Yes the sail was full of water...it was floating ..the spar was not sinking. The main line had a knot on the end but otherwise should have had plenty of line to do whatever it wanted. The dagger board kept falling out and tried to float away 2x so I put it in the cockpit so I would not lose it. I am still not sure what was wrong but 2 guys could not right it so I am concerned if this happens again and nobody is around to help next time. I am going to keep it but still going to look for a safer boat.I consider myself something of an expert at righting a Sunfish, since I have so much practice at it. You described the sail as full of water. You need to make sure the sheet is uncleated and long enough so that the sail will go all lovely and perpendicular to the boat and shed the water. The only time I've ever had problems righting is when my upper spar was stuck in about 8 inches of mud. Thankfully a Good Samaritan jumped off a boat and manhandled it loose for me. Usually I do a beached whale impression on the daggerboard and it's up in less than 30 seconds.
I would suggest trying to reach out to other Sunfish sailors in your area. Good luck!
I have seen that before..thanks!You don't need to change boats. You just need to learn more about sailing. There is a link to an old but useful guide to sailing called "learn to sail in 3 days" on this site http://my2fish.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/learn-to-sail-in-3-days/ That should help.
I consider myself something of an expert at righting a Sunfish, since I have so much practice at it.
That is your problem. The daggerboard is essential to righting the boat. If you look at the "learn to sail in 3 days" brochure you will see how to right the boat.The dagger board kept falling out and tried to float away 2x so I put it in the cockpit so I would not lose it.........I am going to keep it but still going to look for a safer boat
The sheet should be 25 feet long, and run free and clear out to a stop knot on the end. Several steps, one is to pull the boat nose into the wind, that way the wind won't catch it and flip it again or if a sheet fouls it sails away. Another to make sure sheet is not fouled, the sail may actually sink or "feather" down into the water as the boat comes up, that's ok because it is not holding water that way. But you don't want boat to turtle, if your mast is old you may consider adding cut up pool noodle strips to the inside.
Next step is to put daggerboard fully into the slot, go around to the hull side, grab the side of the boat, put put your feet on the board and pull the boat towards you. If it won't come up like that, hmmm....
How were you trying to right it?
You might go out on a calmer day and do some capsize practice.
Good news, you had people ashore who knew where you were and other folks around. Always good to file a Float Plan.
When we go out for a day sail we usually sail upwind first if we can, so we can be on a run back to the dock.
The Puffer looks like a more stable boat for 2 people, harder to capsize but harder to right.
But there was some fun ailing in there too?!
Everyone's already said great things, but I'll throw my pennies in. We've turtled twice this summer, once during light wind and once during a very blustery day with a newbie on board. The first time, in light wind and deep water, was a blast. I'm about 105 lbs, my hubby 130, so we are definitely at a weight disadvantage.
Mike gets on the daggerboard and I swim around until I get a grip on the mast and start pushing up while Mike pulls the board down. I've "punched" water off the sail, too. This worked fine the first time. Second time out it was me and my tall little brother who had zero experience and we had the wind pushing the hull (we weren't full turtle yet) and driving the mast into a good foot of mud. It took a little more time, but we were able to get it up after several minutes.
We are now stealing a trick from our sailing classes and attaching milk jugs to the mast.
Current is tricky. I check the tide tables before heading out of the harbor into Buzzards Bay so I know when the best time to return is. Even though I made it past the breakwater into the harbor on my return, I did some fine tidal sailing in place in the harbor.
Draining the hull was a good idea but now it might be time to pump some air into the hull to find the leak. See the knowledge base article.