Grassroots Boatorsports

carguy123 wrote: I'm surprised no one has even mentioned how to fix the hole in the hull.

Too easy....Throw money in it.

Bondo

Reinforced with dollar bills.

Well, here it is:

And here's the hole in the hull

This hole would be EASY to repair from the inside, but since there is no access to the inside, I'll be doing it from this side. I still don't figure it should be that hard. I suppose I can just get a generic "fiberglass repair kit" from a local source...

Thanks for all the discussion folks! Should I weave the dollar bills like fiberglass cloth. I suppose that would work best if I shredded them first, eh?

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/17.htm

Try that before you do the dollar bills bit.

ClemSparks wrote: Well, here it is: And here's the hole in the hull

that'll buff out

actually.. you can fix that from the inside. I know quite a few sunfish owners who had sealable ports installed in the front deck. All you need is a Screw out Deckplate. I suggest you get a 6" one, cut your hull in the hull in a convient place to both repair that hole and use the deckplate.. fix the hole, and then install the deckplate.

And you can get them here.

Beckson.com

Yeah...the research I've done suggest I'll probably be putting in an access port to help dry the hull out anyway. I'm not sure I want to put it in a place that will work for getting to the hole I need to repair. However, it just might work out. I think a repair from the outside really won't be that bad anyway, after reading ignorant's link (thanks a BUNCH, btw, ignorant).

I'll try to update with progress as it happens (I have no real plan at this point...there are a LOT of projects on my plate)

Clem

Tommy,

I know as much about sailing as I know about embroidery (hint: zip), but, according to Wikipedia, if you want your Sunfish to point better, you need something like this:

"In the 1960s, a member of the New Canaan, Conn. Sunfish Fleet, John Black Lee, independently experimented with a conventional sail rig for the Sunfish. He developed a high-aspect ratio sail that worked on the Sunfish hull and christened his design the Formula S. The high aspect ratio sail plan has better upwind performance characteristics over the lateen sail, changing the boat’s handling to point more like other Bermuda rig sailboats in its size. With this configuration, complexity of sail control is elevated by the addition of dynamic outhaul, downhaul, and mainsheet traveller lines."

I have no idea if that's Grassroots or not. But if it modifies the original for better handling....

914Driver wrote: </cite Anyone ever drive a sailfish? Same as a Sunfish but it has no foot well, only hand grabs. Talk about an upside down machine. Dan

Yep. I had a wood hull Sailfish. It did not like being left on a mooring. Like all wooden boats, it leaked and was nearly impossible to dry it out.

Wooden boats often leak because they dry out. The wood shrinks and gaps open.

yes, wood boats need to get wet so they swell up and close all the gaps.

Sunfish FTW! Tommy, if you don't like the way they handle when day sailing, try racing one.

http://www.sunfishclass.org/

And no, I wasn't any better at that than I was racing cars..

yea.. get a regatta with 20 sunfish all vying for the first mark.... it's get ugly fast

I am the Staff Advisor for the University of Illinois Sailing Club and Race Team.

I just wanted to say that. And, that I love sailboats.

My father has a 31 footer we keep on Lake Michigan. I sail every chance I get.

bludroptop wrote:

914Driver wrote: </cite Anyone ever drive a sailfish? Same as a Sunfish but it has no foot well, only hand grabs. Talk about an upside down machine. Dan

Yep. I had a wood hull Sailfish. It did not like being left on a mooring. Like all wooden boats, it leaked and was nearly impossible to dry it out.

Maybe others have mentioned this, but you want to keep wooden boats wet, the wood swells and plugs up the gaps. When building a new wooden boat they needed to cure Wet for several days before sailing.

ClemSparks wrote: This hole would be EASY to repair from the inside, but since there is no access to the inside, I'll be doing it from this side. I still don't figure it should be that hard. I suppose I can just get a generic "fiberglass repair kit" from a local source...

Yes, just ptach it up with Bondo (I said it!) and then glass over it. It doesn't have to be pretty just watertight.

I'm going to do my best to make it pretty, though. not necessarily gellcoat/paint pretty, but at least smooth like the patch isn't there pretty.

I had a boat with an ugly patch. These boats spend more time upside down than rightside up...might as well have it look good.

Clem

I patched a hole in my Jet-14 with no gel coat. Patch it, then scuff the hull and paint it with Petit one part epoxy. Beautiful.

Look into West System products for fiberglass repair and barrier coat. Very versitle and good to work with. I find all sorts of non marine uses for it, and it seems to last forever in the base resin/hardener forms, plus the wide variety of mix ins.

So yeah...at this point I'm thinking I can remove the delaminated fiberglass, bevel out quite a ways, then build up the areas with progressively larger patches (like in the article Ignorant posted) until I acheive the proper thickness. Then grind smooth, add lightweight filler (any suggestions?), and paint the hull.

I don't know gelcoat, nor have I ever used it...

Thanks, Clem

As I mentioned above...I have no timeline/plan for this boat. I've been unemployed lately, so I've been mixing project work (requiring little or no monetary input) into my daily job search routine.

Over a year ago I scrubbed the boat down and started working on patching the main hole.

Half scrubbed:

Here's the damaged area:

I cut out the damage like this:

I used fiberglass cloth and some scrap fiberglass strand that I harvested from my workplace to repair the hole. It's not a good photo, and it's ugly, but that's ok. It will get ground and faired.

Primary repair complete in need of some filling (with chopped up fiberglass strands and resin):

After some filling with more material to get near the correct shape of the hull/chine:

Now it was time to start grinding and fairing ... But my friend moved a couch into the shop (it's his shop) so I didn't want to make a bunch of fiberglass dust to fill the couch up with. So, the project stalled until I moved it to my project house where I can grind and such.

I would have moved the couch outside while sanding.. or the boat. Better to move the boat, a Sunfish does not weigh much and you do not want to come out of a shop covered in white resin powder.. it's itchy enough as is.

And btw.. you are doing it right. I am glad you ignored the calls to use bondo, that stuff just absorbs water

So now that it's back where I have power, I ground off the lumpy-bumpy resin repair and slathered on some putty to start getting it back into shape. This looks promising, I must say (I'm NOT a bodywork guru).

best way to build up 'glass is epoxy with microballoons. At least that is the current consensus is in the boating world. I just tend to build things up with layers of resin and 'glass until a little proud and sound them smooth.. over and over and over again

Yeah...I expect this isn't ideal. As I mentioned, I'm unemployed so working with materials I already have as much as possible for now. This "fairing compound" will have to do and hopefully the paint will waterproof it in the long run. I'll buy paint when I have a job