1964 Alcort Sunfish ANNA 09 May 23 Air Leak Test

09 May 23:

We did an air leak test on ANNA to find leaks. For that we blow low pressure air into the hull through the deck drain and spray the entire hull with soapy water. Look for bubbles. We like using a cordless shop vac for the air supply, in today's adventure a DeWALT 20V wet/dry vac. The vac is also handy to suck water out of the cockpit bilge after the test. We found one obvious leak area on the port chine and another tiny spot on the starboard bow, just under the deck/hull seam.

We also scrubbed the ANNA with Comet and water, to get rid of as much dirt as possible and to act as the first fine grit towards bringing the gelcoat back to life. 

Air Leak Test VIdeo: https://youtu.be/2GZjwmV_sQw

After the washdown and air leak test, ANNA did an aileron roll to reposition on the finishing dolly.

We'd like to thank whoever designed this articulating bunk system at Laser Performance, we got the finishing dolly idea from them about a decade ago. The bunks position to fit either the hull V shape or the sligh camber on the deck. 

The bunks have bungees to pull the bunk horizontal when not in use. Those bungees are overdue for replacement!

Log of ANNA.

1963 Alcort Sunfish CHIP 18 Apr 21 Air Leak Test

18 Apr 21:

CHIP spent a little time at sea during Hurricane Sally and worked up against a piling for an hour or so. We repaired one small chip and thought it prudent to do an air leak test to make  sure she is still water tight. We found a few small areas that could use attention, not uncommon for a 58 year old wooden boat. For the air leak test we blew low volume, low pressure air into the hull with a shop vac and sprayed they hull with a mix of Dawn dishwashing liquid in water. The important point when pumping air  into a pontoon hull is to go slow and don't pump in too much air, it is possible to over-pressurize the hull and pop a seam, or cause an internal block to pull loose in the fiberglass hulls. 

A side benefit of the air leak test is that the boat gets a bath. When we get a new boat, we weigh it and do the air leak test, this lets us know the condition of the hull, find areas that need repair and get an idea if there is any water trapped inside the internal foam of of the fiberglass models of Sunfish. 

Any leak areas will be sealed up with thickened epoxy. 

Located a few tiny leaks along the deck/hull seam. 

Shop Vac + Dust Deputy = good air source and a wet vac.

A side benefit of the air leak test is that CHIP got a bath. Along the way we found storm debris still lodged in her daggerboard trunk. Poor CHIP.

Log of CHIP.

1978 AMF Sunfish SUGAR 2 26 Jul 18 Kirby Deck Paint

26 Jul 18:

Catching up the blog. Each layer of primer or paint took about a day, so we skipped posting about each coat. Sanded old paint off of SUGAR 2's deck with 120 grit pads on a DeWalt Random Orbital sander. Fixed one more void on the seam with THIXO injected by a syringe then lightly clamped. Then did another leak test, which she passed.

Put a coat of TotalBoat Gleam Satin Varnish on the rudder, tiller and tiller extension.

Sanded, leak tested, ready for tape, primer and paint.

Removed the bridle eyestraps, took out one screw at a time, swiveled the eyestrap out of the way, reinserted screw, then took out other screw. This helps ensure that the wood backer block inside does not drop off. The blocks are glued and fiberglassed into position, but 40 years later they can come loose. Sometimes excess expanding foam holds them in place.

Taped off the bow and stern and brushed on Kirby Primer tinted with #4 Orange with a short handled sash brush. 2 coats.

2 coats of Kirby's #4 Orange, it went on smooth with a brush, 100% in 90F temp. Color is awesome and so is Kirby's Tech Support, George answers the phone!

Skipper peeled the tape!



Removed the cockpit trim, 1/8 inch drill bit to drill out the head of the rivet. A wide, flat screw driver is handy to tap the trim loose. Sometimes a remnant of the rivet is stuck in the fiberglass, like you see on the far left of the photo, we used an awl and hammer to tap that piece out.

We've enjoyed using the Kirby Paint. They have been making paint since 1846 and custom mix the colors. It has been easy to use, levels well and the colors pop on this boat.

Before we did the deck we sprayed the perimeter and cubby of the cockpit with light gray Rust-Oleum, it was east to reach far corners with the spray. On the non-skid portion we brushed on Kirby #25 Light Gray.

Kirby White Primer on the mid deck then first coat of Kirby's Maynard Bray Off White. Primer brushed and then lightly sanded with 120 grit. Paint rolled with a Mighty Mini roller and tipped with a Corona Deck and Trim brush. Very happy with the results!

Applied the US Navy Fixed Wing Flight Training Squadron 27 (VT-27) markings.

Restoration Log of SUGAR 2.

