Aug 2013:
I was looking through images of wooden Sunfish and found a wooden Sunfish at the Old Tyme Marketplace in Marshville, NC. I contacted the owners Beth and Russ and they were happy to sell me the boat, as they wanted to see it restored and sailing again. Hooked up the pickin trailer and hit the road for a quick rescue. We decided to name the boat "Chip" and got him tied up for the ride to Florida.
Chip is a 1963 Sunfish, serial number 11501, most likely factory built, and is pretty chippy. Appears to have been light blue with white primer. It took me years on other boats to notice that the Alcort data plate depicts both a Sailfish and a Sunfish!
The rudder assembly deck plate was still on the boat, I removed it for transport. You can see where it screwed into the transom and you can also see remnants of the rudder pin keeper chain.
Mast step.
Hull needs some work, one section near the scarf joint is delaminating, but hey, it's wood and we can repair or replace that section.
On the way back from North Carolina, I had the brilliant idea to check Craiglslist for other boats. I spent the night near Greer, South Carolina at a Holiday Inn Express.
The next morning I called on a wooden Super Sailfish that was listed on Craigslist. The Super Sailfish is the big sister to the first wooden Sailfish. Alcort built an 11'7" board boat called the Sailfish with a sail, daggerboard and rudder and then designed the Super Sailfish, which measures around 13' 7". Both boats were available from the factory or as a kit, and the Super Sailfish even had DIY plans. The pictures looked good, the Super Sailfish appears to have all the parts except the sail. After a short wait I got a call back and arranged to go see the SS.
Judging by the rudder, this Super Sailfish appears to be a mid 1950s boat, most likely kit built.
I went to look at the boat, and that is a story in itself. The boat had been purchased in Auburn, NY years earlier and head been stored in a barn. The seller in Greer had an extensive sailing history but had not sailed this boat very much. He had to cut a path back to the shed with his tractor so we could look at it, and the dogs were a big help both inspecting and loading the boat.
Our first true "barn find" fit on the top rack neatly. And because of her farm heritage we decided to name her "ZSA ZSA" after Zsa Zsa Gabor of Green Acres fame. (Edit: Skipper told me years later it was Eva Gabor, not Zsa Zsa...) Funny thing was that the dogs only started barking when I brought the trailer back to load the boat.
Next I headed down to Greenville, GA to look at a fiberglass Super Sailfish MKII.
We made a deal on the Super Sailfish MKII and we were able to load it on the trailer by flipping it and suspending it below the top rack.
A new pickin record, 3 boats! The trailer pulled great and we made it back down to Florida.
We started unloading the boats and I was most interested in the Super Sailfish MKII sail. It is vintage, made by Ratsey and Lapthorne out of City Island, NY. They made sails for Alcort for a long time and this sail has a nice buttery feel to it.
I really like the Sailfish logo, it has a lot of energy.
Sanded a test area on Chip, she will clean up real nice!!
You can tie a lot of knots with 25 feet of halyard.
Super Sailfish MKII needs a mast base cap...
...and a halyard cap.
The Super Sailfish spars are in great shape the sail not so much.
Super Sailfish bow is missing 18 inch metal strip that forms bow and keel trim.
Paint is shot but the wood below has minimal checking.
Super Sailfish hull weighs 140 pounds.
We borrowed the MKII sail for the Super Sailfish and I put a rope bridle on the boat, we don't care for the 3 loop wire bridles. The Skipper took out Zsa Zsa, she didn't tack very well with that elephant ear rudder and short daggerboard.
The Super Sailfish took on a lot of water, so we'll have to figure out where the leak is.
One of the recommended drain plug locations.
Next we rigged the 1963 Super Sailfish MKII and took her out. Her name is Sweetness. The hull was pretty dirty but cleaned up well, data plate worn but we could still make out the hull number.
Sweetness sails great but she is a wet ride!
The MKII rudder is quite a bit larger than the Super Sailfish rudder.
The dagger board is around 36 inches, our Shadow board will work much better.
Chip's turn on the scale next, he weighed in at 158 pounds.
Chip got a new bow handle. The wooden Sunfish bow handle has a tab that goes down the front to protect and hide the chine seams.
Chip's mast step and halyard cleat.
Float test for Chip, he leaked a little but should seal up.
Just forward of the bailer is a scarf joint in the plywood that is beginning to delaminate. It will need to be repaired or replaced.
Chip is ready to head out. All we need now is a bowtie and a long sleeve shirt.
Here's the latest additions to the restoration queue, l-r 1963 Super Sailfish MKII Sweetness, 195? Super Sailfish Zsa Zsa, and 1963 wooden Sunfish Chip.
2014: We sold SWEETNESS to a nice family over in Panama City, the Grand father is an accomplished racer and was the Fish Class Champion one year. The Dad plans to teach the son the basics on SWEETNESS, just a fun little boat.
Feb 2018:
Restoration begins on ZSA ZSA.
2018:
Restoration begins on CHIP.
i just found this accidently. hope you made it home without incident and hope to sail together someday.
ReplyDeleteChuck in Knoxville
Hi Chuck,
ReplyDeleteHad a great ride home, the boats didn't make a peep. We sailed the Knoxville boat (Bandit) and the Kingsport boat (Smoky). The outhaul on Smoky broke and the Skipper wasn't out long, but everything else worked ok. Bandit sailed great but we had a few issues with the tiller extension, we don't use them a lot so that was different. SInce the sail I enlarged the cockpit drain in Bandit and added a bailer. Also wet sanded a bit.
Nice meeting you and your wife, I'll check in next time we are through Knoxville.
Kent