I haven't weighed her yet but I did get around half a galleon out of her today and she is defiantly way over 140 so I'm pretty sure shes waterlogged. I think Ill eventually add a hiking strap so I'm debating between putting one inspection port in the middle of the aft deck and straining to reach the hardware for both the strap and a rudder conversion or have two in the aft deck one by the cockpit and one by the rudder but I'm afraid that might effect structural integrity.The sponsor of this site, APS, sells great line for the halyard, sheet and outhaul. Did you weigh the boat? A boat of that age should weigh 140 or so.
I’d expect bleach to do what bleach does, so I’d try acetone or Goo Gone on the tape residue on the red sections of the sail, or just tape it over with sail repair tape from APS.
Someone else will know about rudder and daggerboard plans as I don’t.
For racing, lines for attaching the sails to the spars can be adjusted individually to "shape" the sail for adjusting power.The lines I have are definitely synthetic. I have some missing sail rings and a couple others that are broken. I saw where someone tied their sail onto the spars instead of using sail rings. What are the pros and cons of this.
Wow, I didn’t even notice that hole until you pointed it out. I’m thinking since I’m going to have to cut holes in her to dry her out I might as well convert to the new rudder style. I’m going to call her Crimson Dawn. I’m in the Knoxville TN aria and as for sunfish klasse that’s just the resource I found when trying to figure out her age.Congratulations on your new 1966 Alcort Sunfish, she's a beauty! What's her name? Ser No. 30599, built in Waterbury, Connecticut back when they were pumping out dozens of Sunfish per day. She will have a very nice weight of woven roving in her hull, one of the years that we love to restore. WIth careful cleaning and wet sanding you might be able to restore that gelcoat!
A few notes. First, that little hole in the Ser No. plate is supposed to be there, it is a vent hole for the hull, to keep pressure equalized and prevent an overpressurized hull from popping seams. And I always liked how the Ser No. plate has both a Sunfish and a Sailfish on there. Take a closer look, there are little daggerboards and rudders depicted on there, you could trace them and scale them up to make a pattern
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You'll want new lines, for our setup we prefer:
Mainsheet - 5/16th inch New England Rope Sta Set with the color flecks in it to match the boat, 25 feet.
Halyard - 3/16th inch Sta Set, matching color. 25 feet for the halyard plus we buy an extra 25 feet to be used for a bow line, bridle and sail ties.
Sail lashing - 1/8th inch New England Rope nylon line, sold in a 50 foot package from West Marine, usually hiding in a basket on the floor back by their other line. We like to connect the tack with the S hook, cut 2 short pieces on line for the outhauls, then bend on the sail with a marlin hitch. That's how Alcort used to do it before they discovered plastic sail rings. It looks nice and we have yet to have any line come loose. As for the sail rings, we lose 3-4 a year from brittleness or they just never closed correctly. Quality Control varied. As for using line, I did read on gaff rigs where if the line got cut then the sail could start to work loose at the rings. A Sunfish lateen would still be connected by outhauls and tack.
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You can find old style rudder hardware here or on eBay. It works fine when set up properly. Looks like you need the vertical hinge plate with straps for a fiberglass Sunfish and the hinge pin. We need to look around to see if we have the nylon tube that goes over the carriage bolt, it helps keep the bolt aligned in the transom slot. And check the latch plate on the keel, the detent needs to look new, not worn. Judging the condition of your boat, I don't think she got abused or used too much.
If you plan to really tear it up out there in winds over 15 knots, I'd suggest swapping over to the new style rudder. And plan on spending 300 or so for used parts, available from sellers here or on ebay.
For your daggerboard, you can go period correct Spoon Tip or choose a newer version, we recommend the Barringto. Several available on ebay right now and I think they are good prices for a piece of marine grade mahogany, already shaped and with the proper hardware and hand grip.
Before I forget, I'd change over the halyard block to the mast cap with built in fairlead. Those block eyebolts can be chrome plated brass and they can pull the eye out easily under load. The nut can also come off during a trailer ride and the bolt fall outs, sailing day is over.
And where is your new ship homeported? Curious why you referenced sunfish klasse?
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I’m not a posed to a little adventure.Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.
With that name, it looks like you are looking for some wild sailing conditions!
Cleats, blocks ext.Which hardware? If there are two screws, remove one first, loosen the other, move the hardware a bit, put the first screw back in to hold the backer block in place.
Ha, I love it!We have done so many boats now that when we hear a ratlle inside as the boat is turned over, we can identify which block it is
Toilet bowl cleaner...let it sit for 20 minutes or so...scrub with a hand brush and adequate gloves. I like the gel kinds best.View attachment 32327View attachment 32328View attachment 32329B
Well at least she’s clean now. Any suggestions on how to remove the stains. I tried up to 75% bleach.
I love that sailIron Out spray, found at Lowes. Don't breathe it. And avoid the powder version, it is dusty and hard to mix. Then you might want to try wet sanding a spot with 1600 grit.
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LADY scrubbed up real nice, check out her blog
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3M Adhesive Remover would work on the decal remnants, then a little more wet sanding. You'll have shadow of the digits there for a while where the vinyl protected the gelcoat, it will fade eventually.
Some photo-enhancement to show the locations of the Styrofoam blocks—seen with Signal Charlie's morning dew:60th Anniversary sail, hard to find.
This is the start of the sailing seasonI’d like to remove the hardware to make it easier to restore her or is that a bad idea.
Uh oh! I knew Dollar General was not a buck for everything, but how long has Dollar Tree been that way?Dollar Tree. ("Where everything is not a dollar" any longer!)