Got my old Sunfish back on the water.

S

StinkBug

New Member
This boat has been in my family since before I was born. Best I can figure it was built around 1968, and my great grandfather bought it not too long after that. When I was 5 my grandmother taught me to sail on it, and I've sailed it every year since then during my summer visits to Cape Cod.

Unfortunately this year when I arrived I discovered some damage to the hull which prevented me from getting her in the water right away. Last year I came out early in the summer and my girlfriend helped me get the boat down to the beach. When I left I left the boat on the beach so that other family members could use it. Unfortunately it looks like someone bashed it into some rocks and took some rather large chunks of gel coat off, so I had to spend several days fixing the bottom. Of course the weather was beautiful when I was fixing the boat, and when I finished it started pouring rain. Today looked like it could be ok though, so I got my uncle to help me and we finally got it into the water and took her out for a little sail before the rain came back. Managed to get some video too.

http://youtu.be/5DuxYgAyagQ

I've got a Capri13 and a Laser back home in San Diego, and I sail bigger boats from our club all the time, but I still love coming back and sailing my old SunFish.
 
Wait til you see the video I got today. It went from 4-5 knot winds and smooth water yesterday to pushing 20 with white caps today. Pretty rough on the way out, but holy crap was it fun surfing back in. The wind and waves were at just the right angle where I could actually match boat speed to the swells and keep everything forward of the centerboard in the air. Probably the fastest I've ever gone in a SunFish
 
It has been a wet summer here on the east coast, great that you got some good weather to get your repairs done. Sounds like a blast on the second time out. What kind of camera are you using. Love to see the next video.

><> Minas Man <><
 
nice video! glad to hear you're getting some sailing in this year. I've been out a few times this year, but always in really light winds... gets frustrating.
looking forward to your next video!
 
Ha awesome. Your vids you posted a while back on PBB actually inspired me to pick up a sunfish and get into sailing again. Prior to that I haven't sailed since I was a little kid.
 
Thumbs up on the GoPro HD and the mount on the boom ! That mount that gives the true true feeling of what it is like to sail a Sunfish. This video will be enjoyed even more in the middle of winter, Love the boom cam. Thanks for posting.

><> Minas man <><
 
agree with Minas Man, the GoPro HD is a sweet video camera - I have been loving mine. I love the hanging down boom mount, too! I haven't tried that with mine, but will definitely now that I've seen your video - that 2nd day was sweet with the camera getting swept over by the waves! I've been longing for a day like that around here, but haven't had it yet this summer.

cheers,
thad
 
Loved the video too! Like others have expressed, low winds this time of year... in Kansas.... oh well. You'd think it's always windy here. Can't get above 10 knots its seems, and those are just the puffs.
 
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