Cheap Thrills

[Jan Pittard]

Sooo mom got ill and after bouncing in and out of hospitals and bringing her with me to work in rehab - she's home and and to keep her here we are too - Mike - my husband of 6 years -

Cheap thrills has been sitting in moms backyard since I moved to the condos at runaway bay - I went through a lot of life stuff - but now being back here it seems like a good idea to go ahead and fix her up -

My husband has never been sailing - I wanted to take him but the boats weren't in shape - I signed him up for sailing seminar at the local sailing club which we joined - yes, like grapevine that's now famous after the jet ski kayak fatal collision -

Thanks to this group who identified that Cheap Thrills is a super porpoise

Since they haven't been made in years parts are hard to find - I did find the original rudder on eBay minus the pintle bracket - I took the Gudgeon off and no idea where I put it - hoping my tool box - which is buried in storage -

If I can't find that one I need help and suggestions on solid replacement ideas it's not an exact fit for the sunfish pieces - the nice thing is the rudder I just got has the main sheet attachment piece - it doesn't have a bridle like the sunfish -

Also with the rain it's rather heavy and sinking in the mud - best options to get the boat front end up ? So I can drain it? Once we do that I can flip it on sawhorses -


Since the daggerboard was a shoddy cutdown that jammed at the worst times I've ordered a new racing sunfish one that's 4" longer so it should be just right - remember me buying the new sail ? I never used it and it's in storage as well as the two that came with it -

Marine products have changed since I was working on it before - what's the best for painting top, bottom and cockpit on the dinghy ? I'm looking at total boat fairing compound for fairing out chips n such is it good?

We bought a Texas tornado last year just need to replace the traveler board and then we can try it out -

Just not sure how to rig if - if anyone has one and knows how let me know!! If Mike likes sailing we will be selling both boats and getting a bigger one that's more comfortable  -

Is BOOTs still a thing?

I have missed sailing and everyone - since I can't take a vacation right now at least we can take short breaks that feel like a vacation -

Initially I was thinking just bare bones fix up on cheap thrills - who's repairs are quickly making her not so cheap thrills - lol - but she was fun sailing all over Texoma - I've been reading up on rigging sunfish sails and I think it will be fun to try her out again once we fix her up -

[Spot]

For Sunfish advice and for sale stuff I go here:
https://sailingforums.com/sunfish/

I have gotten several vintage parts (for the bronze rattletrap rudder mechanism) and a couple newer bits for use with the metal kickup cheek and bracket.

Intensity Sails has inexpensive sails and other bits if you don't require class legal everything.

There are a couple new manufacturers making boats (one makes Sunfish, the other makes the class legal boats for ISCA)

PS this blog has info on fixing Sunfish boats, there is also an associated YouTube channel and a book:

https://smallboatrestoration.blogspot.com/

[Jan Pittard]

Thanks for the info - I'm in a sunfish group but the boat is different in the fittings and rigging - I've learned a lot - just ready to have this project done and move on -

[Jan Pittard]

And so it begins - ... after an argument about the best way to leverage the front of the boat upwards to drain it - we did finally manage it - took a dozen bricks, a bottle jack and a garden cart but we drained out all we could - covered the inspection port holes with plastic and tape - hopefully by next week we can dig the wheels out and move it to where I can work on it-

All the things have been ordered and I need to make a trip home to look for parts and the sails - my husband is pretty excited to try it out but is thinking a boat we can anchor in overnight might be nicer -

My photos are too big - and I tried resizing but no luck....

[Charles Brennan]

Jan, Here is an app for you to down size pics, that I use a lot.
https://www.fotosizer.com/Download

Called Fotosizer.
You can specify how much to downsize the pics and you can do several pics in a batch.
1024 X 768 pixels is a pretty good value for most TSBB viewers.
My 4 and 5 Mega Byte phone camera pics typically reduce down to 100 Kilo Bytes, or so.
I like that much downsizing, because they load faster when viewing and don't bog down, when viewing my posts on smart phones.
You cannot view this attachment.

I also arrange the pics into folders (e.g. BEER Cruise, FL120, CDCR, Boat Shows etc.)
Then in each of those folders, I make a sub-folder titled: Tiny Pics.
You cannot view this attachment.
Then I run Fotosizer so I can take all the pics in the main folder and have the program route the results into the tiny folder.
Then I upload to TSBB from the Tiny Pics folder, leaving my original pics intact.

Once you have tiny pics to post, click on the "Click or drag files" icon, under the editing page.
You cannot view this attachment.

Once the dialog box opens, navigate to the folder with your desired pic:
You cannot view this attachment.
Select one, then click on "Open"

Once downloaded, click on the blue up arrow.
If you click on the red X, it will simply delete the file you just downloaded.
You cannot view this attachment.

After you click the blue up arrow, this little dialog box pops up:
You cannot view this attachment.
Now to be fair, you CAN define pixel width and height and key in values, but I let Fotosizer do it for me, so that I don't end up with fun-house mirror type pics.
Leave the width and height dialog boxes blank and click on the INSERT button.
This will insert the HTML code for the pic, right wherever you left the cursor, on the editing page.

If you fail to click on the INSERT button, your pics will still upload, but they won't display in either the post or the preview, but instead, will be shown as downloads at the bottom of your post.
People will have to click on them and open the files to be able to see the pics.
Very annoying.
Here's an example from one of Timm's posts:
You cannot view this attachment.

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan

[Jan Pittard]

Update - half of my toolbox box was in moms garage -

Guess what I just found that made me a happy camper??

My missing Gudgeon and one Pintle - lol - I'm still holding out for the rudder bracing/cheek whatever - on eBay but so far no luck

Also I narrowly missed in getting a Catalina 25 here at my lake for $16 - ok so I went to 53 but not fast enough - not the right boat not the right time - but I found my Gudgeon -

I'm smiling - I'd post a pic but my photos are too large and a pain to resize - I started a page for ¢heap thrill$ on Facebook if you want to follow there -

My Monday ended on a very happy note - cheap thrills was dug out of the boggy hole she was sinking into - blood sweat tears - cuss words -

We have three days of rain coming felt like time to git r done - didn't make it as far as the house - but nearly to the gate - it's still heavy - and a tire popped off the rim - so it's not being cooperative.

One step closer -

Pieces I've located on eBay
1. Rudder tiller
2. Original sales ad
3. New line
4. The original mast step in the brochure - excited about this as it plugs the mast base hole -

I've ordered the hull repair and paint through Amazon but not sure a quart will be enough - fingers crossed -

Still in search of the rudder/tiller hardware


The deck hardware is in good shape but replacing the boom pulleys for the main sheet - I may have to sail it again first to figure out which type I was wanting to get - I think I wanted something with a quick cam release on it -

Maybe this weekend I can get it somehow onto saw horses -

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Progress!

[Jan Pittard]

Yes!!! I got a trailer dolly off FB marketplace - we got it to the gate but a tree had grown up. My husband surprised me as he found a saw - cut the tree down and moved it by the carport - this evening we worked together and got it by the garage - sunny this weekend but a week of rain coming - I think the only things I'm missing to do the refinish is the rudder cheek. And new rubrail - the paints, gel coat etc are in - I've ordered new lines - the daggerboard is at our house - the sails are there too - replacing my shower radio with a Bluetooth speaker - lol - hubby takes sailing classes on Sat and Sunday and he's all set with all the things -