I need some advice on a sailboat

[mopp]

I was driving through a neighborhood when I notice a small boat leaned up agents a tree in the middle of some other trash. I stopped and knocked on the door to see if I could have the boat and they said they would sale it for $5! I have never owed or worked on a boat before. The boat has no name or anything other than a series of numbers painted on the boat on each side of the front. There is no rigging or sail or anything other than a hull. Will it be worth it to put any work into the boat to get it sailing again? The boat looks very similar to a sunfish type of sail boat. I will post some pictures very soon. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[troy2000]

Not going to be able to help you much without more information; it's kind of like saying, "hey. I just bought a car; no idea what kind it is or what's wrong with it. What do you guys think I need to do to get it running?"

You'll probably have at least five bucks worth of fun fiddling with it, though. Post pictures, and we'll go from there.

[alan white]

I've always avoided sailboats with no sails because sails are always tailored to the boat and hence are usually hard to obtain other than buying new, which can be as expensive as buying an entire used boat.
Not so if rudder or centerboard is missing. Those are easily fabricated by any good carpenter.
A Sunfish type boat is nearly useless for any purpose other than sailing, so ask yourself whether you would still use the boat without all of the sails and rigging... for what?
People lose the parts and pieces to these board boats all the time. Keeping track of anything as complicated as a sailboat is beyond the abilities of most people------- eventually, a lot of perfectly good sailboats with hardly any use end up in the trash.
There are many board boats and small sailboats out there for under $500.00 and they usually have sails and rigging, which certainly is cheaper than a replacement set of sails and rigging.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by alan white

I've always avoided sailboats with no sails because sails are always tailored to the boat and hence are usually hard to obtain other than buying new, which can be as expensive as buying an entire used boat.
Not so if rudder or centerboard is missing. Those are easily fabricated by any good carpenter.
A Sunfish type boat is nearly useless for any purpose other than sailing, so ask yourself whether you would still use the boat without all of the sails and rigging... for what?
People lose the parts and pieces to these board boats all the time. Keeping track of anything as complicated as a sailboat is beyond the abilities of most people------- eventually, a lot of perfectly good sailboats with hardly any use end up in the trash.
There are many board boats and small sailboats out there for under $500.00 and they usually have sails and rigging, which certainly is cheaper than a replacement set of sails and rigging.

The fact of the matter is that that the gentleman has already acquired a $5.00 sailboat. Let's see if we can help make it work for him, instead of lecturing him on why he shouldn't have wasted his five bucks.

Personally I don't see it as a waste anyway, even if he never gets the boat in the water. He'll get his money's worth just fiddling with it for entertainment. I doubt studying a regular-sized, one-topping pizza special for the same price would be nearly as much fun.

Waiting on pictures, Mopp....

[GTS225]

FWIW from a neophyte, I'm of the same opinion as Troy. For $5, it would have been in the back of my pickup when I drove away.
The numbers painted on the bow are probably your state's registration numbers. Those might help you to identify the hull, if the state required that info to be on file. If there's enough transom to support a small outboard that may also be an option, or you could go with one of the larger trolling motors and an on-board deep-cycle battery for propulsion. (That remains to be determined once the hull has been identified.)

Either way, as Troy said, pics will be needed.

Roger

[gonzo]

Some photos will get you better advice. At least we should be able to tell what kind of a boat it is. Where in the US are you?

[PAR]

Look for the HIN or do a registration check on the numbers.

[alan white]

Originally Posted by troy2000

The fact of the matter is that that the gentleman has already acquired a $5.00 sailboat. Let's see if we can help make it work for him, instead of lecturing him on why he shouldn't have wasted his five bucks.

Personally I don't see it as a waste anyway, even if he never gets the boat in the water. He'll get his money's worth just fiddling with it for entertainment. I doubt studying a regular-sized, one-topping pizza special for the same price would be nearly as much fun.

Waiting on pictures, Mopp....

No, he didn't say a thing about his having purchased the boat. And none of what I said should do more than inform the potential buyer that sails and rigging are expensive, something he may not have known.
If you really believe that the hull has a positive value, I've got some similar values lying around my yard and I can do better than $5.00 on any of them.
I'll pretend that no matter what you invest in rebuilding a boat, it's always worth the time and energy, no matter what.

