Roadside Find!

[Bamafish]

Hello all, I am new to this site, but from what I have read here, you guys really know your stuff. Let me tell ya what I found.
I was out running errands one day and driving through my neighborhood when I came across a Sunfish on the side of the road, so I stopped and asked about it. The owner (young college guy) said he had thrown it out because he didn't have time to fix it up and told me that I could have it. He showed me that it had a small hole in the center of the hull about half way between the mast cup and centerboard sleeve, and that doesn't look to hard to repair. It also has about a half foot long scape down the center of the hull behind the centerboard sleeve (housing) that doesn't look like it has affected the fiberglass but the gelcoat is striipped in that area. The boat is white with a red cockpit and 2 red stripes across the bow. A sticker iside the cockpit to the front says AMF Alcort and I can see from the mounting holes that it uses the old style rudder. I was told by someone at another site that from this description it would seem that the boat is from the late 60's to early 70's. The boat has no hardware at all, it is just a hull, but I do think that it would be worth restoring, it will just take some time, maybe by next summer it will be ready to make some waves. The owner told me that it came from a local sailing club at Lake Martin here in Alabama, I know the club he spoke of and plan to contact them about finding hardware or sails and things I will need to restore this boat. When I turn the boat over I can hear something bumping around in front of the cockpit, could this be a foam block bouncing around in there?
The boat also has no trim on it and the bow point where the hull and deck meet is broken off, but it doesn't affect the actual hull, there is not a hole there. How does one restore the fiberglass there"
I am glad that I found this site and I am sure that I will learn much from you guys during this project
I just had to tell y'all about my find, barring any registration problems it looks like a pretty good project.

See Ya at the Lake,....... One Day
Marty

 

[DanB]

You have a project there.

Find a Sunfish shop on the internet that shows parts. Make up a list. Take note of new prices so you know when you find a parts deal.

Read up on fiberglass repair at your local library. Too much for me to write here about when good books already exist on the subject.

If you like projects you have a hobby for some time to come. You do understand it is going to cost you much more to fix up than a used Sunfish ready to sail will cost.

Have fun. Send in lots of photos as you go along.

 

[Bamafish]

I figured this project would be a bit costly, but I just cannot throw away a great little boat, despite the repairs needed, and a few spider cracks, this boat is solid. I have found a couple of Sunfish parts dealers online and most of the hardware is not really that expensive. I have seen rudders and centerboards for sale on e-bay and they were pretty reasonable as well. Sails seem to be the most cost involved. I will do the fiberglass repairs myself, already studied up on that. I am unsure of how the hardware mounts, so I need to research this a bit more. I have read up on how to install the trim, but haven't seen anything about the other stuff, coaming, eyelets, handle, rudder brackets? Do these things just screw into the holes in the deck, are they riveted?
Thanks for any help in this matter.
Marty

 

[DanB]

Marty, The bumping around inside is probably a backup block that anchored a piece of deck hardware. All the stuff is screwed to something wood under the deck.

There are diagrams of the hull inside and out at the Sunfish_Sailor group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sunfish_sailor You can download a complete hardware layout picture from there. Most of your stuff will screw on. The trim rivits on. Lots of photographs here and at S_S. Look at the old boats to get a feel for where stuff goes.

Mast and spars will be a bear. They are too long to ship cheaply. Start looking locally. Coaming piece rerely comes up by itself. Might call a dealer on that one.

 

[Bamafish]

Thanks Dan, I opened up the hole that I mentioned, it runs a few inches now in the center of the keel in front of the centerboard housing. I used a Dremel tool with a grinding wheel and was careful to not cut away any of the curved area where the keel and hull bottom meet. I was able to peer inside with a flashlight and saw that the foam blocks are all intact. I also saw what you were talking about Dan, one of those mounting blocks was loose and lodged against the mast cup, I am willing to bet that it is the one for mounting the handle. Bummer, I would imagine that an inspection port is in order. I really didn't want to put any holes in the deck, is there another way to repair this?
I would also think that with the hardware off of the boat, these mounting blocks have nothing much more that some old glue holding them in place, so I had better be careful when moving the boat around.

More to come.
Marty