Saturday, September 5, 2020

Swinger Small Cradle Lift by Tide Tamer

 03 Sep 20:

Tide Tamer Swinger 1500 Pound Cradle Lift adapted for our Sorg Runabout 15. The lift is designed to swivel 180 degrees but we didn't need that, we installed pilings for a cover instead.

Video: https://youtu.be/Nya1lRmOxYs

Jack Pads Trailer Tire Protection on Soft Ground

05 Sep 20: 

Tired of you trailer sinking into the yard? We played with Camco RV stabilizer jack pads today, they work great to get tires and trailer out of the muck. A pack of 4 runs around $14 at Camping World, vs buying a 2x8x8 piece of pressure treated lumber at $17 and having to cut it up. The pads are thin so the trailer tires roll up onto them easily, they won't rot, they are lightweight and store in a small space.

CYANE's trailer had been in the yard less than a month and the tires were beginning to disappear.


We bought these for our RV SUPER POKEY, turns out she didn't have stabilizers. We thought about taking them back but then had the idea of using them as trailer tire and trailer tongue jack pads.


The pad is a little over 36 square inches, so it spreads out the foot print of the tire.



The tongue jack was about halfway to China.



The plastic is UV stabilized, so they should last for a while.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

The Sunfish Owner's Manual

The Sunfish Owner's Manual is a one stop resource for the world's most popular sailboat. Inside there are chapters on the History of the Sunfish sailboat, and illustrated chapters on how to Buy, Rig, Sail, Maintain, Restore, Store, Transport and Sell the Sunfish. 


The Restore Chapter includes Do It Yourself pictures and step by step details on how to conduct common repairs, including foam replacements and rudder conversions. 

1968 Alcort Sunfish MERCI.



1953 Alcor Sunfish ZIP.



The Manual has an extensive Illustrated Glossary of Sunfish and sailing terms, with 230 photos by the author, taken in the course of numerous Sunfish restorations, for both wooden and fiberglass Sunfish as well as Sailfish. Included are weblinks to top Sunfish information sites, part suppliers and social network sites. There are also links to extended web content located on the author's youtube channel and over 1300 Picasa Web images. The Manual is not only a one stop reference for any Sunfish owner, it would be of interest to owners of other small sailboats as well. Brought to you by Small Boat Restoration.

Click here to purchase The Sunfish Owner's Manual and thank you for helping to return these wonderful boats to their natural habitat.

Cheers, Skipper and Clark



Cypress Handrails for Alcort Super Sailfish

 02 Sep 20:

Sold another set of handrails for an Alcort Super Sailfish, they have been popular this year, this set is heading to Oregon. I guess with pandemic everyone dug out their Grandma's Sailfish, picked it up and the handles came off. We like using cypress for the handrails, it smells good and is easy to work with. It is on the soft end of the hardwood scale and it is rot resistant. After playing with power tools we brought out Grandpa Nelson's ratcheting brace bit and drilled some holes for bench dogs and hold downs with some vintage Irwin spade bits. We drilled spots for storage of those parts as well.

Alcort Super Sailfish handrails anyone? We got an order for a set, ship to Oregon. Cut some 3/4 inch cypress to 41 inches long, per the pattern.


Ripped the 41 inch blank to the proper height, set by the pattern. We ended up with enough wood for 2 pairs of handrails. Love our portable DeWalt table saw, the base is very stable.


Cut the ends with the jigsaw, then we round the top edge of the handrails before we cut out the hand grip areas, more room for the router to slide along. 1/8th inch roundover bit.


Traced the handgrips with the pattern, cut our with the jig saw, rounded over handgrips, sanded with 120 grit, captured dust with the Dust Deputy.


Used a vintage handrail to mark factory position of screw holes. We let the buyer drill their own holes, as they might be able to match up the new handrail screw holes with the old screw holes. I think we have one vintage set of handrails, if someone would like to buy them send us a message.


I thought the ShopVac was getting weak, turns out the Dust Deputy 5 gallon bucket was full. We are saving a lot on filter bags!


Alcort Super Sailfish handrails. Send us a note if you need some. We can make them longer or shorter too.


Drilled some holes to store the bench dogs and stops, 3/4 inch Irwin auger bit in Grandpa Nelson's ratcheting brace bit. Also drilled a couple of holes in the bench for stops to be used with the vise, and we'll drill more as we find common spots where we need stops.


Grandpa Nelson's ratcheting brace bit.


Hand rails shipping out to Oregon! 

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Handrails for Alcort Sailfish

 Handrails for Sailfish $65 USD each plus shipping

We make handrails for the Alcort series of Sailfish, the wooden Standard Sailfish, the wooden Super Sailfish and the fiberglass Super Sailfish MK II. The Standard Sailfish handrails measure 28 inches and have 2 hand loops, the Super Sailfish and MK II handrails measure 41 inches with 3 loops. We cut them from cypress. Cypress is local, rot resistant, finishes beautifully and we love working with it. 

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

From Small Boat Restoration 2013

You order will include 2 handrails, we'll mark the bottom for factory screw hole locations. You will need to source four #10 x 2 1/2 inch screws for each handrail, silicone bronze preferred. 

Click Drop Down Arrows to Select Handrail Length and Wood Type (Oak currently not available).

Trailering GANNET Cross Country

 01 Sep 20:

Our buddy Webb Chiles' Moore 24 GANNET heading to Hilton Head from Mission Bay, she's got a tracker: https://my.yb.tl/gannet/1099/ She circumnavigated West to East, maybe this the start of East to West.

Looks like she spent the night at a truck stop just outside of Deming, New Mexico.




So we'll spend the next few days clicking refresh on our laptop to see where GANNET is, and we thank Webb for activating the Yellowbrick tracker :) Not much to do here on the Gulf Coast with high heat index the next few days, so we appreciate the entertainment.