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by alan white

No, he didn't say a thing about his having purchased the boat. And none of what I said should do more than inform the potential buyer that sails and rigging are expensive, something he may not have known.
If you really believe that the hull has a positive value, I've got some similar values lying around my yard and I can do better than $5.00 on any of them.
I'll pretend that no matter what you invest in rebuilding a boat, it's always worth the time and energy, no matter what.

Lighten up a little, Alan.

When he says he's never owned a boat 'before,' he asks advice on what to do with this one, and he says he'll post pic's, it's a reasonable inference that he paid the five bucks and drove away with a boat. And its 'value' is a pretty flexible judgment.

He hasn't said what kind of a hull he has, what material it's made of or what condition it's in, so I think it's a little premature to assume he's wasting his time and money. For all we know, he might be able to stick a closet-pole mast and bed sheet sail on it and go sailing.

Your response reminds me of one time in a sporting goods store when a young guy brought in an old Winchester '94 that had been out in the weather somewhere for a while. He laid it on the counter and asked what it would take to 'get it working again.' The store's gunsmith told him, "I'd have to charge you at least $400.00 to restore that, and it still wouldn't be right when I got done. You'd be better off just throwing it away and buying a new one." The kid was kind of crestfallen; he picked up the rifle and walked out.

I was standing there thinking, "wait a minute. He didn't ask what it would take to cherry it out and 'restore' it; he just wanted it made usable again.'

So I followed him out, and bought that rifle and another one from him for $48.00 and change (all I had on me). I cleaned the Winchester thoroughly to get the sand and dirt out of it, steel wooled the worst of the rust off the barrel, sanded down the weather-bleached walnut stock and soaked it in linseed oil, beeswax and turpentine until the color came back, filed a burr off the sear, and added a peep sight.

No one's ever going to mistake it for a new rifle. But it's a sweet shooter, and I've had a couple of friends offer to buy it from me... so I'd say it was worth what I paid for it.

[Saildude]

My take on what troy2000 said originally was to wait and get more information from the original poster and not to discourage them too much. Yes all boat repairs seem to run over budget and take longer than planned especially those done at home or by owners with not much experience. The forum is littered with rebuilds gone not as planned, but there are also many that went well and the person now has a boat that they are having fun with.

Let's wait for a few pictures from the OP and see exactly what they want to do and what shape the boat is in.

[taow]

i agree some full all part pics would help and for my 2 cents worth, "BLOODY GOOD SCORE"
i looked up the sun fish if the ones i saw great way to get a start on sailing for a start! and im not sure about the US but hear in australia you could rig most of that your self, theres not alot to it, an you can get a lite sail for that 2nd hand in great condition for under $200, shame your not over here i know a sail maker in airlie beach, best work ive seen, ok ive seen as good but hes top work for a dam good price, i just had 2 head sails 1 genoa, 1 no#3jib with UV and a main sail for a 36ft tri at a cost of i **** you nit, $2500 main sail with boom bag, $800 genoa and $500 for the jib, so shows if you look you will find
Getting back to you post some pics, i wanna see this $5 beauty,
good questions by the way, lack of pics not so good, bad bad boy lol

lol PS remove the rego numbers or at least check its not stolen before you put any money into it, sounds like some ones rubbish your now treasure, but better to be safe then sorry,
nice buy mopp

loli swaped an F100 for an ultralite air craft many years ago, was the best swap i was ever offered lol or the was that one time with these 2 chicks haha but thats another story
Regards
Alex

[mopp]

Sorry it took so long to get a picture up. I can see for myself that it would need a new paint job eventually. The underside of the deck has had a very poorly applied layer of fiberglass put on it and it is now flaking off. I know a good deal about fiberglass and epoxy sealant.
I have played around on a boat about this size with a sunfish type sail. The whole boat was very jury rigged and redneck. The boat was a lot of fun and that’s all I really want not anything fancy.

[gonzo]

She'll probably float and sail. What part of the US are you in?

[mopp]

I'm in the lower half of MS not much of an ocean to sail in but some great lakes. She isn't water tight around that edge that is leeking and there are a few hardware holes in the deck but they should be easily fixed.

[taow]

Thumb ups mopp looks sweet and $5,
agree looks like a bit of elbow grease and you'll have it water tight or as water tight as you need it, then some fun fun fun you will have lol good luck on her matey well done
Alex