1978 AMF Sunfish SUGAR 2 18 Jul 18 Leak Test and Deck Primer

18 Jul 18:

Skipper's idea, I had nothing to do with it. We padded the line with towels this time to prevent rubs on the soft paint.

She is getting good at doing rolls in Skipper's flipper cradle.

We filled the last seam void with Jamestown Distributors' TotalBoat THIXO, it was easy to just dispense it right into the syringe. #totalboat

Air leak test for the seam repair, passed with flying colors. The Porter Cable cordless wet/dry vac puts out plenty of air.



Sanded the last of the paint off of the deck with 120 grit.

Removed the bow handle and sanded the fairing compound around the bow handle screw holes. Someone added an extra set of holes at one point with plastic anchors, we removed those and filled the incorrect holes.

Removed the bridle eyestraps in prep for paint. The trick here is to only remove one screw at a time so the internal backer bock doesn't drop off.

Screws to make sure the internal backer block does not fall off.

Put another coat of TotalBoat Gleam Satin varnish on the mahogany rudder, tiller and tiller extension. #totalboat

Kirby Primer tinted with #4 Orange on the bow and stern. Applied 100%, with a soft brush, thicker than I'm used to but George let me know his paints are thicker than I'm used to. Looks to be leveling just fine.

SUGAR 2 checking the 10 day forecast, pondering Sea Trials.

Log of SUGAR 2.

1980 AMF SUGAR 2 16 Feb 18 Leak Test and Hull Cleaning

16 Feb 18:

Boy I don't remember SUGAR 2 being so grimy but it has been a scummy season for pine pollen and rain on and off. We needed to do an air leak test so while we had the soap out we decided to clean up the hull. This also gave us a chance to note any areas that were going to need epoxy attention, either THIXO or Marine Tex.

We did the leak test by taping over all known holes except for the vent hole on the forward cockpit bulkhead. Yes, that's a vent hole, don't seal it up. And don't let water fill up the cockpit during storage, or water will get in side the hull through the vent hole. We pressurized the boat with low volume, low pressure air and sprayed all the seams and hardware locations with Dawn dishwashing detergent, then looked for bubbles. We found leaks in the daggerboard trunk, deck edge seam and just over the gudgeon. To get a better leak at where the deck edge seam was leaking, we drilled out the trim rivets with a 1/8 inch bit and gently tapped off the aluminum trim.

Once the trim is off we can usually see an area where dirt has collected, that is usually the leak spot where water is flowing in and out of the boat. The seam gets damaged from collisions and rough handling during storage.



We used a few chemicals next, please read the Warnings and take proper protective precautions before using these chemicals. After the leak test we sprayed the boat with TILEX to get rid of the mildew. Then we rinsed it well and sprayed it again with Iron Out, let that sit a while and wet sanded with 1200 grit to release the stain. The boat also had paint overspray on it, and the wet sanding helped remove that. Once we are finished repairing leaks and cleaning up old repair areas, the boat will get compounded and waxed with 3M Fiberglass Restorer and Wax.

SUGAR 2 has some interesting gelcoat spider cracks on the bottom, below the cockpit, pressure points from where expanding foam was used to adhere the bottom of the cockpit to the inside of the hull. The fiberglass underneath is fine, we are going to leave those tiny cracks alone, unless we start to see gelcoat chipping off.

Dolly fun.



Restoration Log of SUGAR 2.

Sunfish Sailboat Air Leak Test 06 Nov 17

06 Nov 17:

How to find leaks in a Sunfish sailboat. We blew low pressure low volume air into the hull through the deck drain. Air can also be blown in through the small vent hole on the forward cockpit wall. Spray soapy water around all of the hardware and deck, top and bottom. We used Simple Green with a little Dawn dishwashing liquid added, good way to clean the boat as well.

Common leak areas are the deck edge seam (on pre 1988 boats with metal trim), the mast step, the daggerboard trunk, the bailer hole seam and the gudgeon. Plus transom drain plugs if someone added them.

Note the leak location and repair the damaged areas. Search our blog for common fiberglass repairs or order our book through Amazon, The Sunfish Owners Manual.

Fair Winds!

1980 AMF Sunfish Viper 06 Oct 17 Air Leak Test

06 Oct 17:

Took on about 1/2 gallon of water over 20 minutes. Ready for air leak test. Taped over all of the holes except for the cockpit bulkhead vent hole. Then pumped low pressure low volume air into the hull through the vent hole, soaped the hull with soapy water and looked for bubbles. Bubbles indicated an air leak.

Found a leak on the chine during the air leak test. Also found a few small leaks on the keel and deck seam.

We put the boat on its side and soaped over the top and bottom of the daggerboard trunk. Pumped in air, no bubbling = no leaks.

Filled the mast step with water and it did not leak.

Log of Viper.