I found Polly on craigslist. I was looking for a Sunfish because I was pretty familiar with them after teaching a class on small-boat sailing. Sunfish are pretty common and it is easy to find replacement parts. There are tons of forums for sunfish owners as well and I found it easy to search preexisting advice on common repairs.
Polly was definitely a fixer-upper but I was looking for a project. I think as a rule of thumb, for every repair you know you'll have to make when you are first looking at a boat, there's probably another one that you can't see.
I decided to skip a day of school to take the six hour trip in my mom's '95 minivan to the coast where I could pick up Polly from some crusty old dude. He had a backyard full of interesting stuff he was trying to get rid of. I believe I remember seeing a Porsche mixed in among old dressers and busted go-karts. It was an interesting mix of treasures. This guy was nice enough to help me get Polly up onto the roof rack of the van and help me strap it down. I got her home in one piece and couldn't help but rig her up and see what she needed work on.
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| First time rigging her up in the front yard the same day I got her home. |
Step 2: Figure Out What Needs Fixing
Polly used to be a race boat and had definitely seen some time in the ocean because she had some serious corrosion everywhere. I unscrewed all of the corroded deck hardware. Some could be polished up but a lot of it was going to have to be replaced. The sail was pretty dry rotted with plenty of holes and rips that would have to be patched. the deck paint rubbed off as a powder where you touched it. There were pretty big dents and cracks in the fiberglass hull that would need repairing. The last owner had done a pretty bad job of trying to patch what turned out to be a pretty bad gash in the keel. The gel coat was rubbing off just like the deck paint. There was no daggerboard or rudder assembly. The rudder hardware that was on the boat was for the old style rudder that isn't made anymore which told me that she was from before 1972, so she was at least 42 years old when I got her. The sheet and halyard were both pretty dry-rotted and would need to be replaced.
Step 3: Tackle One Repair at a Time
I started with what I thought would be the most time consuming. SANDING. I decided that it would be better to remove all the paint and start over from scratch than to try to paint over a crappy base. I went out and bought an orbital sander and some 60 grit sandpaper. It took forever but I still think it was worth it. After i sanded everything down to the bare material, I used JB Weld to patch all the holes. I'm very sure this is frowned upon by most sailors but it seemed to work great!
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| Beginning of sanding |
Paint had to be done over several days. I could only do one thin coat per day. I found mixed opinions on what paint to use but I settled on using two different colors of Rust-Oleum Topside paint. I wouldn't have used this on the hull if she has being stored on the water, but I think it was okay for a daysailer. I sanded with a relatively fine grit by hand (the orbital sander was a bit too aggressive) between each coat as recommended and thinned the paint before each application as directed on the can. I used a high density foam roller then went back with a foam brush to knock out any bubbles. You can find pretty comprehensive videos of the "roll and tip" method on youtube. It was kind of amazing how much better Polly looked after each new coat of paint. I think I ended up doing 4 coats on the hull and 4 on the deck.
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| Before any paint, after sanding |
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| Deck immediately after last coat |
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| Final hull coat |
I cut some inspection ports right in front of the daggerboard slot and in the stern so that I could access the inside for mounting various hardware. I thought it was important to make sure there was an aluminum backer plate for any deck hardware so that nothing ripped out of the relatively soft fiberglass deck. I never put the coaming back on because it was so broken and decided I didn't really need one. I got the new rudder attachment mounted and riveted on the cleaned aluminum trim around the edge of the boat. I had finished all the renovations but I hit a wall when I had to purchase a brand new daggerboard, rudder assembly and tiller arm. These last few parts cost several hundred dollars and it took some time before I had enough extra money to spend on them. It killed me a little knowing Polly was all ready to sail but I couldn't take her out until I had the last few pieces.
Step 4: Name Her
I'm pretty sure it's bad luck if you don't. I got Polly's name from a song that was stuck in my head while I working on her. Its not uncommon to name your boat after a female acquaintance like your significant other or your mom or something. Just make sure you name her before you take her out for the first time or she'll be sure to get struck by lightening or run into a hurricane.
Step 5: Test Her Out
This is definitely the most exciting part. You get to find out if the patches are going to hold and if the sail is going to rip and if the name you gave her was good enough to keep her from getting struck by lightening. Everything you worked for and spent money on comes to a climax at this point. I took Polly out on a pretty calm lake near my house the first time just to make sure she could float without too much stress.
