Caution: TETRIS Ahead

09 May 22:

Garage TETRIS led to Boat Works TETRIS. We freed up some wire shelving in the garage and it wandered out to the shed. The new shelf will hold patterns.

Several full size patterns were also evicted from the garage.

We also gathered full size wood and paper patterns for the wooden Alcort Sunfish.

1963 Alcort Sunfish CHIP 15 Oct 19 WoodenBoat Relaunchings

15 Oct 19:

CHIP found her way into the latest issue of WoodenBoat, she is in the Relaunchings section of the magazine. Proud owners!

Log of CHIP

1963 Alcort Sunfish CHIP 20 Jul 19 Sea Trials

20 Jul 19:

CHIP is ready for Sea Trials!

We looked out and the wind was perfect for a beam reach on and off the beach. CHIP flew through Sea Trials, over, through and under a few waves. 98F Heat Index, the Bay felt like a hot tub. Winds steady at 14 gusting 17, one gust hit 25. But the waves were well spaced. She tacked all over the place, sail set great and blades behaved. The splashguard was excellent to divert the water taken aboard during submarine mode. The helm was responsive and the boat felt solid. We found that the tiller extension was too small of diameter for secure grip and too varnished, very slippery. ANnd if the sheet gets away, the boat just stops and the rudder can be used to maneuver back under the boom, grab the sheet and sail away. Bonus for the day, caught a stern wave!

Log of CHIP.

1963 Alcort Sunfish CHIP 10 Apr 19 Scarfs and Keel Strips

10 Apr 19:

Worked on the bottom panels and keel strip for CHIP. For an 8:1 scarf on 1/4 inch plywood mark a 2 inch scarf line (8 x .25 = 2). The end of the panel is then planed to a slope, with a feather edge on the end up to full thickness at the 2 inch line. And since we want this stern panel scarf to fit underneath the bow panel scarf, we cut the scarf on the top face of the panel as we look at it. For the bow panel, we cut the scarf on the underside face.

120 grit belt on a Black and Decker belt sander a Stanley #5 jack plane to cut the scarfs into the 4 bottom panels. We lined them up on the 2 inch marks and cut the slope, looking for the ply glue lines as we shaved wood away. The goal is to get them as evenly spaced as possible, with the big picture being that the panels are being glued together. and no one will see that part while you are hiking out.

Cut 3/4 inch bottom panel centering strips from pine on the Ryobi table saw. They are sized to fit in the center notch on the keel strip centering jig. The weathered piece above the calipers is the old keel strip, used as a guide to find measurements for the centering strips and new keel strips. The strips are in two pieces, one to fit ahead of the daggerboard and one behind, and that means they can also be cut from an 8 foot piece of lumber. In ohter news Push Stick v1.0 is holding up pretty well.

Attached centering strips temporarily with #10 silicone bronze screws, drilled the pilot hole with a Fuller combination pilot hole and countersink bit. Those bits are tapered and work well for the softer silicone bronze screws, the same ones we'll use to permanently attach the keel strip. Bottom panels will be fit, glued and nailed, then centering strips come out and permanent keel strips wit overlapping edge attached. And the Kobalt drill and impact driver have held up well, we especially like the impact driver to put these screws in. Battery life has been great for our projects.

Attached centering strips temporarily, panels will be fit, glued and nailed, then centering strips come out and permanent keel strips wit overlapping edge attached. Keel strip is on the left, you can barely make out the T shape where the strip will nestle between and overlap the panels.

Log of CHIP.

Alcort Wooden Sunfish CHIP 05 May 18 Bottom Removal

05 May 18:

Removed the bottom from CHIP, our 1963 ALcort Sunfish. Pried up part of the outer seam with an old chisel, slid in a reciprocating saw with metal blade and cut the outer seam loose. Then we pulled up the 3/4 inch wide center keel strip, started the keel seam with a chisel then slid a crowbar under the panel and them off.

