Yes, there is no issue with using small line for sail ties instead of using the plastic rings.Forgot to ask one other thing : I bought the new sail without any rings. Any thoughts on just tying it onto the book and gaff with loops of line? A little time consuming at first but I can make them instead of having to order them. Anyone else do this?
Question 1:
Having a hole in the bottom of the Sunfish cockpit is quite convenient for draining lake water, rainwater, or wash water when the boat is hauled. If you don't want to mess with the Sunfish bailer and are prepared to empty the cockpit some other way (bail and sponge out the cockpit, etc etc) it's perhaps not crazy to close the bailer hole more-or-less permanently with resin and reinforcement. The next owner can reopen the hole.
The diameter of the Sunfish bailer hole is 1 3/8". The thickness of the Sunfish cockpit+hull where the bailer hole is located is about 3/8". There is no need to bevel or enlarge the bailer hole before filling it--a simple glass plug will be plenty strong enough.
• Preparation
Clean the area around the bailer hole on both the cockpit and hull side.
Wrap medium grit sandpaper around a large dowel or round tool handle and lightly sand all around the inside of the bailer hole. You don't want to remove much material, only to clean the inside of the hole and expose a fresh surface.
Wax the area around the bailer hole on both the cockpit and hull side, being careful to get no wax inside the bailer hole.
Tape around the bailer hole on the cockpit side to protect the cockpit sole from resin drips when you fill the hole.
• With hull side up
Cut a disk marginally larger than 1 3/8" in diameter from polyethylene sheet or any smooth, thin plastic sheet. Center the plastic disk on the sticky side of a piece of 2" or wider duct or packaging tape. Carefully apply the tape over the bailer hole, with the plastic disk centered over the hole. Add more tape to make the patch over the hole quite firm. Rub down the tape all around the hole.
(The purpose of the plastic disk is to give a nice smooth finish to the hull side of the glass plug that will close the hole. There may be a little very thin resin leakage under the tape on the hull side when the plug is cured. If you waxed the hull this resin flash should be easy to remove.)
• With deck side up
Catalyze a small amount of your choice of resin. (The Sunfish is made of polyester resin--there is no need to use epoxy for the plug, but use what you favor). If the ambient temperature is > 70° and if you use polyester or vinylester resin, cut back on the MEKP catalyst--you don't want the plug to overheat as it cures.
Add fiberglass reinforcement to the catalyzed resin. The reinforcement can be glass cloth cut into 1/4"-1/2" snippets or fiberglass mat torn into small pieces, or both. You want a thick slurry of resin and glass.
Spoon the slurry into the bailer hole, filling it to the top. Lay a small piece of polyethylene or other plastic sheet over the hole and massage the slurry to remove any air trapped in the hole, and to smooth the top of the slurry even with the cockpit sole. Don't push so hard that you dislodge the tape on the hull covering the hole!
After the resin cures strip the tape and plastic. Done.
Question 2:
You may have to enlarge the hole in the deck for a replacement plastic drain plug. If the deck is in reasonably good condition you can either screw or pop rivet the drain plug directly to the deck.
Question 3:
Many Sunfish sailors tie their sails to the spars with light line. This is at least as good (and quieter) than using the plastic rings.
The OP may be mixing the terms, "bailer" and "drain plug".I would put a bailer in.
The transom is very thin.Webfoot, I like the transom idea a lot. Would you still use 5200 on the transom or is the glass there thick enough to screw it into?