Leaking bilge HELP

[Ozzie]

Ah ha , now I get it Steve. Additional ballast (concrete) has been added . Fair enough. Should make the boat even more stable.

[Yara50]

Firstly, IMHO, the I563 does not need any additional ballast. Secondly, it makes no sense adding extra ballast higher up over a cavity. Down next to the lead would be better. Thirdly if the idea of glassing in a cavity in the keel was intended to add extra bouyancy, this is not good, as low down bouyancy is the stability equivalent of ballast mounted high in the boat.

[Ozzie]

I understand what you mean Ian. Ideally replacing the concrete in the cavities either side of the keel case with lead would give you more weight low down. ( I cant understand how there would be voids there unless it was one of those quirks of a specific manufacturer). But, I assume the additional weight (edit) in Steve's boat, would still improve stability as long it was below the waterline.

Interesting all these variations-on-a-theme "underfloor" arrangements. I am thinking some 563s were sold as shell kits only leaving the owner to complete the fit out and that may have been the reason for all these differences. Possibly this boat was mainly used in open waters and the owner wanted a perceived better self righting setup. Well never know, but it would be interesting to pit this boat with the extra ballast against a more standard Investigator to see if it would handle more canvas in similar wind conditions. I don't race, nor am I ever likely to get the bug but it would be interesting all the same. . As discussed before , I assume there is a point where the extra weight slows the boat down.

[Virginia Wolf]

Hi everyone, the proceedings so far,
Pulled up the floor in the cabin,
Cleaned down all the sides of the cavities either side of the dagger,
8mm marine ply eoxy resined all round and layed on the lower part of the cavities,
Epoxy resined a small splayed edge around the side of the ply up against the sides to allow the fibre glass to sit in nicely,
Three layers of glass,
Heat gun to set the resin,
A glass or two of Prosecco,
Now sit back and wait till it's all gone off.

[Virginia Wolf]

Lessons learned so far,
West System epoxy does not enjoy the company of a heat gun,
Meranti when steamed too long pulls apart when bent,
Cutting back the oxidised gel coat and applying wax gives you a sore neck,
Prosecco relieves stress
And
As a fibreglasser I make a very good retiree.
No photos as the quality of the workwomanship is debateable.

Back in the water next week and if she still takes on water I
will leave the problem up to the bilge pump, the huge battery
and just get on with sailing and enjoying the boat and the lake.

[Yara50]

You have to be careful with epoxy resins and heat. Too large a container and it can generate to much exothermic heat. I was epoxying in a bulkhead in the stern of my Bluebird once, head down into the "coffin" quarter berth, when my pot (cup) of resin started to get hotter. I only had just enough time to wriggle back out, when it burst into flame, and I had to throw it overboard. Could have ended up as my coffin!

[Virginia Wolf]

So, after three weeks unattended in the water, still leaking.
Two inches over the cabin floor.
Bilge pump not working.
More thought and Prosecco

[Dr. Peter]

I go back to my initial post. Check other areas: The pintles, the cockpit drain holes.