Beaten up Sunfish

Breeze Bender

Breeze Bender
The good news: I scored this complete Sunfish for $25 on craigslist yesterday. The new style rudder is brand new! Unfortunately, it was never used to steer this hull away from a severe beating. This is a serious Ugly Boat Contest finalist! I have never seen the cockpit lip/deck damaged in this way, and seller says he bought it like that. Maybe fell off a roof rack or trailer? The hull is well ventilated with a 3’ crack down the starboard side. I think I know how to begin this project, but for now it gets a good scrubbing and a place in line ⛵️ I’ve named her Scarface Sunshine.
 

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For $25, you scored a great "parts boat" with gear that is worth somewhere over $350. But the hull may be close to beyond repair. Consider finding a
decent Sunfish "hull only", add your rig and go sailing. I would guess that you have about 50 hours of labor to make this hull seaworthy and somewhat good looking + $100+ in materials. Your hull has seen some serious abuse and deserves the long dirt nap in your local landfill. There is bound to be internal damage you can't even see (loose foam blocks and backer plates, possibly a damaged mast step etc.)

Alan Glos
 
Defiantly one of those 'challange' fixes. You can mold a chime section off another boat but
is looks like the entire hull needs to be sprayed with Chopped Glass to stabilize it. That takes
some serious professional equipment.
 
Looks like a poster child for domestic violence... is there such a thing as nautical domestic violence, or domestic nautical violence? :eek:

SCARFACE alone would be a good name, I'd probably go with SCARFACE TITANIC since the gash in the hull rivals the gash in the sunken White Star Line vessel. ;)

Damage can be repaired, but I'd be more concerned about hull deformation... who knows when the damage occurred, and how was the boat stored since the damage occurred? :confused:

If the damaged hull has been baking in the hot sun like a hapless human crossing "THE SANDS OF THE KALAHARI" with no water, well, that hull may have been baked out of proportion, particularly near the ugly gash... :oops:

When damage is contained to one small area, it's much easier to fix... but a long gash like that combined with improper storage might leave the hull looking like a potato chip. :(

Repairing it for recreational use is one thing, I don't think a serious racer would wanna deal with this suspect hull... having said that, I can still assure you that the damage could be repaired. :D

Otherwise, strip the hull and use the fittings, rig, gear, etc., for another project. Nice score on the rudder & rig, don't know how good the sail is, hard to tell from pics... but ya definitely got yer money's worth, LOL. :cool:
 
I was thinking it might be beyond repair, but figured someone here would convince me to save it! But it's worth more dead than alive, I guess, especially when Alan does the math with labor hours and repair costs. And I don't have a professional glass sprayer!
Thanks for making the decision an easier one. I guess everything has a lifespan, but with many donated organs and parts this Sunny will live on in others.
 
Ya know, if you were fleeing for your life with an angry mob closing in less than a block away, and that fully-rigged & gashed Fish happened to be lying on shore, safety only a short starboard tack away to a further shore, you could STILL escape by deliberately heeling the boat to keep the gash above the waterline, LOL. :cool:

Just my $.02 on the subject, personally I'd stand with one foot in the cockpit and one foot on deck to keep the boat heeled so the gash remained above the waterline... same way I did it aboard the Laser, minus the gash, of course. Well, that sort of gash, anyway, LOL... :rolleyes:

BTW, labor hours & material costs vary nationwide, depending upon who's doing the labor and where the materials are purchased. :confused:
 
Hull only Sunfish show up on craigslist all the time. Keep the parts together and
you will find if ye seek. As Ghost Rider said it can be repaired. It's one of those things
where money is not the object, you're in it for the project and bragging rights when
you post the completed picture. With the abraded hull section it might be a touch on the
heavy side when you get it done if you're not going the chopped glass route.
 
I was thinking it might be beyond repair, but figured someone here would convince me to save it! But it's worth more dead than alive, I guess, especially when Alan does the math with labor hours and repair costs. And I don't have a professional glass sprayer!
Thanks for making the decision an easier one. I guess everything has a lifespan, but with many donated organs and parts this Sunny will live on in others.
It's not "beyond repair". While it's a challenge, the boat appears complete. It's just a matter of labor, and that will be up to you.

Even fixed up imperfectly, you probably can get $600 for it, and exchange your old rudder before the sale. This season is out, however--still, there's time for next season to get another Sunfish, and make one a $600 Sunfish, and the other a $900 Sunfish.

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Oh, I know about flipping boats. I’ve sold six this summer and have someone coming by in 30 min to look at the seventh. I watch craigslist daily. I currently own 7 sailboats, plus kayaks, canoes, and rowboats. They are all labors of love. But there does come a point with some projects where the work far outweighs the value and though ‘beyond repair’ may have been a poor choice of words I think it’s time to strip the parts and let this hull go.
 
Oh, I know about flipping boats. I’ve sold six this summer and have someone coming by in 30 min to look at the seventh. I watch craigslist daily. I currently own 7 sailboats, plus kayaks, canoes, and rowboats. They are all labors of love. But there does come a point with some projects where the work far outweighs the value and though ‘beyond repair’ may have been a poor choice of words I think it’s time to strip the parts and let this hull go.

:eek: You're not going to do the pressure test? :(

Then I'd like a part from that hull to check out the potential of a "donor" Sunfish's fiberglass decking for this forum. Would you consider using a Sawzall to cut out the coaming and the rear deck? (Ending-up with two big pieces would be fine). I can pick it up in September.
 
