Here's a blog of a different sort, to tell you a little bit about one small piece of what is going on in my life as Director at Camp Dixie. There will be more Dixie-centric information coming later, but right now, we will have something different.
So the other day, as the wind was blowing a little bit more forcefully than usual, I was thinking how nice it would be to have a small sailboat again. When I first learned how to sail, I learned in a Laser sailboat, which is a very fun little boat. They actually use that type of boat in the Olympics! When I was the Program Director at Camp Omega, they had a couple of sunfish sailboats, which were also small, and fun to sail in.
I have thoughts about the small sailboat every so often, and so I look on the internet at local classified ads and craigslist to see if I can find anything for sale. I have found out that the gulf coast is the place for large boats. There are very few (if any) smaller sailboats that show up in ads. But, the day I was thinking about it, there happened to be one on Craigslist. Hmmm interesting. The boat wasn't that far away (in Gulf Breeze, Florida) and looked to be a good price. I consulted with Kim about the sailboat, and then sent off an email to the owner. Here's what I was told. The boat was in good shape, but hadn't been sailed since before Hurricane Ivan (2004) after that her husband had it sitting in the backyard on the trailer which was included in the price. The trailer was rusty, but was solid, and there was even a new sail for it.
So, the next day, after attending church in Pensacola, we headed out to Gulf Breeze to see the boat. It was almost exactly as she said. It had most certainly been sitting in her backyard (which was wooded) since hurricane Ivan. The boat had accumulated quite a bit of mildew, but pushing on the top and bottom, it seemed solid, and didn't suffer from the dreaded delamination (which is when the fiberglass starts to separate and weaken.) We had a few moments of almost not wanting to buy the boat (we had to buy new tires for it, but were able to get the owner to pay for one of them). But the boat looked to be in good shape, and the new sail was very seriously new ($290 value right there.)
So we headed home with our new toy, and prayed that the Gulf Breeze police wouldn't notice that the trailer didn't have any lights and was peeling paint as it was going down the road.
The picture on the right side here is what the boat looked like when it arrived at the Camp. That's when I started learning more information about it. First of all it's a newer sunfish than I have ever sailed in before. Not that it's that new. It was manufactured in 1989. It really was in good shape, with the only problem being that some fittings will need to be replaced, and the deck has a small crack near the cockpit. Luckily that's not structural, it's only cosmetic.
On a "One Class" Sailboat like this one (which means that every single boat is made to specific specifications) you can tell a lot by the serial number on the hull. So the serial number (PSB23396D989) tells us this: The boat was manufactured by Pearson Yachts, the factory serial number is 23396, it was manufactured in February of 1989, and its a 1989 model Sunfish. This boat's serial number starts with PSB which means it was manufactured by Pearson Yachts, which owned the rights to sunfish in 1989. However if you look at Sunfish owner's information, most people will tell you to stay away from the Pearson manufactured boats. Pearson had a bit of a cash problem when they were making Sunfish, and went bankrupt after only making Sunfish for a few years. They have been known to cut corners, and often suffered from delamination. I had already determined that there wasn't any of that involved, so it looks like I have one of the good Pearson boats (and they supposedly do exist).
It also had a United States Yacht Racing sticker on the back of the transom, and it appears at some time that this boat was used for racing. That's not unusual for a one design class boat like this. Usually people that are racers buy new boats specifically to race them, then after a few years they sell it and move on to a new boat. That creates a large enough used market so that "normal" people who aren't racing (like me) can get them pretty cheaply.
One thing I did discover is that it appears the remnants of Hurricane Ivan are still inside the boat. The boat is a "wet boat" which means it is probably too heavy to race anymore (I wasn't planning on doing that anyway) and I will probably need to cut some holes in the hull to dry out the flotation blocks inside the hull. I had to do that with one of the Camp Omega boats, and it really helped get the boat lighter.
Anyway, that's about it for now, I will be continuing to post as i move further along in the process of getting the boat cleaned up and in the water.
