Got it Home...Now in the "What Did I Get Myself Into" Phase

I like your enthusiasm, OP, and don't sweat the repair work... one day, I'll tell ya about the "buyer's remorse" I experienced when I bought this train wreck of a fixer home over two years ago. Now it's clean & comfortable, and everything works, lol. :)

It'll be no different with your boat... one day, all of the repair work will be behind you, and you can simply focus upon sailing (though a periodic overhaul will keep things squared away). :rolleyes:

These forums are helpful, you can benefit from different opinions & repair methods... in some cases, you will have options. Like the old adage: "There's more than one way to skin a cat." :eek:

Seeing these latest posts, I highly recommend a dolly. I made a simple dolly with wood scraps, a steel rod for an axle, and two wheels off an old handcart. Fit in the trunk of my car, and I just flipped the boat down onto it (cartopping). :D

I'd sandbag passing Seal Team guys into helping me flip it, lol. But once the boat is balanced on the dolly, you can easily get it down to the water by yourself, just make sure the dolly stays centrally positioned under the hull. Use the bow handle for a firm grip as you roll the boat... :cool:
 
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Cactus Cowboy said:
I like your enthusiasm, OP, and don't sweat the repair work... one day, I'll tell ya about the "buyer's remorse" I experienced when I bought this train wreck of a fixer home over two years ago. Now it's clean & comfortable, and everything works, lol. It'll be no different with your boat... one day, all of the repair work will be behind you, and you can simply focus upon sailing (though a periodic overhaul will keep things squared away). :rolleyes:

These forums are helpful, you can benefit from different opinions & repair methods... in some cases, you will have options. Like the old adage: "There's more than one way to skin a cat." :eek:

Seeing these latest posts, I highly recommend a dolly, I made a simple dolly with wood scraps, a steel rod for an axle, and two wheels off an old handcart. Fit in the trunk of my car, and I just flipped the boat down onto it (cartopping). :D

I'd sandbag passing Seal Team guys into helping me flip it, lol. But once the boat is balanced on the dolly, you can easily get it down to the water by yourself, just make sure the dolly stays centrally positioned under the hull. :cool:
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I’ll get there! It’s awesome to have a wicked cool community like this willing to lend ideas, opinions and opportunities to learn about the sport. It’s nice to know this group is full of giants whose shoulders I can stand on. But hey, if all else fails, I can do some light reading.:D
 

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I’m with Tag on the priority order. I would strongly recommend against shower curtain rings! They resemble sail clips, but are meant to hold up a shower curtain. Sails generate quite a bit of power which is why sail clips are made of a tough nylon-like material. Short pieces of thin line are the better replacement if you don’t have enough clips.
 
Breeze Bender said:
tag is right, a new sail can go a long way in dressing up an old boat. The white sail is from intensity ($120) I added the fish.
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Hey Breeze Bender is that Sunfish sail one that you own?
And if so is that a standard Sunfish color scheme ...where did you source it?
Is it a race cut?
 
You'll want a small telescoping paddle as well, to get through a tack on a light wind day or paddle out of a treeline wind shadow.

PFDs are a must, the kayak or canoe PFDs have worked for us.
 
Wow, I am shocked at how much epoxy costs. Picked up some West System 105 and 207. Paid over $100 and still need to pick up some varnish. Blows my mind.
 
For the drain plug, I went to the local fastenal store and they hooked me up with a stainless bolt: 1/2" diameter UNC13 thread . I think that was correct. Someone previously said they found them in nylon which would be cheaper and probably work better.
 
Cactus Cowboy said:
The price ya pay for being a "yacht owner!!!" ;)
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As long as it pays off in the end I'm all for it!

Mashmaster said:
For the drain plug, I went to the local fastenal store and they hooked me up with a stainless bolt: 1/2" diameter UNC13 thread . I think that was correct. Someone previously said they found them in nylon which would be cheaper and probably work better.
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Good call. I have a pretty good local hardware store. I'll see if they carry it. Do I need the Teflon tape if I'm able to get a nylon?
 
Woodwind said:
Hey Breeze Bender is that Sunfish sail one that you own?
And if so is that a standard Sunfish color scheme ...where did you source it?
Is it a race cut?
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Sold that boat last summer and I’m working on its twin. The sail was purchased on ebay but was not an official Sunfish sail. I’ve never seen another with that color combo. Can’t keep ‘em all!
 
