INVESTIGATOR 563

C-Games is being advertised on Gumtree. The asking price of $4390 seems very reasonable.

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/sandfor ... 1268004498

I think this may have been sold, its gone from gumtree. I wonder who got it ?

Hey. I have just purchased c-games. Have taken it out once already for a day sail. Cruised at 6 knots with just the main up. Really keen for a few over night trips but sadly found a couple small leaks. Ones an easy fix with it coming in from from bottom rudder support. But the other is coming from somewhere near the keel but unable to find where it’s getting in. Other then that it seems like a great boat.

Welcome Kieran. Nice to see another new member.

Check the drain tubes at the back of the cockpit floor . These are often inadequately sealed and can be a source of nuisance leaks into the boat. Not an issue as they are not hard to seal, a bit of Sika Flex will do the job. Other spot could be rudder fittings but you’re onto that. Hope that helps

Throw some pictures up of your boat cheers. Ozzie

Greetings Keiren and welcome to this great forum.
firstly, you must realise one thing, and that is, EVERYTHING CAN BE FIXED. so relax about it and lets work through your problems systematically. It may not be as bad as mine was as I know that when yours was refurbished, it was done in a most thorough way.
In order, you need to check these things:
1. As previously mentioned, check. the rudder pintals. If there is a leak there, it can be corrected.
2. the next most likely place for water to get into the boat is around the pivot bolt for the centreboard. have a look at that by lifting the lift out floor and see if there is silastic or any other sealant around the pivot bolt on either side of the centreboard case. Normally the head of the bolt and the nut are fibreglassed over to prevent leaks, so you may just see a bit of a lump in the fibreglass each side. When the boat is in the water, this pivot bolt is lower than water level.
3. As Ozzioe said, it copuld be coming from around where the drain tubes exit the stern.
4. Has there been any "through hull" fittings fitted to the boat? Its obvious that this could be a cause for a leak.
5. If your boat has had damage to the under side of the keel, especially around the centreboard case, then water could be getting in there and filling up the lead compartment under the false floor each side of the centreboard case.
6. The other area that can cause water ingress is the front edge of the centerboard case. to check this as well as the under side of the keel, you need to climb under the trailer, ( you will need to jack the trailer up quite high to do this). What can happen is that someone who does not know boats could have let the rope go free when lowering the centreboard letting it swing too fast and allowing the front edge of the board to crash into the front edge of the centreboard case, damaging the fibreglass and allowing it to leak there, as was the case with mine.
7. Another area that could cause a leak is around the centreboard case itself. The way these boats were built, the hull was moulded, as was the centreboard case. then the long hole for the case was cut out of the bottom of the keel and the case was glassed in there with the bottom of the case sitting on the inside of the bottom of the keel, leaving quite a step ( the thickness of the hull) on the outside of the boat under the keel between the under side of the case and the under side of the keel. Its unlikely to be leaking there, but it could be possible.
Before I go right into all the repairs needed to solve all or any of these problems, you need to identify exactly the extent of your problem. Start at No1 and work your way through all possibilities.

Just another thought Keiren, do you keep your boat in a shed? if you do, it would be possible to either raise and lower the jockey wheel to see if you get any water dripping out of the boat which could show where it is leaking. thats how I found out about mine, water dripped out from under my keel for about two or three months when I first purchased it. There is quite a deal of space around the lead in the keel which can hold quite a bit of water. Also, its probable that any water that does get in to your boat will in fact end up in this area due to the lack of sealing at the rear on each side of the bilge where there is a small step in the false floor of the bilge. Again, read my posts mate.

I have had most of these problems with my boat and am right now working through fixing them. My boat is on the lifting frame that I built for this exact purpose and I am somewhat through fixing most of these issues.

Have a read through my posts on this forum. namely:
Under Technical Articles / "Spindrift Keel Fibreglass Repairs" as well as "Centreboard Repairs " and "Lifting Frame"
You will see a lot of information there. feel free to contact me any time. Also, I live in Ulverstone, Tas and as I said, my boat is on the lift and undergoing repairs as we speak and you are most welcome to visit me to have a look and a chat about anything "Investigator" that you wish.

Couldnt have said it better David. Totally agree.

Correct David, we are both honest and are just happy to offer assistance where we can. We have both had a wealth of experience in building, restoring and repairing things

The hull doesn’t seem to have any damage looking from out side. I’ve circles where it’s coming in in the photo.
I wasn’t wanting to do any fibreglass work but there’s always something to be fixed with boats.

My understanding is that David has already given you good advice on this problem. You could also check that there is no water coming out of the bottom edge of the sealed compartment that is the internal bunk, because if it is leaking from inside the bunk, it would look like it is coming from where you circled in red. I sent you the photo you needed in relation to the fibreglass matt that you will need and tried to ring you but no answer. Message left. I have been to quite a bit of effort explaining what you need to check already. Good luck with your boat
The damage you show circled in red has been caused by someone using a heavy lever or similar to prise up the floor which had been fitted by bedding it down on wet fibreglass. When it was removed, it has torn the fibreglass of the hull. If the water is actually leaking through the hull, the only way to repair this is to fibreglass it, first on the inside, and then grinding back the gel on the outside and then fibreglassing it on the outside using the Matt that I sent you photo of. then fair the hull using epoxy bog and painting with two pack paint. Then re install the floor. However, you MUST make sure that the fibreglass of the hull is COMPLETELY DRIED OUT before doing the repair. Otherwise you will trap moisture in the fibres of the hull which will cause osmosis. Once it is completely dry, wash it with metho which will help to extract any remaining water from the fibreglass.

Kieran,

Taste the water in the bilge. If it is fresh(ish), the culprit is likely to be rainwater leaking into the sealed bunk compartments and then dribbling out into the bilge. The water sloshes around when you go sailing exasperating the leak. This was a problem that I had. I would be very surprised if the hull was leaking from the location shown in the photo without any obvious damage visible on the hull from from outside.

Congratulations on the purchase of your Investigator and welcome to the forum.

Ray