Hiking strap

Debbie

Member
Hi. I'm looking to buy a used sunfish. My boat is a minifish, and it has a hiking strap that I use to keep from falling backwards off of the boat andalso to pull myself back into the boat from the water. It turns out that The boat I was interested in buying doesn't have one. I thought ALL sunfish came with them. Should this be a deal breaker?
 
Not a deal breaker. A new one is not that expensive and not too difficult to install.
I read that you need to make an inspection port to do it. I would have to hire someone (since I am not tool savvy) which now raises the price of the boat for me. Unless there is a portless way to do it...
 
I read that you need to make an inspection port to do it. I would have to hire someone (since I am not tool savvy) which now raises the price of the boat for me. Unless there is a portless way to do it...
Does it have the storage compartment in the rear?
 
Aside from the strap... there is a hole near the stern that they covered with duct tape- you can see it in this picture. Thety said the hole belongs there and i can buy a plug for it??
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The sail isn’t properly installed on the spars. Ask the seller to remove the tape so you can see the hole in the deck that shouldn’t be there. The seller is either misinformed or flat-out lying to you if they said a hole belongs there.
Where are you located? What is the asking price? Is it complete? (rudder, daggerboard?) And again, don’t buy it if you can’t at least lift the stern from the ground or trailer. That hole, no matter how small, can take on a lot of water! You’ll end up with two boats that you don’t feel you can repair yourself and a repair guy that gives you more bad advice.
 
The sail isn’t properly installed on the spars. Ask the seller to remove the tape so you can see the hole in the deck that shouldn’t be there. The seller is either misinformed or flat-out lying to you if they said a hole belongs there.
Where are you located? What is the asking price? Is it complete? (rudder, daggerboard?) And again, don’t buy it if you can’t at least lift the stern from the ground or trailer. That hole, no matter how small, can take on a lot of water! You’ll end up with two boats that you don’t feel you can repair yourself and a repair guy that gives you more bad advice.
I’m up in the Lake George region in NY. The boat is $530 and it’s complete, including the wheel thing that it’s on (what type of dolly is that anyway?) the boat weighs 138. He said the hole is there for draining the water out of the cockpit.
 
The price is right, the weight is OK (if he’s being truthful about it). The hole for draining water from that Sunfish is on the starboard deck near the end of the splashguard, NOT where he has the tape.
 

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The price is right, the weight is OK (if he’s being truthful about it). The hole for draining water from that Sunfish is on the starboard deck near the end of the splashguard, NOT where he has the tape.
That drains the water from inside the hull, correct? He said the hole was drain the water inside the cockpit. I weighed the boat with my scale. Is 138 too heavy? Is that indicative of a problem?
 
If the tape is on the opposite side of the blue circle sticker, then that does not belong there and could never be a drain for the cockpit. The cockpit would have its own drain assembly made of plastic for that vintage of boat.

For your hiking strap you are better off adding the inspection port between the forward end of the daggerboard trunk and the splash coaming. That way you can thru bolt the forward eye strap/bracket for the hiking strap. At the aft end you can carefully drill the holes thru the drip edge for the aft cockpit storage compartment so you don't need an inspection port there. I have a complete new hiking strap and brackets to attach to the boat that I sell. I would install it for you if you wanted to make your way to Rhode Island.
 
That dolly (I have one) does work, but only for short distances and over relatively smooth surfaces. Moreover, you need some strength to pull the boat by the bow.
 
He said the hole is for emptying water out of the cockpit
What?!?! It is impossible to drain the cockpit from a hole in the deck.

But not to worry. I would use this information to demand they knock $100 off the price of the boat. And if they give you are hard time about the purpose of the hole, tell them that all your experienced friends on a Sunfish forum said their reason for the hole was nonsense.

We're all behind you Debbie! :D

- Andy
 
That dolly (I have one) does work, but only for short distances and over relatively smooth surfaces. Moreover, you need some strength to pull the boat by the bow.
Debbie lives on a lake, so can sell the dolly, and offer $50 to deliver that Sunfish.

It's a good price, a fair weight, and needn't quibble over a hole or defect that can be covered by tape. IMHO.
 
On the other hand, a Sunfish is a lot harder to manage on shore than a Mini Sunfish. :oops:

So, spend $25 for a saber saw, learn how to start the saw (without starting with a drilled hole), put a $12 inspection port in the existing Mini-Sunfish, and proceed to find the problem--if one exists. :)
 
That dolly (I have one) does work, but only for short distances and over relatively smooth surfaces. Moreover, you need some strength to pull the boat by the bow.
What type of dolly is it? I’ve been trying to find it on line. I’m able to keep my boat on the beach on a lake so I need it for bringing the boat from the beach into the water and out of the water onto the beach- so basically launching. Will it work for that?
 
