Tuesday 24 May 2011

Painted Coaming

Well I prepared the boat this weekend to do the gel coat repair. However, when I opened the gel coat repair kit can, I found the gel coat had gone bad. It was as hard as a rubber ball. I will have to return it to the store I bought it from. So instead I decided to repaint the coaming. You could prime the coaming and paint it with a proper marine paint, but even the manufacturer recommends just a weather resistant spray paint. I previously painted the coaming with Krylon Fusion spary paint, but didn’t like the results (I also applied to much paint, resulting in drips all over the coaming). In addition, I also filled some cracks with an epoxy stick I had kicking around. So, I broke out my palm sander, sanded off the previous finish, and started from scratch. This time I chose Rustoleum Plastic spray paint, and you can see the results below! Looks almost new!

Friday 20 May 2011

Hardware Issues

Well, in my haste in purchasing this boat, I forgot to look on the boom to see if the standard boom blocks were attached. There were none. In addition I noticed another issue. At each position on the boom where the blocks are supposed to be, there is only one hole drilled right through to the other side of the boom. The newer version of the boat, has 2 holes drilled at each block and an eye strap. I am going to have to find an eye bolt to fit the single hole, and a substitute block with a shackle. Fun.

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Installed Inspection Port & Installed Deck Eyestrap for Ratchet Block

Over the weekend, it was too cold to repair the gel coat. The temperature was below 15 degrees Celsius, and that means the gel coat wouldn't cure properly. So I decided instead to install the inspection port, and the deck eye strap to attach my new Harken Carbo Ratchet block (acquired off Ebay for a reasonable price).

I used a knock off dremel tool that someone gave me to cut the hole in the boat. The multi cutting tool bit I picked up for $5.00. It cut really well into the deck, but got really hot a few times. I had to give the tool a break once or twice! I used 3M 4200 sealant, to ensure a tight seal, and stainless screws, washers, and lock nuts to attach it to the deck. I put the bead of 3M on the deck, rotated the port, and drilled the holes necessary for the install. One word of advice, if you are using 3M 4200 do wear gloves. I spent the evening scrubbing my hands trying to get the excess off!

The eye strap for the ratchet block was very easy. I quickly drilled two holes for the strap after measuring, dabbed the screws with sealant, and tightened the screws, washers, and lock nuts.



Monday 16 May 2011

Removing The Old Paint Job

Well for the past week, 1 hour here, and 1/2 hour there, I have been sanding the deck of my Sunfish trying to get rid of the previous owner's paint job. I have been using 600 grit wet/dry paper and it was pretty slow going. For the rest of the deck, I have been lightly sanding the gel coat with 2000 grit sandpaper. This has removed pretty much all of the old stains, and even small scratches in the gel coat.

The paint is finally gone, and now you can see where the damage was done. It looks like some acid or some chemical was spilled on the deck, and ate right through the gel coat. Rather than paint the whole deck again, I am going to coat this area with a gel coat repair kit. I have purchased a kit from our local sailing store, along with a yellow tint. You can see what looks like a chalky residue on the deck, this is just the small scratches created by sanding. Once the deck is buffed with compound and wax, it will look more mirror like.

This week I plan on adding an eye strap, to attach my Harken Carbo Ratchet block, and to install an inspection port.



Tuesday 10 May 2011

One More Item To Add!

If you look in the photo just behind the bow handle, there is a white mark. I sanded this down during the week. It is marine putty. Once I sanded this down, I noticed a soft spot in this area (very small). This boat doesn't have any inspection ports to dry the hull. I plan to put an inspection port, to strengthen this soft spot. Some might call this over-kill, but I already have an old inspection port in my basement. Plus, I have never installed one, so it will be a good learning process.

Progress - slow but sure!

My original list, might have to be added too. Once you start this process new items tend to pop up. Especially if you are a little obsessive like me. New items to add:

12) Sand and re-varnish rudder, center board.
13) Install aluminum style tiller extension
14) Add quick release adjustment bolt (racing style) to goose neck

Progress:

Spend the better part of the week wet sanding the deck with 2000 grit sandpaper, and a rubber block. The 2000 grit is no longer that hard to find. They now stock this paper in the detailing section of our local tire store.

For the deck paint removal, I purchased and used all of my 600 grit paper. This took a long time to sand and remove the existing paint. In the end, I ran out of paper and had to switch to some 400 grit paper that I previously purchased. Ensure that the paper you purchase, is the wet or dry type.

The paint job was matched well, however over time the sun had faded it to a greenish color. It looks like the deck was painted to cover a small spot where the previous owner had sanded through the gel coat, or spilt some chemical that had eaten through. I plan to re-gel coat this area, and match the color (as best I can). Let me clarify, that I have no experience restoring old boats. I am reading the instructions, and searching the web for advice. Thanks to all who have helped me so far in this process! Thanks to my wife for being so understanding!

I removed the old coaming. It had seen better days. Thankfully the older style coamings were screwed to the deck, and not riveted like the newer models. It came off easy enough. I lightly sanded down the coaming. I also filled some cracks in the coaming, with an old epoxy stick that I had from 5 years ago. The spray paint I used was Krylon Fusion that I got from my local tire store. I will let you know how durable the stuff is by the end of the summer! I didn't do the best job, so I will have to lightly sand some hardened drips of paint on the coaming. Might have to shoot it again with the paint.

Acquired 1972 Yellow Sunfish Sailboat


Well, I bought a yellow Sunfish Sailboat right off the web. My wife wasn't too happy, but I plan to restore and update the boat to today's standards. Sunfish are a one design sailboat, so the boats that the company is building today, are pretty much the same as the one I have acquired built back in the 72'. 72' Was actually a bad year for Sunfish. There was a major defect in the manufacturing process, but my boat was unaffected by that particular production run.

I spent the better part of the week, trying to clean the boat up. For such an old boat, it is in great condition. The dagger board trunk is perfect, the mast tube is in great shape, even the cockpit looks almost new. This boat hasn't been sailed too much, or it has been kept in great condition. Also, I am hard pressed to find any spider cracks. The hull, apart from a little staining, is in pristine condition for it's age. I can barely find any scratches.

Here is my work list:

1) Install main sheet block
2) Update all lines
3) Remove  hack job paint (forward of the coaming from previous owner)
4) Wet sand deck to bring back original shine (the gel coat is in better than average condition-lucky!)
5) Remove coaming fill cracks and spray paint
6) Re-gel coat small area on deck where previous owner sanded through completely through the gel coat.
7) Install hiking strap
8) Buff and polish
9) Sand off repair mysterious brown mark on deck (seems to have some glued paper to the gel coat?)
10) Install new boom blocks (completely missing)
11) Install new traveller system