[StarSlayer]

Wherein Slayer records his progress restoring a Sailfish that has been languishing in the basement for roughly three decades.  The Alcort Super Sailfish MK II is a 13' 8" long fiberglass lanteen rig boat manufactured from between 1945-1965, it is the precursor to the very popular Sunfish.  Functionally the major difference between them is that the Sailfish is flush decked while the Sunfish has a scooped out cockpit to allow for more aggressive hiking out in addition to a number of evolutionary improvements in hardware and fittings.

This summer I was on the lookout for a project and after binging out on Patrick O'Brian novels and Naval Action I recollected that there was a sailboat in the basement.  Our particular subject was acquired by my parents over thirty plus years ago but hasn't been used in decades.  Most of my interaction with the boat was in photos or seeing it up on sawhorses buried under a canoe and inflatable rafts.  Initially I thought it was an old Sunfish and after a bit of research on the subject matter I scooted under the sawhorses and noticed the distinct lack of cockpit and realized it was a much older Sailfish.  I also realized she was in dire need of some TLC before she could hit the lake.


 
Luckily the Sunfish is very similar to the Sailfish so the majority of info I gathered, especially about rigging it, carries over.  Speaking of rigging I first took the mast, spars and sail out and inspected them.  The sail is likely salvageable but I'd like to get a new one.  After some research I decided on an non OEM aftermarket lanteen sail from Neil Pryde.  I also wanted to replace the blocks but after removing one and going to just about every Marine store in the NH lakes region it became apparent that the particular setup simply were not made or available anymore.  Luckily I was able to pick up new cordage in the form of a new halyard, main sheet and traveler bridle.



Next I removed the inflatables and canoe, setup some sawhorses outside and carried the hull outside.  Her is the bottom of the hull out in the light of day for the first time in decades:





Welp, lets get started shall we?  I decided to use CLR (Calcium Rust Lime) and a brillo/sponge to start washing.  I worked in small batches, vigorously scrubbing down about a square-foot area at a time moving from the stern to bow one side at a time.







The CLR did a very good job of removing much of the gunk that had collected on the hull.  I was very happy with the results.  I also noticed some scuff marks on the fiberglass that scrapped of the very out surface.  I picked up some fiberglass repair epoxy, mixed the contents and applied.  Once its hardened I will then sand off the excess.



At this point I flipped her over and got started on the top deck.  Of course I was again greeted by a very dirty surface.





After the same aggressive CLR scrub process as the lower hull the topside started looking much better.







This wraps up the first weekend of work.  The hull has been completely scrubbed down with CLR and new cordage has been requisitioned.

[StarSlayer]

Round II Restore!

Since I cannot replace the blocks I will need to clean them up.  There are three blocks on the Sailfish, one at the top of the mast for the halyard and two on the lower spar for the mainsheet.  One of them is in real bad shape with some type of grit keeping the sheave from rotating free.  Into the CLR you go, I will let them soak overnight:



After some research online I settled on using 3M Marine Restorer & Wax to rehab the fiberglass and add a new protective coating of wax.  After flipping the hull again I set to work by first scrubbing the entire lower hull with some 180 grit sandpaper block.  I then started hand buffing in the Restore/Wax, working Karate Kid style in square foot sizes until the material was rubbed in.  Because of the age the fiberglass greedily soaked this stuff up, but the stuff worked great and I was pleased with the result.



You can see in the background the new sail arrived, I carefully removed the old sail and stored it for a later clean and restore and installed the new one.  I picked out a blue and yellow scheme that I think will look pretty nice when all setup.  During the rigging I realized that the original out hauls, the cordage that ties the corners of the sails, also will need to be replaced.  Also because birds don't like new things one decided to fruit **** on the sail, luckily I was able to scrub it out promptly before it stained much.





Let's check in on them blocks.  After taking them out I gave each a brief rub down with steel wool and they actually came out pretty good.  More importantly all the sheaves are now rotating freely Huzzah!





Next I turned my attention to the hull hardware, the majority of which is bronze, or at least I think its bronze under all that verdigris.  I mixed up a batch of flour, salt and vinegar and began applying it to the bronze hardware:







After letting the mixture sit for a couple minutes I washed it off, and shiny brass was exposed:







Here you can see I installed the new bridle.  The mainsheet on the attaches to the bridle, runs through the two blocks on the lower spar while the other end is held to control the angle of the sail.



Because I am overly ambitious, lets add a dash of color to the proceedings.  I picked up a can of Rustoleum Topside paint in a nice navy blue to apply to the bow.  After sanding down the area with 180 grit and wiping clean I marked out the design with masking tape.



I am going to use the roll and tip method to apply.  First rolling on the paint then using the foam brush to even out the surface and remove any bubbles.

