Hi all! I responded to an ad for a free Sunfish in need of some work. I ended up coming home with a very heavy minifish. After a quick scrub my wife and I brought it in the shop to warm up and drain all the water we could from it. I'd estimate that we got 10-12 gallons out of it. I'm trying to upload some photos to an album. It really doesn't look terrible, but is/was still heavy. There was an old fast patch job on the bottom that I already cut open to have a look inside. I found very waterlogged foam (the styrofoam sheet much more so than the spray in foam). So far I've removed the two large pieces that start on either side of the daggerboard going forward to the bow and the supporting expanding foam; this pile weighed 30 lbs! Super saturated! I cannot imagine how one could dry that amount out without pumping dehumidified air through inspection ports for a very long time. My foam was deteriorating so I decided to remove and replace it, especially since this old patch was in a spot to allow access. I will remove the rest of the foam once I decide the minimum number of inspection ports I need and where the best place to put them is given the work I am doing.
Today I have a question; this boat has a lot of spider cracking in the gelcoat, some near an obvious impact, some not. I've seen the YouTube videos of grinding along every spider crack and then filling, but I wanted to see the fiberglass under the gelcoat. I sanded everything around one point of impact to have a look. The fiberglass shows lines in it right where all the gelcoat cracks were. I can't get any movement around them, and the area doesn't seem weaker than any non damaged area. To those of you with knowledge of proper fiberglass repair, what is the concern and proper repair along these lines in the fiberglass? Previously I've only done repairs to fiberglass car bodies that needed obvious cutting and laying up of new fiber. I'll grind and lay up new on the actual point of impact, but what to do about the far radiating lines? If I can get photos uploaded, they'll make it clearer. Thanks! -Gerry

Hi, Congrats on your new boat! She should have a name by now.

Many patient people get good results drying-out the interior of the? boat by blowing air thru it over a long period of time. Walmart sells small, cheap fans just about the right size to set into open inspection port holes. One in, one out. ? In my case, I also used a low-wattage incandescent light bulb as a supplemental heat source, kind of like an "easy-bake-oven" arrangement. In warm weather, adding dark plastic sheeting to the hull or deck? and letting the sun heat it works well... but you'd still want to have a fan to move the air thru.

An approach I used on my Sunfish was to split the deck/hull seam at the bow, all the way back to amidships, and bend? the deck up carefully, to get inside the hull. This would allow access to the mast pocket area and daggerboard trunk as well as all the foam, which could be reconditioned and put back.

Regarding the spider cracking...? is it mostly an aesthetic issue for you, or a structural concern?? For aesthetics, there are products you can squeegee over the cracks to fill them, supposedly they blend to a near-invisible repair. They're not cheap.? And then? having used them, you could choose to paint over the top or not.? Or you could get more serious and grind out every little crack and scratch and add new gelcoat... matching everything exactly becomes a problem... It's almost never cost-effective to do this kind of work on a used boat, so acknowledge to yourself? you're choosing to do it for love, or personal enjoyment of making a really lovely restoration.? You're unlikely to ever recover the financial investment, then again, millions throw away their money on lottery tickets - it's all just different forms of entertainment, in the end.

Probably IMO the most practical way to go is general sanding and filling, then a good marine primer and more sanding and filling, then some sturdy paint like the Rustoleum deck paint over everything, and it will look years younger, without breaking the bank.? Just a lot of exercise sanding. It's occupational therapy for me:-)

Thanks for the comments so far; I feel better about the spider cracking issue.? Regarding the foam, I am able to replace it.? I actually think I could replace it all through this hole that I cut through the old patch (and with a couple inspection ports installed).?The hole is a little bigger than in the photo now, and has rounded corners.? It's in a pretty good spot for feeding in foam pieces.? Time will tell!

Be sure it's the right *kind* of foam... regular styrofoam isn't going to be right.