What?!?! It is impossible to drain the cockpit from a hole in the deck.

But not to worry. I would use this information to demand they knock $100 off the price of the boat. And if they give you are hard time about the purpose of the hole, tell them that all your experienced friends on a Sunfish forum said their reason for the hole was nonsense.

We're all behind you Debbie! :D

- Andy
I just spoke to a guy that works on sailboats. He said that some of the older sunfish did come with that hole.
 
That must be the same guy that said your Minifish needs to be recoated.
Lol it is. I spoke with him again and he misunderstood me. He thought I meant the bailer. He actually agreed that he hadn’t ever seen a hole there. He’s also agreed to come test my minifish to diagnose where the leak is. He said if it’s the seems or where the dagger board goes in it would be a huge deal to repair.
 
A Minifish doesn’t have a seam so you can eliminate that as your leak source. Daggerboard trunk is likely among the suspects. Pay $15 for some Marine Tex and watch a couple of YouTube videos on Sunfish daggerboard trunk repair. You can do this- no power tools required. Or pay the repair guy $200+ to do it.
In his defense, it sounds like there was a lot of miscommunication about both boats.
 
A Minifish doesn’t have a seam so you can eliminate that as your leak source. Daggerboard trunk is likely among the suspects. Pay $15 for some Marine Tex and watch a couple of YouTube videos on Sunfish daggerboard trunk repair. You can do this- no power tools required. Or pay the repair guy $200+ to do it.
In his defense, it sounds like there was a lot of miscommunication about both boats.
I’m not finding a video. Can you post a link?
 
Minifish has a seam between the hull and deck. That said, given it’s a rolled edge deck, leaks there are not common, but are possible.

I’d test the boat myself. Your guy sounds incompetent for small boat repairs. He is likely to use too much pressure and blow the deck off the boat.
 
A Minifish doesn’t have a seam so you can eliminate that as your leak source. Daggerboard trunk is likely among the suspects. Pay $15 for some Marine Tex and watch a couple of YouTube videos on Sunfish daggerboard trunk repair. You can do this- no power tools required. Or pay the repair guy $200+ to do it.
In his defense, it sounds like there was a lot of miscommunication about both boats.
Agree with Breeze Bender. The daggerboard trunk sounds like a Marine Tex fix. It's like spreading butter with your gloved finger or stir stick.
 
What type of dolly is it? I’ve been trying to find it on line. I’m able to keep my boat on the beach on a lake so I need it for bringing the boat from the beach into the water and out of the water onto the beach- so basically launching. Will it work for that?

That dolly has been out of production for at least twenty years.
I would hate to drag my boat through soft sand with it. Hard sand, only a short distance.
 
Minifish has a seam between the hull and deck. That said, given it’s a rolled edge deck, leaks there are not common, but are possible.

I’d test the boat myself. Your guy sounds incompetent for small boat repairs. He is likely to use too much pressure and blow the deck off the boat.
I’m afraid that I would use too much pressure myself. He has experience repairing sunfish.
 
I checked, and the YouTube videos are all "generic" repairs. :(

Someone here surely has that specific knowledge; although, if you've ever spread peanut butter, the process will come right to mind. ;)

.
 
Will it work for going into the water?

You need to try, but I agree with Signal Charlie that moving a boat with that dolly is a pain and puts a lot of stress on the bow handle. I have used it on hard smooth surfaces though.
 
1) What is your lake bottom and shoreline like? That dolly may dig right into it. It may have been sold through the years through the Alcort or AMF catalogs or Windward Leg Class Association newsletter. It would work well for concentrating the full weight of the boat on a gudgeon that is held on by 4 small screws.

2) Here is one of our blog posts on how to repair resin chips in the daggerboard trunk.

Small Boat Restoration: Daggerboard Trunk Repair and Leak Test

It takes a longer file or sander to reach inside the trunk and file away loose edges of the chip and burr a surface for the epoxy putty to adhere to. We found a long diamond ceramic tile file at Lowes that works great, it is flat on one side and round on the other. We have also used 60 grit sandpaper taped to a paint stick, or the 4 in 1 file to get to the first few inches inside the trunk. Alan has a extension bit for a drill that holds a Dremel sanding drum, the best method.

For your repair Marine Tex epoxy putty (White) would be the easiest route to go, available through Jamestown Distributors.
Marine-Tex Epoxy

Marine-Tex is a high strength epoxy putty that hardens like steel and is sandable like wood. Use it to repair holes, cracks, dents, worn out surfaces and damaged substrates on your boat and beyond. This unique putty bonds and fuses ceramics, fiberglass, plastics, wood, metals, ferro-cement and porcelain.
 

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