epoxy it in place.

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Found a good stain color, Minwax Golden Pecan, about 4 coats. It's the center color between the two darker colors.

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Glued the patch in with TotalBoat THIXO Wood. Clamps to keep a little pressure on the adhesive while it cures.

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Deck got sanded and we rolled and tipped 2 fresh coats of West Systems 105 Epoxy Resin/207 Special Clear Hardener. Trim bits and cockpit got TotalBoat WetEdge Fire Red. Air leak test today and then parts go back on. We also made a pair of Super Sailfish handrails for a boat up in Pleasantville, NY.

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Daggerboard got in on the action also.

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Log of ZIP.
 
Air Leak Test for the World's Oldest Sunfish, our 1953 Alcort Sunfish ZIP, she was number 13 of 20 pre-production boats built for Al and Cort's family and friends. Whereabouts of boats 1-12 and 14-20 unknown:

 
Rolled and tipped TotalBoat WetEdge Fire Red, which Jamestown Distributors donated for her restoration. Used Mighty Mini Roller kit from Jamestown Distributors.

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Hull puncture before, during and after.

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Air Leak Test for the World's Oldest Sunfish, our 1953 Alcort Sunfish ZIP, she was number 13 of 20 pre-production boats built for Al and Cort's family and friends. Whereabouts of boats 1-12 and 14-20 unknown:

Ah, that's cool, ya gots the bragging rights for the sole surviving prototype, and she's lucky number 13, go figure, LOL. :eek:

Perhaps her number was unlucky for the OTHER prototypes... ;)

And "Summer Sailstice?" I like it... hard to believe this year is going by so fast, and yet it seems to drag on forever in other ways, if ya know what I mean. :rolleyes:
 
Always liked your S.C. coiling (Signature Circular) of lines during photo ops for your boats. Definitely adds an orderly yet subtle flavor to the approaching Phoenix rebirth and marine baptism convergence. :cool:

- Andy
 
Nice!!! As for the artwork, maybe the spar belonged to #7, maybe the PO was simply a high roller, LOL. Could've been Don Rickles, a.k.a. "Cr@p Game" in 'KELLY'S HEROES' (great movie, and Don Rickles was hilarious). Perhaps we'll never know, it'll remain a mystery of the universe... :rolleyes:
 
"The Whiskey Screw."


I clocked all the screw slots on vertical surfaces either vertical or horizontal. Horizontal would reduce wind resistance and vertical allows better moisture drainage and corrosion prevention. There were a lot more screws on the rub rail, but it was also close to the water, Skipper chose vertical for the moisture drainage and said she would make up the lost time from increased air drag. On the coaming the screw slots were bigger so I chose horizontal for decreased wind resistance.

For horizontal surfaces I clocked all the screws to 12 O'Clock.

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Thought you'd want to know...
 
Pre Float Inspection, Upgrades and Peculiarities of the 1953 Alcort Sunfish ZIP.


Here's a teaser. There is something wrong in this photo, so wrong that Skipper brought the boat back in so I could fix it. One big thing and one other adjustment. See if you can spot them.

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You got it andyatos. We forgot to run the sheet through the sheet hangers, fixed that, then forgot to run the sheet through the forward block. We also decided to move the block forward about 10 inches so it would come straight down to the forward cockpit edge. The blocks are cool as they are attached to the boom with a wood screw that captures the block in an eyelet, all bronze. We screwed the block out and back in with an awl through the eyelet. The cockpit is smaller on the First Gen wooden boats, so we don't want to be dodging the sheet coming diagonally across that head space.

Block Rigging Guy.

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Still one other thing we did before the second Functional Check Float (FCF).

First FCF.

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Second FCF.

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"The Whiskey Screw."


I clocked all the screw slots on vertical surfaces either vertical or horizontal. Horizontal would reduce wind resistance and vertical allows better moisture drainage and corrosion prevention. There were a lot more screws on the rub rail, but it was also close to the water, Skipper chose vertical for the moisture drainage and said she would make up the lost time from increased air drag. On the coaming the screw slots were bigger so I chose horizontal for decreased wind resistance.

For horizontal surfaces I clocked all the screws to 12 O'Clock.