Peace,
Mac
So the other day, as the wind was blowing a little bit more forcefully than usual, I was thinking how nice it would be to have a small sailboat again. When I first learned how to sail, I learned in a Laser sailboat, which is a very fun little boat. They actually use that type of boat in the Olympics! When I was the Program Director at Camp Omega, they had a couple of sunfish sailboats, which were also small, and fun to sail in.
I have thoughts about the small sailboat every so often, and so I look on the internet at local classified ads and craigslist to see if I can find anything for sale. I have found out that the gulf coast is the place for large boats. There are very few (if any) smaller sailboats that show up in ads. But, the day I was thinking about it, there happened to be one on Craigslist. Hmmm interesting. The boat wasn't that far away (in Gulf Breeze, Florida) and looked to be a good price. I consulted with Kim about the sailboat, and then sent off an email to the owner. Here's what I was told. The boat was in good shape, but hadn't been sailed since before Hurricane Ivan (2004) after that her husband had it sitting in the backyard on the trailer which was included in the price. The trailer was rusty, but was solid, and there was even a new sail for it.
So, the next day, after attending church in Pensacola, we headed out to Gulf Breeze to see the boat. It was almost exactly as she said. It had most certainly been sitting in her backyard (which was wooded) since hurricane Ivan. The boat had accumulated quite a bit of mildew, but pushing on the top and bottom, it seemed solid, and didn't suffer from the dreaded delamination (which is when the fiberglass starts to separate and weaken.) We had a few moments of almost not wanting to buy the boat (we had to buy new tires for it, but were able to get the owner to pay for one of them). But the boat looked to be in good shape, and the new sail was very seriously new ($290 value right there.)
So we headed home with our new toy, and prayed that the Gulf Breeze police wouldn't notice that the trailer didn't have any lights and was peeling paint as it was going down the road.
The picture on the right side here is what the boat looked like when it arrived at the Camp. That's when I started learning more information about it. First of all it's a newer sunfish than I have ever sailed in before. Not that it's that new. It was manufactured in 1989. It really was in good shape, with the only problem being that some fittings will need to be replaced, and the deck has a small crack near the cockpit. Luckily that's not structural, it's only cosmetic.
On a "One Class" Sailboat like this one (which means that every single boat is made to specific specifications) you can tell a lot by the serial number on the hull. So the serial number (PSB23396D989) tells us this: The boat was manufactured by Pearson Yachts, the factory serial number is 23396, it was manufactured in February of 1989, and its a 1989 model Sunfish. This boat's serial number starts with PSB which means it was manufactured by Pearson Yachts, which owned the rights to sunfish in 1989. However if you look at Sunfish owner's information, most people will tell you to stay away from the Pearson manufactured boats. Pearson had a bit of a cash problem when they were making Sunfish, and went bankrupt after only making Sunfish for a few years. They have been known to cut corners, and often suffered from delamination. I had already determined that there wasn't any of that involved, so it looks like I have one of the good Pearson boats (and they supposedly do exist).It also had a United States Yacht Racing sticker on the back of the transom, and it appears at some time that this boat was used for racing. That's not unusual for a one design class boat like this. Usually people that are racers buy new boats specifically to race them, then after a few years they sell it and move on to a new boat. That creates a large enough used market so that "normal" people who aren't racing (like me) can get them pretty cheaply.
One thing I did discover is that it appears the remnants of Hurricane Ivan are still inside the boat. The boat is a "wet boat" which means it is probably too heavy to race anymore (I wasn't planning on doing that anyway) and I will probably need to cut some holes in the hull to dry out the flotation blocks inside the hull. I had to do that with one of the Camp Omega boats, and it really helped get the boat lighter.Anyway, that's about it for now, I will be continuing to post as i move further along in the process of getting the boat cleaned up and in the water.
Peace,
Mac
0 comments:
Post a Comment