Storing on the water?

P

PeterinGLosta

New Member
I grew up sailing a sunfish during summers off a beach on Lake Michigan. Many years later and recently retired, I'm thinking it's time to get back into a sailboat. I now live on a "tidal river" in Massachusetts, with a small floating dock, which floats in water half the time and sits on sand half the time, depending on the tides. We have a Boston Whaler we keep tied to the dock that simply beaches itself when the tide is low, and a couple of Hobie kayaks we pull out and store on top of the dock. However, they light enough for one person to lift. I would love to get back into a new sunfish, but need to know whether it could be stored (during sailing season only) tied to the dock like the whaler, floating in (salt) water half the time, and on dry sand half the time. I could certainly use a cover to help protect it. Thoughts or advice?
 
Dear Peter,

I'm sure that someone does what you suggest but I would never recommend leaving a Sunfish in the water for an extended time. Would a launching dolly work for you? Or, perhaps, an on/off roller system on your dock? There are even "drive on" modular docking systems that would allow one easy launching and securing but, of course, I'm sure they are expensive and imperfect, too. Finding a local sailing club might be the best solution of all. Anyways, welcome to the Sunfish asylum!

Bill
 
People do it, but your boat will age faster that way. As it settles onto the bottom and floats off, if it is windy, it will get blown around and ground against the bottom. Even sand will wear on it, rocks or the anchor will be much worse. You will get, at the minimum, scum and discoloration on the hull, and at the worst barnacles and grassy stuff hanging on it.
 
The Sunfish bailer could be a ⁰problem should it collect debris while in repeated "transitions".

One excellent 1970 Sunfish I'd bought had been moored at a clear lake. Except for a large oval stain from the water, the bottom was perfect. The owner had the foresight (or hindsight :( ) to remove the factory's bailer, and had sealed the hole.

The point is, your Sunfish could collect a stain in the cockpit and the bottom.
 
PeterinGLosta said:
I grew up sailing a sunfish during summers off a beach on Lake Michigan. Many years later and recently retired, I'm thinking it's time to get back into a sailboat. I now live on a "tidal river" in Massachusetts, with a small floating dock, which floats in water half the time and sits on sand half the time, depending on the tides. We have a Boston Whaler we keep tied to the dock that simply beaches itself when the tide is low, and a couple of Hobie kayaks we pull out and store on top of the dock. However, they light enough for one person to lift. I would love to get back into a new sunfish, but need to know whether it could be stored (during sailing season only) tied to the dock like the whaler, floating in (salt) water half the time, and on dry sand half the time. I could certainly use a cover to help protect it. Thoughts or advice?
Click to expand...
AQBill said:
Dear Peter,

I'm sure that someone does what you suggest but I would never recommend leaving a Sunfish in the water for an extended time. Would a launching dolly work for you? Or, perhaps, an on/off roller system on your dock? There are even "drive on" modular docking systems that would allow one easy launching and securing but, of course, I'm sure they are expensive and imperfect, too. Finding a local sailing club might be the best solution of all. Anyways, welcome to the Sunfish asylum!

Bill
Click to expand...
Bill, Thanks to you and others for the prompt responses. Looks like you are in universal agreement that this was a bad idea. A launching dolly might work - I'll explore that.
 
I've never seen it done on daysailors, but if there is NO other choice, you could bottom paint the boat with an antifouling paint, like much larger boats do that are moored at slips, moorings, etc for extended periods of time. All kinds of paints and I am well versed in the varieties if that becomes the choice....and can advise . That will greatly inhibit barnacles and slime and will just give you a different colored, painted boat bottom.
By the way, do you have bottom paint on the Whaler?....if not, what happens to thst will be the same for the fish. Being out of the water half the time (tidal phases), will cut down an amount of growth too.
 
One of the issues with anti-fouling paint is that it constantly sheds paint. This is the way it keeps the hull from allowing sea life to attach to the bottom. When it's time to take the boat out for the season, you'll get paint everywhere.
 
mixmkr said:
I've never seen it done on daysailors, but if there is NO other choice, you could bottom paint the boat with an antifouling paint, like much larger boats do that are moored at slips, moorings, etc for extended periods of time. All kinds of paints and I am well versed in the varieties if that becomes the choice....and can advise . That will greatly inhibit barnacles and slime and will just give you a different colored, painted boat bottom.
By the way, do you have bottom paint on the Whaler?....if not, what happens to thst will be the same for the fish. Being out of the water half the time (tidal phases), will cut down an amount of growth too.
Click to expand...
Thanks for responding. Yes, the Whaler we keep on one side of the dock has bottom paint and it really helps with the barnacles. But I can't envision doing that to a sunfish! For a host of reasons, I've decided I'll figure out a way to haul out and simply store on top of the dock itself, along with my kayaks.
 

Storing in water at small lake

Hello all, I just moved to a place on a small lake and am looking to get a Sunfish to sail around on it. My issue is that I may not have a convenient place to store it nearby. It's an apartment complex with future plans to build boat storage that was delayed by covid, and storing in carport is...
sailingforums.com sailingforums.com

This guy had a really good idea, scroll down a bit, good pic of something that might work for you.
 
Last edited:
danpal said:
One of the issues with anti-fouling paint is that it constantly sheds paint. This is the way it keeps the hull from allowing sea life to attach to the bottom. When it's time to take the boat out for the season, you'll get paint everywhere.
Click to expand...
That's not true for all bottom paints. It sounds like you're describing an ablative type paint, thst is softer and meant to wear away, exposing more if the antifouling ingredients. Modified hard epoxies will not rub off. There is a super thin, Teflon based paint, that dries in minutes. It's antifouling properties are based on its super slick surface, inhibiting anything from sticking. Google "VC17m" from Interlux. It's geared for fresh water...or brackish....but will do fine for a couple months in saltwater. I paint about 20 cruising sailboats a year with it. Popular paint for racing boats too...especially in the Great Lakes area. I wouldn't hesitate to paint a daysailor with it if you HAD to leave it in the water. Great paint for larger boats that are tailored too, but might stay in the water for a couple weeks at a time or similar.
 
Well, it is not the greatest picture - but in the lower right hand side you can see the frames (holding up 2 kayaks) that I was mentioning in the previous post. Basically two "H" shaped frames, and one of the crossbars has a PVC pipe on it so that you can "roll" the boat up onto the frames.

IMG_1625.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top