I’ve conceded that it CAN be fixed, but is it worth it? I don’t think so, in this case. I watched the entire first video. That was ALOT of work for a small dinghy. Satisfying in the end, I’m sure, but worth the time and money spent? Maybe to someone with no other projects. Just cleaning all the tar and bondo off this hull would be a big chore. I can use the parts, bow to stern, including rudder, gudgeon, daggerboard, spars, mast, deck drain, lines, aluminum trim, bow handle, cam cleat, and coaming
on other boats. Even the flotation blocks can be sold, I’m sure. The sail is in fair shape with a couple of tears I’ll patch and maybe get $25 for that- cost of complete boat. Maybe I’ll even cut a section with the stripes and mount it on the garage wall- Sunfish art.
It’s not just about making money. In the end, I average very little for the hours I put in. I restore small sailboats because I love them and it makes me happy to get them back in the water with excited new owners. But everything has a life span. The damage to this hull is not a mere flesh wound. It ain’t a scratch. Can it be fixed? Yes. Is it worth it? To me, no. It will be tough to make that first cut, but I can’t save ‘em all.
 

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I can agree. I turned down 3 fish and 2 trsilers....all for $750...all complete, but they were total junk. Having 3 more daggerbaords needing TCL isn't needed, as an example. The value of parts or flipping wasn't there.
 
:) I like the idea of "wall art", but I'd use the front 18" or so, cut at an angle. It'd be there, safe, for a major bow "hit".

I lost my 7" disc grinder to Hurricane Irma. If you can get one, it'll make short work of large repairs. :cool:

Bad as it is, I'll still take the coaming and rear deck, and reimburse the entire purchase price @ $26. :)

>
 
There's your offer... save the coaming and afterdeck for L&VW to recoup your investment, hack out some of the bow for wall art, strip the rest and use it elsewhere, that'll save ya the headache, LOL. Just because a project CAN be done, doesn't mean it SHOULD be done... this hull is pretty thrashed, and it'd burn up time & money in restoration. Guess I'll join the "sidewalk sissies" and recommend that ya bust out the Sawzall and commence cutting... job won't take anywhere NEAR as long that way, LOL. :rolleyes:
 
I just threw away a 22 motorboat at our local, free landfill. Their bulldozer picked it up with a jaw attachment right off the trailer...no cutting needed. Then they proceeded to beat it on the ground like a rag doll, to break it up. Took maybe 30 seconds.
I bought the boat for the nice trailer. 2006 model that had been stripped by a repair facility, after dealing with a non paying customer :-0.
 
L&VW, I will give you the stern section if you want it but am removing the rudder gudgeon and backer since I upgrade the old rudders. I can (try to) cut straight across from just behind the traveler. I will make a diagonal cut at bow, before stripes. And the coaming is yours for your offered price of $26 if you can use it. Here’s a close-up honest pic-
 

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Here's the project I had in mind:
Sunfish Coaming

I don't need the (yellow) "splash guard". (I should get a $45 refund?) :p

The two pieces would slide into a 2-inch-wide sleeve of cardboard.
White cockpit "margin" (1), and flat rear deck (2).

(Not as easy as it sounds, perhaps I should find my own wreck?) :(

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Ya, sorry, shipping big pieces of boat isn’t in the plan. And did you see my pic of the cockpit area?
 

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I would've picked them up by car, but with that cockpit :eek: I'd be starting at a "minus". :oops:

You've convinced me—those two parts will not "live on in others". :(
 
Yeah, Roller, ya just gotta weigh the costs in time & materials... sometimes it isn't worth it, especially when BB can quickly strip everything else including the rig and use it elsewhere. Poor ol' boat... I bet if that old torn-up hull could talk, it could tell some stories, LOL. :eek:
 
L&VW, my cutout is rough, but your plan is a good one! Here’s the rear deck cockpit from the trashed hull, now protecting one of my projects. Maybe I’ll work on it to fit better over the winter, but it definitely helps now to keep the cockpit and bailer clean and dry. Thanks for sharing your creative idea!
 

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It just needs a big rock and a bungee to fit securely. :confused:

:) Even "rough", I'm delighted to see that... :)

...but the stripes are going the wrong way! ;)

.
 
" Your hull has seen some serious abuse and deserves the long dirt nap in your local landfill."


If there were any doubts about saving this one they were gone when I saw this interior! I snapped a pic of bottom of cockpit because I thought it was pretty cool to see the tub to hull glueing. Much of this boat will be re-used or repurposed. The cockpit will go in the back forty and be a good flower pot- has drainage hole, too. The rest, as Alan suggests, gets the long dirt nap.
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" Your hull has seen some serious abuse and deserves the long dirt nap in your local landfill."
If there were any doubts about saving this one they were gone when I saw this interior! I snapped a pic of bottom of cockpit because I thought it was pretty cool to see the tub to hull glueing. Much of this boat will be re-used or repurposed. The cockpit will go in the back forty and be a good flower pot- has drainage hole, too. The rest, as Alan suggests, gets the long dirt nap.
As the years go by, you might appreciate having established raised beds for your "cockpit" gardening projects earlier in life. (And thanks for that picture!) :)

With our efforts to "re-purpose" landfill Sunfish, a very sad picture--at least to me...:
:eek:

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Having the cubby is very worthwhile, and all of my mid-70's Sunfish have them.

One improvement would be to install a "drawer", so the contents could be slid closer. Maybe the cubby from a "dirt-nap" Sunfish could be sawed off, cleaned of foam, and trimmed to fit? Maybe a rope handle in front?

The taper isn't ideal, and one might lose 8-inches or more of storage but, depending on the stored items—and the immediate need for them—the convenience of access could make up for it.

Just a thought...:)

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