Polly performed well and there was no detectable water leakage into the hull so I took that as a thumbs up for taking her into rougher waters. I had never sailed in the ocean before but I had to get Polly back to the coast from whence she came and take her out on the Atlantic. The first day I got her down to the beach and got her rigged up, I realized it was too windy to sail. The weather was on the verge of a storm and after some convincing from my family, I decided it would be best to take her out when things had calmed down. The next day, it was still pretty windy but a bit less severe. I was a little scared to take her out but figured I had enough experience to manage. Someone must have been looking out for me because a random stranger approached us and asked me about what I was up to. He was probably mid-50's and informed me that he had a good amount of sailing experience in Sunfish on the ocean. He was wary to go with me when he found out I had no experience on the ocean but after some convincing (mostly him convincing himself) he agreed to go out with me. He basically took the reins and sailed Polly for me but it was a wild ride. Water rushed into the footwell because I didn't have the coaming on the deck to deflect the waves that were crashing over the bow. The atuobailer that would usually evacuate the water was corroded shut so we were slowly filling up with water. Therefore, it became my job to use the water pump I brought to get the water out as quickly as I could. We were moving faster than I had ever gone in a sailboat and the waves were pounding pretty hard against the sides of the boat. I had to lean out of the boat more than once to keep us from flipping over, which would mean destruction for Polly. It was terrifyingly exciting. Eventually we came in when my stranger friend ran out of nerves. It wasn't until we dragged Polly up onto the beach (scraping up her brand new red paint job) that we saw the sail was hanging on by a few threads top the tip of the boom arm. If it had torn all the way, the sail would have just flapped around in the breeze and Polly would have been stuck at sea. Between the total stranger becoming my captain and the patched and rotten sail barely holding on, I felt like a pretty lucky guy.
I'm pretty sure it's bad luck if you don't. I got Polly's name from a song that was stuck in my head while I working on her. Its not uncommon to name your boat after a female acquaintance like your significant other or your mom or something. Just make sure you name her before you take her out for the first time or she'll be sure to get struck by lightening or run into a hurricane.
Step 5: Test Her Out
This is definitely the most exciting part. You get to find out if the patches are going to hold and if the sail is going to rip and if the name you gave her was good enough to keep her from getting struck by lightening. Everything you worked for and spent money on comes to a climax at this point. I took Polly out on a pretty calm lake near my house the first time just to make sure she could float without too much stress.
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| Polly, Her, and I on Polly's maiden voyage |
Polly performed well and there was no detectable water leakage into the hull so I took that as a thumbs up for taking her into rougher waters. I had never sailed in the ocean before but I had to get Polly back to the coast from whence she came and take her out on the Atlantic. The first day I got her down to the beach and got her rigged up, I realized it was too windy to sail. The weather was on the verge of a storm and after some convincing from my family, I decided it would be best to take her out when things had calmed down. The next day, it was still pretty windy but a bit less severe. I was a little scared to take her out but figured I had enough experience to manage. Someone must have been looking out for me because a random stranger approached us and asked me about what I was up to. He was probably mid-50's and informed me that he had a good amount of sailing experience in Sunfish on the ocean. He was wary to go with me when he found out I had no experience on the ocean but after some convincing (mostly him convincing himself) he agreed to go out with me. He basically took the reins and sailed Polly for me but it was a wild ride. Water rushed into the footwell because I didn't have the coaming on the deck to deflect the waves that were crashing over the bow. The atuobailer that would usually evacuate the water was corroded shut so we were slowly filling up with water. Therefore, it became my job to use the water pump I brought to get the water out as quickly as I could. We were moving faster than I had ever gone in a sailboat and the waves were pounding pretty hard against the sides of the boat. I had to lean out of the boat more than once to keep us from flipping over, which would mean destruction for Polly. It was terrifyingly exciting. Eventually we came in when my stranger friend ran out of nerves. It wasn't until we dragged Polly up onto the beach (scraping up her brand new red paint job) that we saw the sail was hanging on by a few threads top the tip of the boom arm. If it had torn all the way, the sail would have just flapped around in the breeze and Polly would have been stuck at sea. Between the total stranger becoming my captain and the patched and rotten sail barely holding on, I felt like a pretty lucky guy.
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| Polly's real test with me and a stranger at the rudder |
-Me, The Sailor
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