It would not be a fish without some spider cracking mine has it and dose not effect sailing
Gives it caricter.
Paul

Thursday, 06 December 2018, 06:37PM -05:00 from ka1stz@... [sunfish_sailor] sunfish_sailor@...:

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Thanks for the comments so far; I feel better about the spider cracking issue.? Regarding the foam, I am able to replace it.? I actually think I could replace it all through this hole that I cut through the old patch (and with a couple inspection ports installed).?The hole is a little bigger than in the photo now, and has rounded corners.? It's in a pretty good spot for feeding in foam pieces.? Time will tell!

Congrats on the acquistion. Keep us updated. I've got a minifish that also has support issues. A previous owner had removed all of the original foam, sprayed expanding foam forward and aft, then filled the rest of the hull with scraps of spongy packing foam. In hindsight, the five inspection ports should have been a warning sign. Took eight hours of cutting and scrapping to get it all out. Spent the last few months brainstorming ideas for adding support. I'd love to see how others have done it.

Welcome. You have two purposes of blocks, structure and flotation. Let's think about it for a minute.

Thanks for the advice. Hadn't thought about using the foam sheets. I had experimented with using large gatoraide bottles as support columns, but have been nervous about the skill level need to work through an inspection port. The bottles for flotation is a good idea too- they're light weight and fit through the ports easily.

Try to stick with the design intent. Extra flotation inside a pontoon hull that is not supposed to leak is closing in on a "belts and suspenders" approach. Once you are happy that the deck is supported and hull is not oil canning, if you must add more flotation I'd use the pink wall insulating foam XPS (Extruded Polystyrene), NOT EPS (Expanded Polystyrene). Owens Corning used to be the best, haven't checked it recently. I've also thought that blocks could be shaped and then held together with 3M metal HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) duct tape, maybe some Titebond 3 Waterproof glue to tack them together. The silver HVAC tape is designed to work in large temperature and humidity variations.

Another option is PFDs that are being retired, there is still decent marine grade foam inside of them.

We had some more time to work on the minifish today; after a month+ in a heated garage, half of the time with air blowing through it, the MF was still very heavy. My inspection ports came in, so I marked and cut the holes. We then looked around inside more with lights and a mirror. Some of the foam was deteriorated, and by poking it I could squeeze out water. Wanting to get this show on the road, we made the decision to strip out all the foam. In about 3 hours we removed over 80 lbs of waterlogged foam. Now it's nice and clean inside, and will be very dry by morning. We were shocked how light the empty shell is compared to when we brought it home. We also saw how necessary the foam is for structural support; it's easy to distort the fiberglass shell right now. The next step will be to replace it all so the deck and hull are supported again, then on to fiberglass and gelcoat work. Fun fun fun!

Hey all,
Happy to see this post! 18 months ago my wife responded to an offer on Facebook from a very old friend for a well used Sunfish. Her friend had sailed this boat on Lake Mackatawa (Michigan) for some 40-50 years and had decided to upgrade! We picked up a very heavy and waterlogged Minifish which is actually in great shape and was well cared for overall! It has been sitting in storage for all this time and as I will retire in a couple of months will have more time to devote to restoration. Initially before we got it in the car I opened the drain port and we drained out gallons of water. We were then (barely) able to get it into the back of her Subaru for a short trip home but it clearly needs some drying out! I am reticent to try replacing foam so I will start with inspection ports and dehumidified, heated air for a time. I would love to hear from those with experience and get a more detailed position for the inspection ports! The boat has supposedly the original sail and that will need replacement! Any suggestions about a source? I just missed on an ad last year for a private sale of an almost unused minifish sail and I have seen at least one sailmaker (Neil Pryde) who advertises minxish sails at a pretty reasonable price! I will post some pictures soon and also post as I restore.
Joe

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So this morning the inside of the hull is very dry!? Sweet!? FYI a dry Minifish hull with no foam at all in it weighs 78.2 lbs.? :)

I am still a member. Alive and on the right side of the grass. I will have Minifish sails in a couple of months. I am getting a bunch made along with Sunfish sails.

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