Interior mods

[Normanby]

Hello,
I just bought an Investigator 563 from a nice bloke named Ron, from the Westernport Marina (Vicsail) in Victoria.
I love it, but i'm yet to do any serious sailing in her.
I'd like to investigate interior modifications. I'd like to install a small galley, water storage & sink, but i think i'd have to cut into the interior seats to make the space. How much, if any, will i be wrecking the floatation? I hear there's enough air sealed in the interior for her to float even if fully emersed. So how much slicing up of the quarter berths will she stand before i lose this safety feature?
Any other ideas about making her more liveable, vis-a-vis storage?
Any and all ideas and pics gratefully received.
Cheers,
Matt

[RobertB]

Hi Matt,

Wecome.

I'd encourage you to leave the floatation alone. One wants as much floatation as possible. Try to make something like what Gunter or Garry have done (see pic).
They have a galley that slides away.
A water tank needs to be central and above the keel and not too far to the rear. Best look to fit something round where the porta pottie fits.

There used to be loads of internal fitout pics somewhere. I have a few more if you wish me to post them.

Cheers, Robert

[Normanby]

Oooh, nice.
I found another pic somewhere on the 'net that showed a slide-out sink on the port side. Does the stove in the photo you posted interfere with a sleeping sailor on that berth? I'm loathe to sacrifice any sleeping area. I have a habit of hooking up with women who have kids!

I've now read every single post on this forum (my thanks to the organisers for creating it).
I'd love to have a look at another Investigator if there are any in Melbourne willing to let me crawl about in their boat. It'd give me some ideas about how to customise mine.
"Pip" is very basic inside, bare in fact, a blank canvass, which was what i was looking for.
I'd love to look over one that is sailed and slept in regularly.

And, i'm curious to know what number my hull is, is it written or stamped anywhere on her? Anybody know Pip's history?

Cheers,
Matt
Melbourne

[Yara50]

Matt
Welcome, it is great to have a real new member, we have had a spate of porn posters!

I have posted some new pics in the Gallery section, which will give you some more ideas.

I agree that it is best if you leave the bouyancy intact, especially if you sail in open water around Melbourne. I was on the Sorrento ferry yesterday, looking up Port Phillip bay, and it really is open water. IMHO the Investigator 563 is an ideal boat for this type of sailing. (CF recent Careel problems on PPB.)

We are gradually building this site up, but if you have patience to plough through it, there is a lot of info on the remnants of our old site at http://inv563.multiply.com/

[BobK]

Matt, good to have you on board.

I've also added some pics to the gallery which might give you some ideas. In our case there's just the two of us (kids all grown up with their own families) and so we've worked on making the boat as amenable as possible for 2 people. Might not work so well for you if you've a couple of kids on board as well. We've just done 2 weeks straight on the boat and are still talking to each other, so it's worked for us. For the occasional overnight you can put up with less room I guess.

But the BBQ/table etc in the cockpit works well for us and making the cockpit area available can increase the usable space on a small boat. You need to think about a boom tent or cover to make the cockpit livable.

Hope this helps.

[Ozzie]

Welcome Matt
ehrm...Welcome to you Matt,, thats better.

If you are fitting women and children in on a regular basis take it from a bloke with an all girl crew (wife and 2 daughters) you may want to keep all available space free of a fixed galley. Women seem to bring more stuff sailing than men

Seriously though, I had a 6.1 m Swiftcraft cruiser for 14 years and it had a large fixed galley which robbed too much of the large interior space. I have not fitted anything permanent to my 563 and it makes it much more flexible to use. I echo the others in keeping as much flotation as you can... I am trying to add more.

One female friendly feature added to my 563 by the previous owner was a front cabin door which cleverly disguises the additional support for the mast base...see old forum.Also provides a bit of privacy in the head ,getting changed etc. This pic also shows a "Jackeroo" brand folding table which fits the 563 exactly and can be used in the cabin or cockpit. Movable stoves and movable buckets are just that ...movable and after you try it for a while it may seem more logical than it sounds here.

Cheers and congratulations on buying a great boat

[Ozzie]

Matt one other thing regarding bunks if you intend to sleep out a bit as I do. In the pic I have the original 3inch orange vinyl covered cushions on the bunks, but under those I put 3 inch medium density made up foam single mattresses from Clarke rubber. This is the cheapest way to buy them. the nice girl from Clarke even cut the cover off and shaped them to the orange one I took in. My good lady wife then re-sewed the covers to the new shape.

Works a treat We sit on the vinyl in wet swimming and sailing gear during the day and swap them over for a more comfortable cotton cover under our sleeping bags at night. The thicker setup would however make it pretty tight to then fit a slide under stove if thats the way you go.

Hope that helps, but really try a few weekends out till you make any permanent changes.

cheers

[Normanby]

Thanks for the warm welcome folks.

I've noticed too how much extra gear the fairer sex bring on board, especially the teenagers. My daughter and her friends open up an overnight bag and it just explodes gear all over the cabin.

I have moveable camping-style galley gear taken from my other boat (which is for sale cheap, by the way), so what i think i'll do is lay it all out on a bench at home, and see if i can't design a plywood box that a) fits all the gear, and b) fits in some space on Pip.
That way the "galley box" can come ashore too for dining on shore.

Pip hasn't got a loo, and i've been reading the forums (fora?) all about portapotties and other options. Personally, i'm happy with a bucket, but some places are a bit too ecologically sensitive for that. But the main thing is catering for the women folk, for whom bucket ablutions are definitely not kosher.
Can someone suggest (perhaps even with a internet link) the correct size portapottie for the space up forward of an Investigator? And the best method to tie the thing down?

Again, if there are any owners in Vic happy to let me snoop about in their boats, i'd be grateful.

Cheers,
Matt

[Ozzie]

Matt
Don't remember what brand mine is but its a cheap Porta Pottie knockoff. The only criteria I would put on a portable is height, mine is ok but a bit too high. Put a box, esky. crate in the space and sit on it to see what height you can live with and find the closest to that you can. The really tall models may be good in places where there is no low cabin roof but would be no fun in an Investigator.

Mine has a removable brace board across the front to stop it sliding forward but I have been meaning to add some vertical restraint as well. The idea of a PP moonwalking around the cabin during a knockdown certainly conjures up colourful images I would rather not think about

Others may have some measurements on the clearance above their particular brand.

Guys?

I would be interested to know myself as mine needs replacing.

[Yara50]

Our potti is one from Bias, and it is the larger size. (10 litre water, 12 litre holding). They are called "Visa" but are the same make as you can get at K mart and other places, which I believe is Coleman. Unfortunately the K Mart version is too big. (high).

There is a moulded lip on the cabin sole, and it holds the potti reasonably well. Even in a knock down, it does not have far to go, and seems stable without any actual restraint.