 

I quickly realized that attempting this outside was stupid because stuff was blowing around.  I quickly moved the boat indoors and let it sit overnight.  The next morning I sanded the first coat with 220 grit then applied a second coat via roll and tip.

Most of the wood work such as the tiller, rudder and daggerboard are physically in good condition but the handrails are rotted through and will need to be replaced.  If I can't buy replacement blocks at the Marine Supply store, new handles are flat out.   Luckily my research revealed the Small Boat Restoration Blog, besides having inspirational and informative project logs they also offer new hand rails they make themselves for the Sailfish.  I ordered a new set in oak and during subsequent conversations via email they were very receptive to my questions.  Great folks!

Anyway that wrapped up my second weekend of work which I felt was pretty productive.

[StarSlayer]

Round III  Restore!

This last weekend wasn't terribly productive, the weather was pretty meh.  The new handles arrived in the post and looked and smelled great(fresh cut and sanded oak has a fine musk).  After removing the masking tape the new blue topside paint job came out pretty good.  I will need to do a little clean up here and there but overall I was happy with the effect.  I then sanded and applied 3M Marine Restorer & Wax to the rest of the topside minus the nonslip surface.  I eventually will want to do something about it but for now I will let it slide, after all I would like to get her in the water this season.  August on the lake generally yields brisk windy days with white caps such splendid sailing opportunities slipping by is pretty painful.  I decided to remove the old handles, this began properly with a screw driver but after chipping the end off a flat head and having most of the bronze screws snap it ended in a claw hammer.  Below is the top hull painted and waxed with wood work test fitted.  Overall I think she is coming along well. 







I took the opportunity to do a little more work on the sails and spars.  Below you can see I have attached the new halyard to the upper spar.  First I wrapped the spar with a little electrical tape(best tape save duct) to keep the knot from slipping then tied a clove hitch and stopper knot.  The other end of the halyard runs though the top block on the mast which I then stepped and actually test raised sail securing the halyard to the cleat on the hull.  It looked pretty good but since I was by myself I needed to keep the boat steady and could not take a picture. 



The handrails arrived unvarnished and the rudder, tiller and daggerboard also require a strip and varnish.  This is a very involved process and since I knew I would not be up this coming weekend I brought all the woodwork home to plug away at over the next two weeks.  Despite the daunting task of varnishing this represents the last major hurdle before I can get her in the lake so I am pretty stoked.

[Unknown Target]

Wow man, that's very cool. Sunfish are the biggest boats I've ever commanded, and they're a joy. I hope the process brings you as much joy as the completion of the project will.

[Phantom Hoover]

is that title a reference to declare? a++ if so

[Dragon]

That's certainly a pretty boat. It looks much smaller than anything I've ever sailed on, though. Such tiny boats are actually better for inland sailing because they're not bothered by shallows and low bridges too much. Also, they can get going even in a light breeze. The smallest sailboat I've sailed on was an Omega-class sloop (an old Polish design) and it was a lot of fun, but got a bit hair-raising when the wind picked up, especially when reaching. That thing heeled so much that it pretty much needed a 3-4 person crew just for ballasting it.

[StarSlayer]

Wow man, that's very cool. Sunfish are the biggest boats I've ever commanded, and they're a joy. I hope the process brings you as much joy as the completion of the project will.

So far so good!   Aside from the cockpit the other major difference I noticed was that Sunfish also has a ratchet block for the mainsheet to decrease the load on the hands and arms.  I will be interested in seeing how taxing it will be without one. 

is that title a reference to declare? a++ if so

That's certainly a pretty boat. It looks much smaller than anything I've ever sailed on, though. Such tiny boats are actually better for inland sailing because they're not bothered by shallows and low bridges too much. Also, they can get going even in a light breeze. The smallest sailboat I've sailed on was an Omega-class sloop (an old Polish design) and it was a lot of fun, but got a bit hair-raising when the wind picked up, especially when reaching. That thing heeled so much that it pretty much needed a 3-4 person crew just for ballasting it.

Yeah with the simple lanteen rig a single person can easily handle the boat since the tiller and mainsheet are the only control points.  The Sailfish/Sunfish are also very low wet boats so they can be pretty existing even in lighter airs on fresh water.

Okay so lets start some wood working!  Earlier this week I zipped over to West Marine during lunch and picked up some new outhauls for the top and bottom spars, some shock cord for securing the daggerboard to the boat and some Interlux Schooner varnish.  I also stopped over at Home Depots for some other materials I needed. 

First lets remove all the hardware from the tiller, rudder and daggerboard.





Again I found some of the old bronze hardware snapped when I tried to remove it but for the most part everything came apart easily



Lets bag it up and label it for some attention latter on



Ready for stripping



After poking around online I settled on using some Citristrip to remove the old varnish.  Its supposedly less unhealthy than traditional stripping agents and smells like orange soda





After letting the stuff sit overnight I took a Joint Knife and began scrapping off the old varnish



Then I set about sanding the remaining varnish off.  I started with just a sanding block but quickly realized I would be here for days and swapped to a Sheet Sander with 60 grit paper





Tim Allen always promoted "More Power!" and I am happy to oblige in this case.