ILCA 80 s said:
I to have acquired a boat and needs lots of work so will be lurking here ,my boat was free ,the guy even dropped it off for me . I have nothing but the bare bones boat shell ,said he would bring sail but nothing yet ,fingers crossed. You are ahead of me you have sail ,rudder ,Center Board , ect .
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This is often how it starts. You buy another boat because it’s cheaper than just buying a rudder, if you could find one. Add up the cost of the sail, daggerboard, spars, hardware and lines and your “bare bones shell” may not be such a bargain. Then again, I’m all about saving a Sunfish. Keep your eye on craigslist and the local online tag sales and sooner or later you’ll get lucky and score the rest of the rigging one way or another!
 
tag said:
That sail looks like an upside down version of the Newport sail color.

Sunfish Sail, Newport, 10011

Classic Sunfish sails are recognized all over the world for their bright and fun colored sails. Made by Sunfish Direct to be are durable for many years of sailing.
sunfishdirect.com sunfishdirect.com

Good eye, tag, I never made that connection! Love the colors and it would look great with the blue decked Fish I’m finishing. That’s a fair price, too but it’s hard to pass on the deal at intensity.
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I agree with Breeze Bender. Considering the cost of major components of the fish, sometimes it is less expensive to buy beater boats for their good parts. We bought three boats to come up with enough good parts - mask, spars, rudder, daggerboards ect. to build two boats. We still spent several hundreds of dollars to fill in what we didn't have. At least two of the old SF's will survive, even if we did have to sacrifice one 72 hull.
 
Breeze Bender said:
This is often how it starts. You buy another boat because it’s cheaper than just buying a rudder, if you could find one. Add up the cost of the sail, daggerboard, spars, hardware and lines and your “bare bones shell” may not be such a bargain. Then again, I’m all about saving a Sunfish. Keep your eye on craigslist and the local
online tag sales and sooner or later you’ll get lucky and score the rest of the rigging one way or another!
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I saved a Sunfish by repairing the keel, adding a ratchet block, and offering the best pieces of the three Sunfish I intend to sell. The buyer took it away yesterday in his pickup truck. Overnight, he formed a cradle of 2x4s and carpeting, and off he went. He got a decent boat, and I made a bundle of cash. :cool: 'Wish I'd gotten into this racket years ago! :)

What was peculiar to me was that although he took the best spars, he rejected the North sail that was on those spars. As the sun was going down, we spent some time removing the North's sail clips and were hardly able to save any of them. He'd opted for my new Intensity sail, which was OK considering the sale price. ;)

So my question is...(Now that I've got two of 'em) isn't the North sail more desirable?

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OK..two questions:
Isn't the above "tag sale" phrase used only in Connecticut?
 
The advantage of the North sail is that it is 'legal' for serious racing, but the ones in your possession do not have the best 'cut' (deeper draft) for optimum performance.
Your Intensity sail may (!) have been the white 'race cut' one and was brand new, the way you described it.
I don't know which one I would have picked...
 
If the North sail has even a pinhole or any fading I’d go with the brand new Intensity.
Nobody else says tag sale? How about package store (or just packy) for your alcohol?
Good work putting another Fish back in the water! On to the next one...
 
L&VW said:
Definitely a good buy, and you can trust advice from Alan Glos.

That inspection port in the cockpit is an odd one, as there's only an inch of space behind it! :oops: I suspect it was installed to make a professionally-finished repair to a puncture in the side.

The original finish to the fiberglass construction is called gelcoat. It's a hard, thin—but fragile—coating to the deck and hull surfaces.

The fine fractures near the rear stripe suggest someone's hard fall on the deck. I wouldn't bother with a repair, as it's difficult to match colors; likewise, the cracked red splash guard. That splash guard through-fracture and abrasions can wait for next season.

External damage to the bailer could result in imminent loss of the check-ball. That's a good reason to repair the abrasion and buying some Thixo. (Check for compatibility).

The threaded hole on the top-right deck is the drain. A hardware store "set-screw" in stainless steel—wrapped in Teflon tape—will close it up for now. A stock replacement is costly.

Use very little pressure in the pressure test. (Tape over the vent hole, and use the drain—or vice-versa). Someone suggested that "lung power" is enough! What does that amount to? One or two PSI? :confused:

While awaiting your pressure test results, it appears all you're "short of" is a few paint brushes! ;)
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Presently working on a splashguard torn off at some time. ("Traumatically evulsed"). ;)

'Noted that the original large holes hadn't been repaired and that right below holes 4 and 5 (counted inwards from the hull's edges) resided the large Styrofoam blocks. The empty space below was about one inch. The blocks weren't particularly well secured, so through the holes 4 & 5, I sprayed Great Stuff's water-resistant "Pond & Stone" expanding foam on top of both blocks. (Having just previously filled a new mast with the same spray-foam product).

Lacking the splashguard, the deck below the splashguard flexes quite a bit, so this precaution tightened the area satisfactorily. :cool:
 
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