I think Rockwall is near a lake whose name escapes me (maybe Lake Ray Hubbard??) with a very active yacht club with a Sunfish fleet. They may be able to help you locate some inexpensive replacement parts. BB
I have a compressor well up to the task, and it's exactly how we shoot aircraft leaks; makes perfect sense.
Repair advice from Vanguard (former Sunfish maker) cautioned not to exceed 3 ounces of pressure per square inch (0.2 psi) so be extremely careful using a compressor. The job can be accomplished simply using your breath. I carefully use a bicycle tire hand pump.
There is quite a bit of sealant at the deck/hull seam, but all under the silver rail. Not sure if that was factory or not
That could be the problem right there. The Sunfish is a hollow pontoon made by fusing the hull and deck with fiberglass to make it a one piece enclosure. Aluminum edging just covers the joint for protection. I’ve picked up a couple of Sunfish that had sealer gunk smeared on the edging to try and stop leaks. I had to clean off the gunk and remove the piece of edging to find the actual leak in the joint. ( http://www.windline.net/proj4.htm )
Fixing the joint with fiberglass or epoxy resin ( http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d315000/e313471.asp ) ( http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d315000/e313466.asp ) was easier than cleaning away the gunk. ( http://www.windline.net/joint.htm ) Don’t overlook the bottom corners of the dagger board slot. I’ve found more leaks there than anywhere else.
If 3psi blows a fiberglass hull, there are bigger structural problems than leaks. .
If 3psi blows a fiberglass hull, there are bigger structural problems than leaks.
I think for my issues with this boat, the deck and hull are going to have to be separated.
If you can't see any damage, I'd agree that the daggerboard trunk is likely."...Okay, well, I've done a little cleaning (still need to pull it off the trailer and flip it to give the hull a proper scrubbing) but in the process I've discovered that the hull has some water in it...Is there a common issue with a particular area of the hull prone to leak...?
The main reason I'd like to pull the deck is that this boat has been outside in the TX sun for at least a year; and has also weathered the cooler part of the winter (in the freezing range). .
Boats have sat out far longer and not had problems. You really, really don't want to separate the deck. The "glue" used to secure the Styrofoam blocks is a two-part expanding foam which is difficult to control. I have a friend who did it once. He swore never again. There are disks of glue that hold the bottom of the cockpit tub to the bottom of the hull (you might see circles on the bottom of the boat where each of these are). Don't pull those apart. Read about drying a Sunfish hull out. If you have a heated garage (or Quonset hut with your military resources) that you can keep it in all winter, and cut two inspection port holes into it now and set up a fan to blow into one of the holes, you likely will have the Styrofoam fully dry by spring. It's a matter of having very low humidity air circulating inside the hull so the water can migrate out of the Styrofoam and evaporate. Wait to install the actual inspection port until after you have completed your repair(s). Fiberglass is hardy stuff. The gel coat can take the sun and just needs a good polish. Do keep on readin'! I think you'll find you'll save yourself a lot of time and trouble. I have 3 boats that I have in the drying phase. They've lost 30-40 pounds of water. It works!