The scarf joint was pretty interesting, kind of a lap joint.

The bottom is 4 panels because of the V bottom, the deck can be 2 because it is flat. The beam is 3 feet 11 1/2 inches, perfect for a 4x8 panel. Coincidence?

The inside looks new, not sure how because the outside was pretty beat up.

Log of CHIP.

1963 Alcort Wooden Sunfish CHIP 01 May 18 Dolly Ride

01 May 18:

We moved boats around today, the Dabber is finished so there is space in the Carriage House for the SUper Sailfish ZSA ZSA and the wooden Sunfish CHIP. CHIP has been stored for 5 years, patiently watching other projects come and go and it is her turn now, we will be able be taking lines off of both boats and repairing the plywood bottoms, then fair, sand, prime and paint.

Skipper pulled the finishing dolly around to the Sunfish Shack so we could retrieve CHIP.



I was going to try and wedge CHIP out of the storage rack with the dolly set to the side, but Skipper suggested just putting the dolly under CHIP and removing the rack crossbars instead. Brilliant! CHIP gently lowered down onto the dolly, a little worried about the recip saw but that was used to cut away the crossbars.

So now we have the Super Sailfish ZSA ZSA and wooden Sunfish CHIP together again, ready for bottom work.

We also moved the Catfish SMEDLEY up front, so we can work on all 3, repairing the hulls, sanding and cleaning up gelcoat.

Log of CHIP.
Log of ZSA ZSA.
Log of SMEDLEY.

Alcort Sunfish Kit 1964

16 Feb 18:

Alcort put out kits for the wooden Sunfish, Standard Sailfish and Super Sailfish until the early 70s. A wooden Sunfish kit cost $297 USD.

Alcort Super Sailfish and Sunfish Archaeology

We have a friend working on an Alcort Standard Sailfish (wooden, 11' 7") and he had some rudder questions. Here is a tour of an Alcort Super Sailfish (wooden, 13' 7") and an Alcort wooden Sunfish, describing some of the rudder assembly nomenclature and other features of the early Alcort sailboats.



Chip and Zsa Zsa's Log

Happy New Year 2017

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family, we hope you enjoy a safe and prosperous year of rest and relaxation (R&R). We hope to do more boating this year and finish up the St. Jacques build, then work on Chip and Zsa Zsa, with 1980 Sunfish Sugar 2 and Viper along the way.

Penobscot 14 St. Jacques new build.

Alcort Sunfish Chip and Alcort Super Sailfish Zsa Zsa.

We plan to write a manual on wooden Sunfish and Super Sailfish restoration along the way, covering all aspects from stem to stern.

Click here for Chip and Zsa Zsa's story.

Zip gets a strip

Our 1953 Sunfish Zip got a cursory glance on the bottom when we restored her in 2013. There is a leak and we had some epoxy runs so we decided to strip the bottom, clean out the seams, recaulk and put on a fresh coat of Rustoleum Topside red.

We carefully removed the old paint with a belt sander and 40 grit, making sure to use light pressure and hold the sander flat. For the seams along the keel we used a putty knife and in some areas an oscillating tool to remove failed sealant.

Paint swatch test, we used Rustoleum Topside marine paint Bright Red, which is the color on the right bow and a small stripe over the Interlux Brightside Fire Red. The oil base in Rustoleum should condition the wood.

Zip had a date at the Bagdad Riverfest boat show. Those streaks are epoxy runs from where I put the West System for the sides on too thick in 2013, they had to go. The peeling seam compound in the keel also had to go, it appears to be polysulfide.

Belt sander with a light touch, 40 grit then 120. The shop vac with a HEPA filter hooks up to the belt sander, plus I wore a mask, goggles, hat, gloves and a long sleeve shirt...and pants. Putty knife to scrape out seam compound and clear a groove for Pettit Flexpoxy.

The seam compound peeled out easy....too easy, maybe the source of our leak.

Found a nice scarf on the port side bottom.

to be continued...