1981 AMF Sunfish MADISON 11 Feb 21 Float Test

 11 Feb 21:

Had a small weather window to drop MADISON in for a Functional Check Float (FCF) and Rigging Check. Skipper let me be the Functional Check Pilot (FCP). 

69F, very little wind, most of it coming straight off the beach. MADISON had fun and hit me in the head with her boom about 20 times, knocked my hat off twice. We stayed shallow, never made it out far enough to get the daggerboard fully down, my kind of water.

Light wind coming right off the beach so I used the Crickle to get back to shore.

Log of MADISON. 

Critter Condos and Boat Storage

14 Jul 20:

MADISON was a family boat in Pensacola from 2000-2004 then out of the family's hands for a few years. She was stored outdoors near Escambia Bay when Hurricane Ivan came through. We tracked her down in 2011 and bought the hull back, had a fun time picking her up and chasing out a few critters from her hull. Tip: Don't leave the inspection port open on a boat without a rodent screen in place.

Here she is the day we picked her up, she was leaning against the retaining wall in the background, under some oak trees. Skipper lifted one end and I lifted the other, and we heard a scurrying sound. A huge rat popped out of the inspection port, said something rude and ran off. To Skipper's credit she did not drop the boat, nor did I, although Skipper did dance a little jig.

We got MADISON home and I spent an afternoon with a garden hose and wet vac to remove as much dirt, leaves and twigs as I could. Plus other unmentionable stuff. The name RATATOUILLE was briefly considered. We flushed the hull for quite a while and she has had a fun time sailing since then.

Fast forward to a few days ago, when I opened the inspection port to check for any leaks I was surprised to see more leaves and twigs. Hmmmmm. I guess what happened was when MADISON took her round trip in a Pods container to Chesapeake VA and back she got bumped around enough to shake more critter condo furnishings loose. So I got the cordless shop vac and several extension wands to vacuum out as much as I could reach.

Looking portside aft at the flotation block and cockpit. Couldn't reach past the block.

\

Looking starboard aft at the flotation block and cockpit. The block is set a little more towards the side so the extension wands could reach back further.

Looking forward.

Is there more of Mother Nature still in there? Who knows? The good news is that there was no smell, everything in there has been baked dry.

Log of MADISON.

Sunfish MADISON and PHOENIX 11 Jul 20 Regatta

11 Jul 20:

Air Temp 84F, Dewpoint 80F. Water Temp 78F. Winds NNW 10-13. Light swell.

Peeked outside this morning to check the status of the Saharan dust and Heat Warning. Nice wind from the NNW and it wasn't a sauna yet, so we launched our Sunfish PHOENIX and MADISON. Skipper launched first in PHOENIX and I followed. 2 boats out, so a race ensued.

Video: https://youtu.be/x3L3Bu81mys



Results: Skipper won, I DNFd but got back to the shade first.

Sunfish Sailing

10 Apr 19:

Spring Commissioning for a few boats, we wanted to rinse off the covers and check and make sure squirrels were not nesting under the boat covers. Sprayed off the covers with a pressure washer and uncovered the boats to dry out the sails. Found one squirrel nest being built, no damage to sails, yay. Evicted squirrel. We cleaned all the boats up and since they were pulled out already decided to go for a sunset sail and get a new Skipper checked out. The next boats up for sailing were 1965 Sunfish WAVE and 1984 Sunfish MADISON.

Wind died so we got to scull back in with the rudder.

AMF Sunfish MADISON Y2K

20 Jan 19:

Our AMF Sunfish MADISON came from Corpus Christi out to Florida in 2000, she had been part of a College sailing program there. We just came across this shot, Clark sailing Escambia Bay while Skipper supervises. The amazing thing about this photo is the two other sailboats in the background. Not only is that more than we have ever seen out there, they are way North in the Bay, up past the I-10 bridge and the train trestle!

Log of MADISON.

Sunfish Palooza

04 Jun 18:

WAVE and MADISON were up next on the Marine Traffic Control Board, nice light wind morning and a good time for some spring cleaning. We launched and drifted around for a bit.

1965 Alcort Sunfish WAVE with Skipper on the helm. The Riviera sail is our favorite color combo.

Nice breeze for ghosting.

We had fun sailing and when we got back WAVE and MADISON got a fresh water rinse down. While they were rigged we decided to work on another project, which was to get WAVE, MADISON and PHOENIX set up with their spars and blades and mark them so we know which set goes with each boat, each time, as they are set up just a bit different. The sails are easy, they match the boat, this will also help us figure out how many extra daggerboards and rudders we have, designate a spare set and use the others on restoration boats. So we rigged PHOENIX for the party.

We got all the parts sorted and then color coded the tips of the blades for each boat with a little shot of Rustoleum. We taped the line with blue painters tape, and added a couple of wraps to contain overspray, then shot on 4 coats.

Skipper sent me aloft to get a glamor shot. We really enjoy how easy the Sunfish is to maintain, store and sail, a classic since 1953.

Zip and Madison

1953 Alcort Sunfish Zip and 198? AMF Sunfish Madison sport their sails from Schurr Sails Pensacola, FL.