With one side sanded to bare wood I applied another coat of Citristrip other.  I was more liberal with the stripping agent this time and it did a much better job of loosening the old varnish.  When I attacked it with the Joint Knife this time I was able to remove a lot more material.



Time for another round with the Sheet Sander and more 60 grit.





All done and ready for the next stage. 

 

Next up will be the varnish.  Everything I've read indicates the end result depends on patiently adding a number of coats to the wood. 

Anyway I'm hoping that between now and Labor Day weekend I can get the remaining work wrapped up and the Sailfish in the water.

[Phantom Hoover]

have a shot of insecticide on me when it's done!

[StarSlayer]

The Varnishing!



Modern daggerboards typically are setup for a shock cord retainer strap.  This serves two purposes, first and foremost it keeps the daggerboard from floating away when you turtle (the daggerboard being an integral part of righting the boat) and secondly adding tension when you wish to hold the board half up when running with the wind.  Since the Sailfish was built before the daggerboard strap became commonplace I've decided to DIY one.  I picked up a new eye strap and after test fitting I drilled out some starter holes to make adding the screws easier.







Next I setup my workspace for varnishing, by hanging the various pieces from the ceiling I can conveniently apply the coats to both sides in one go.  The new eyestrap on the daggerboard is already paying off!  I opted for Interlux Schooner Varnish and 333 Brushing Liquid.  Fist step was to give a coat of the Brushing Liquid to prep the surface for the varnish.  Once that was on I used a nice badger hair brush to apply the varnish.





The first coat applied.  The varnish instructions recommended 4-6 coats but a lot of folks will go upwards of 10.  Since she isn't going to be moored out in the Atlantic and I'd like to get done this year I eventually opted for five coats.  Note the holes I poked in the varnish can rim, that allows the excess to drip back into the can.  Since the smell was pretty memorable and the basement not ideal for photography I didn't bother taking pictures of each step of the varnish process.  Suffice to say for the follow up sessions I would wait for the previous coat to dry, sand the surface with fine grain 220 paper, wipe clean and apply a new coat.





Get a Handle on it

The old handle was in pretty tough shape and would probably have cut up my hand during use so I picked up a new one to replace it.  First I removed the original handle being careful to leave in a screw to hold the backing block in place.  Then I test fit the new handle and marked off where the screws needed to go so I could drill some starter holes.  It was a good thing I left the retainer screw in because I felt the backing block let go when I drilled my starter holes.  After soaping the new screws I mounted the new handle.









Next up I mixed up some more epoxy and plugged the old holes for the bow handle, the missing serial number plate and the wood railings.  I will sand off the excess later.





Woodwork Reassemble!





Many smelly coats later the woodwork was ready to be reassembled.  I had already picked up new hardware from West Marine, funny enough the Sailfish sported a mix of Metric and Imperial fittings which lead to some consternation while I was picking out the screws, nuts and bolts.  Unfortunately they did not have brass so I went with stainless.



First up was the rudder and tiller.  I reattached the pivot hardware to the rudder blade then mounted the rudder to the gudeon to ease connecting the tiller pivot bolt.  All and all want together pretty easily and the blades look very nice with their new varnish.







With the blades assembled this left mounting the new handles from the Small Boat Restoration Blog as the last major hurdle.  As usual I first test fit the pieces and drilled out starter holes.  When it came time to add the screws I soaped them up before mounting.



Once they were mounted and looking ship shape I took out the the orbital sander and cleaned up the excess epoxy from the plugged holes and sanded off any remaining stubborn stains.  With the top hull cleaned up I gave it once last buff with the 3M Restorer Wax to give it a good shine.







All that is left is to pickup some brummel hooks for the dagger board retainer, give a final buff to the lower hull and rig the new out hauls then she will be ready for some sailing. 

Hoping for some fair winds this weekend so I can take her out, since its post Labor Day I should have the lake pretty much to myself.

Special thanks to:

Small Boat Restoration Blog

Cisco Brewers Inc: Whale's Tale Pale Ale

Jack's Abbey Brewing: Hoponius Union IPL

[StarSlayer]

Here is some footage I collected this weekend:

The winds I've been getting since wrapping up the restoration have left a lot to be desired and the water is getting pretty cold up in NH but I will take what I can get.  This is probably the fifth or six time I've gotten her out and I'm still learning the ropes but she is quite a bit of fun.  I'm sure folks who have experience with Sunfish, Lasers and such can appreciate the advancements in sailing that have occurred since this boat's keel first tasted water.  Without a cockpit and hiking straps its pretty easy to slide off if you are not careful.