Several years ago, my brother spotted a Sunfish hull in the trash and loaded it on his pickup truck. He lives next to a lake and used the hull to support an American flag. He stuck a 2" PVC drain pipe in the mast socket, fastened a flag to the top and anchored it in the middle of the lake. His creation attracted a lot of attention for a couple of years, but weather and kids proved too much for it and the boat started to take on water.

The Sunfish spent another year on the beach until I asked about it. Tim said, "You can have it! I'll even deliver it!"

After examining the sad-looking relic of a boat, I wondered if it shouldn't be returned to the trash where it was found. The upper deck seemed solid enough, so I decided to try a restoration. I knew I would never get my money back out of this project even if I didn't calculate labor.

The deck was in fair condition but the entire boat was badly stained from lying in dirty water. It responded to a good scrubbing and needed little attention. The cockpit was in surprisingly good condition with only a little staining.

Someone had painted the bottom several times and the paint was scratched and flaking. Two cans of paint remover and three days of scraping later, the original gel-coat finally became visible.

The next step was spraying the hull with fresh gel-coat. I did the Sailfish and Sunfish hulls at the same time. Incidentally, two quarts of gel-coat cost over $80!

The aluminum trim around the edges was damaged and partly missing. I removed what aluminum edging was still on the boat. The hull and deck had begun to separate, so I first dried the interior and then sealed the edges with silicone and pop riveted them.

For the edges, I bought white garden hose that had a single blue stripe on it. This was applied using simple tools and silicone.

I first clamped the hose to the edge with the stripe facing down

With a felt-tip pen, I scribed a line on the hose, using the hull as a guide. With a sharp knife, I cut a slit in the hose the entire length.

After pressing a generous amount of silicone into the hose, I pressed it onto the edge of the hull. It fit tightly and no clamps were needed except on the stern and bow ends. I cut small wedges into the hose so it would bend around the rear corners.

I robbed the aluminum nose piece from a junk Mutineer.

The finished Sunfish looked quite different from when it was lying in the trash!

I found a rudder, dagger board and sail, all from different sources.

Here are photos of the Sunfish sporting the mast and sails from the Seawitch.

I was still looking for a mast and spars when someone offered me $300 for the boat without them. I condescended, but didn't make a profit on that boat!.