Large brown patches on the boat.Assume you are talking about giving it a new coat of paint? They come from the factory with a gel coat finish which is pretty maintenance free, so painting it is a bad idea unless it just looks awful.
If anyone could point me to posts on doing gelcoat work it would be appreciated as i live little to no knowledge with it or experience.I sprayed Topside and it seems to work really well. It takes some time to harden. I used
a 2:4:8 ratio Hardener/Naptha/Topside and fiberglass primer. You need to be generous
with the Topside as too thin a coat will lead to it being easily scratched off. If done correctly
you should be able to get 10 seasons out of it. If you're dragging the hull over sand/gravel
and what-not I'd say go with gelcoat for sure. The really good thing is Topside is inexpensive
so you can practice learning to spray without damaging you wallet. Do give it some time
to harden as even kicking it with hardener it will be slowly curing for months after you spray.
The Sunfish can be balanced on a bathroom scale by one person. (Two would make it easier). The middle of the boat is about where the splash board meets the outer edge. Stand on the deck side, so you can read the scaleI’ve sailed sunfish before and am now looking into buying one. I generally know what to look for but was wondering if anyone had some more specific pointers. Any tips on weighing a hull would also be helpful as I’ve heard any weight upwards of 145 is waterlogged. In terms of light reapairs, how hard is sanding some small fiberglass work on the topside that the owner previously did and giving it a new coat? Is giving the bottom of a sunfish a new coat harder/more expensive?
thanks for the advice. The brown patches are actually fiberglass repairs i believe.The Sunfish can be balanced on a bathroom scale by one person. (Two would make it easier). The middle of the boat is about where the splash board meets the outer edge. Stand on the deck side, so you can read the scale. It may be possible to damage newer bathroom scales, which have fragile glass or plastic components. The older, metal "dial" type of scale are indestructible for this purpose.
If "looks" are important, I'd keep looking for one that doesn't need gelcoat work. Now that I have five Sunfish, (two bought sight-unseen—one already had a new and excellent gelcoat bottom), the odds of stumbling onto a good-looking deck are excellent—elsewhere. Even if this boat with "large brown patches" was free, you could end up with a very expensive (and not-new) Sunfish.
If, as you say, you are inexperienced at painting and general repairs, the learning curve(s) can be long, expensive, and frustrating. Spraying large areas of deck with rattle-cans of Rustoleum™ isn't so easy outdoors. (You'll need three cans for the deck). Start spraying nearest you, and keep spraying over the old surface. (Don't stop). Rough areas, drips and sags—which are likely on any curved surface—can be hand-sanded out after a couple of days of curing. (Preferably under sunny or otherwise heated conditions). I like "Wet-or-Dry" sandpaper—wet, and wrapped around a wooden block. Four-hundred (400) grit is a good start. Although each of my five Sunfish decks are gloss white, I'd paint with some other muted color. Maybe match your tow car, house, or other boat? My borrowed Sunfish has a baby-blue deck which, like turquoise, turned out to be a soothing color. Cataracts developed in the eye are precipitated by strong sunlight. Sailors suffer more cataracts, receiving added / reflected sunlight off the water.
The large brown patches could be oil-stained fiberglass.Oil, which can penetrate and weaken fiberglass . Paint or gelcoat may not even stick to it!
Pictures would be helpful for our analyses.
Thanks! Am i fine with 2 or 3 pop rivets missing from the trim? I sail recreationalally on a local lake with winds generally under or around 10 knotsGet the bigger board. The boat likely isn’t painted and gelcoat cracks and scratches happen with age. No reason to fix unless they leak into hull and that isn’t likely. Tip the boat up on edge and open the drain hole by the coaming to let the water out. You should weigh the boat after you drain it. If it’s much for over 140 lbs then it is port time
Lastly, I have never seen poprivets sold by the piece. Just be sure to get aluminum or stainless.
Also, i can’t manage to open the drain. 1983 AMF Alcort boat.Thanks! Am i fine with 2 or 3 pop rivets missing from the trim? I sail recreationalally on a local lake with winds generally under or around 10 knots
If a rivet at the end of a piece is missing the piece could get pulled off, but otherwise it’s not an issue.Also, i can’t manage to open the drain. 1983 AMF Alcort boat.
Sorry bout my terms-fill up is a slight exaggeration. I can feel it a bit heavier though. “Rain” also means pretty heavy-medium storms over the last 3 days. I think it’s just water going into the damage in the daggerboard trunk, but I’ve covered that up for now.The hull shouldn’t fill up from rain or your boat has got serious problems. What have you used to try to free the plug so far?
I assume your cockpit drain is plastic so that shouldn’t be frozen up. So you can empty the cockpit cis the plastic bailer right?
you will need something as mentioned before to free up the plug. If it’s a saltwater boat you’ll likely need to replace the drain.Just really a flat head screwdriver has been tried in many ways.
Start collecting clamps—you'll never have enough of them. Clothes-pins work in a "pinch". (Pardon the unintended punUpdate: i can’t really spring for tools right now, but i pretty desperately need to drain the boat. Just rained, and the hull is full of water. Would rather my foam not get soaked :/
I do have this type of stuff, just meant i can’t really go spend 40 bucks on a hand impact screwdriver that ill use once every 10 years right nowStart collecting clamps—you'll never have enough of them. Clothes-pins work in a "pinch". (Pardon the unintended pun).
When a holiday or a "Black Friday" rolls around, you'll need to ask your folks for at least, a drill: second, a saw.
For Sunfish work, I suggest a saber saw, but a bigger reciprocating saw from Harbor Freight is less than $29. Other tools are discussed here at the forum:
Sunfish Tools... | SailingForums.com
A drill is necessary to start an inspection port installation using this $7 budget hand saw:
Hearing protectors and needle nose pliers are only $1 each at Dollar Tree stores.
I use a little "tack hammer" more than any other hammer. Although I don't see an essential use for it on a Sunfish, this $12 tool is new to me, and would be a good substitute for a tack hammer:
Although Harbor Freight's $16 cordless-drill battery only lasts a few minutes of actual drilling, I bought one to quickly replace my selection of four Ryobi cordless drills destroyed in Hurricane Irma's flooding. It has a small light and a level built-in. I returned Harbor Freight's $79 pressure washer, as it broke after six seconds of use. (According to reviews, a record failure).
One Ryobi with a lithium battery (a fifth Ryobi!) was not endangered, but I had to buy a new charger (off-brand, charges Lithium and NiCd—$20).
Which battery is best?
NiCad vs Lithium Ion: Which is battery better for cordless tools
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Interesting. In theory tapping a screwdriver with a hammer would also do little to shake up the plug and let some wd 40 in, correct?An impact driver won't work for this job anyway--the deck where the drain plug is located is too flexible and weak to transmit the force of the driver to the plug (the driver might just punch the drain through the deck). Impact drivers work best on stuff mounted in a bench vise or on screws in things like brake drums or engine blocks.