Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucky1
"...We are lucky to have acquired an old 77 sunfish with a Highlander trailer. This thread brought it to mind. Seem to recall hearing a small amount of water in the hull and thinking we would need to have someone look at it to see what would be required to have that fixed. Do not see any holes but there must be some way the water got in there. Are there people who come to the cottage or...????"
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HERE is an excellent "travelogue" on repairing fiberglass in general and Sunfish in particular. You can still enjoy sailing a heavy Sunfish, but it takes some of the "edge" off of sailing to carry this "invisible passenger".
I recommend repairs using two-part
epoxy. It's
almost fun to do—and before long, you'll start looking to repair
everything with it—a lot like cleaning with a new pressure-cleaner!)
If you can
hear water inside, you've got too much water.
The reinforcing foam-adhesive inside will absorb water to create a 130-pound sponge.
The fix is to use a saber-saw to cut a 6" port—centering the hole behind the splash guard. (See above on ports). Opening the port periodically will allow excess moisture to exit from inside—though a
really heavy Sunfish will take weeks of attentive drying. A port takes a couple of hours to install, has only a little negative effect on deck strength, and doesn't affect racing eligibility.
The bow handle is available for $28 from
APS.
(
Annapolis Performance Sailing—I find it very easy to remember
). The remaining screws are holding onto a backing plate made of plywood. Replace the bow handle with the hull upside-down (or one screw at a time) to keep the plate from falling inside and out of reach. ["clunk"]
A corroded bow handle is an indication of salt water use. Except for sail grommets, spars and spar rivets, saltwater's not really a problem for a Sunfish.