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Thought you'd want to know...

I now recognize why my racing results leave a lot to be desired: the screws on my boat are not aligned properly!
 
I will check it out. Would Medicare cover this?

ObamaCare, bud... guaranteed to make it worse, lol. :eek:

Signal Charlie, I hope you're not admitting that you rigged the boat that way, you'll lose 'nautical cred' by doing so... on the other hand, if you rigged it that way and you don't admit it, "VE HAFF VAYS OF MAKING YOU TALK!!!" ;)

Cheers, and good morning to all!!! :cool:
 
Oh yes, I rigged it that way, or didn't rig it, however you look at it. Before Skipper launched for FCF 1 we noticed that the sheet did not go through the sheet hangers, so I untied the Figure 8, pulled the sheet out of the ratchet block and out of the forward boom block, routed it through the sheet hangers and straight down to the ratchet block. Must have been all the excitement, multitasking, interruption distraction, lack of checklist, something. Skipper was watching, not sure what she was looking at? Deep down in my soul I think I always rig something just a bit off when she is heading out for Sea Trials. And FWIW I'm not the primary Sailor here, I am Trailer Mechanic, Landing Party and Moveable Ballast. If you let a retired Marine rig your boat and don't check it before you launch....I'm just sayin...

Exhibit A: From when I was putting a topping lift on our Day Sailer II. Every time I am around line weird things happen. One of Skipper's ancestral spirits, Lt Ben Hunter follows me around and laughs at me. I don't know if he is causing it or just knows it is going to happen.

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The Marine Corps emblem consists of an eagle, globe and fouled anchor. They say that the fouled anchor represents our amphibious nature, I say it is a commentary on our seamanship.

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Exhibit B; Here is a "hatchet hitch" that I came across while rigging our Penobscot 14. Somewhere in there are the sprit halyard, bridle and brailing line. I put the lines in the boat nicely coiled after the previous sail, this is what emerged.

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Haha, I think ol' Ben Hunter is messing with ya... and line certainly has an amazing tendency to work itself into a clusterf#% if ya don't stay on top of things. This goes for the world of technical rock climbing too, ya REALLY gotta watch out for snarls in the vertical world. My friends and I would joke about that: the climbing rope would be neatly coiled or flaked, then you'd turn your back for a moment, only to discover a complete cluster... rope salad, I'd call it, with bights and coils tossed every which way. When sailing, I'd frequently coil or rearrange sheets while under way to keep them from becoming tangled in the cockpit. I like my lines to run freely through fairleads or blocks at all times, no future in having problems develop at the worst possible moment... :eek:

Some tips for new site members with regard to line care: chemicals and prolonged exposure to solar abuse are not good for line. Neither is stepping on line, especially if stepping on it means your foot is grinding dirt or sand into the fibers. If you're sailing in salt water, rinse wet lines afterward with fresh water, then hang 'em to dry... I used to hang 'em over a wooden drying rack built specifically for the purpose, and that rack was under the old '50s-style wooden carport in Coronado, where a breeze through the carport would dry them in due time. I'd flake each line back & forth over the wooden rack, allowing the line to dangle a bit and separating the flaked strands to facilitate drying. :rolleyes:

With kernmantle climbing ropes back in the day, ropes that were slightly worn but still serviceable, we'd soak 'em and hand wash 'em in a large plastic tub using just a smidgeon of gentle laundry soap (Woolite), then rinse 'em well and hang 'em up to dry as described. One school of thought held that washing & drying a climbing rope in this way would actually STRENGTHEN it back up, especially if it had seen a few 'whippers' (or falls). And it didn't hurt to get rid of any dirt which had worked its way into the sheath, that occasionally happens in the climbing world, no future in letting grains of dirt start messing with the fibers. ;)

CLIMBING IS GENERALLY A BIT RISKIER THAN SAILING, ANY QUESTION ABOUT A ROPE'S ABILITY TO HOLD A FALL, THAT ROPE WOULD INSTANTLY BE RETIRED AND USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES. :cool:

STILL, IF LINES LOOK OLD & CR@PPY ABOARD A BOAT, THEY SHOULD BE REPLACED... A MARINE SAFETY ISSUE. :D
 

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