First I'd like to say greetings to all and I'm glad I found you.
I just aquired a C-13 and after improvising on some missing hardware and consulting the online manual I took it out for the maiden voyage and learned a lot more about it! The serial# is VVV10371M81E, I assume the year is 81. My 13 year old son and I first noticed the self bailer works more like a self filler and I'm not sure where the water gets in the inner hull. The gasket on the bailer looks and feels pretty good but I haven't taken it apart yet. There are some stress cracks in the fiberglass in the rear corners of the cockpit. There is only one drain plug in the hull, none in the cockpit.
Any suggestions for keeping the water out would be greatly appreciated, after I get past that I'll probably have a lot of rigging questions. I don't have much sailing experience, just the time I rented a Sunfish about 37 years ago!
Wet Newbies Pirateer
Some of these smaller boats have "automatic" balers. On my Sunfish there was a ball that was supposed to plug the hole when the boat was not moving. But it never sealed right probably because it was 45 years old. When the boat moves fast enough suction is supposed to pull it away from the baler hole and allow water in the cockpit to flow out. On mine you had to be moving pretty fast for it to work. It would have cost 40 bucks to replace it so I just cut it out and closed up the hole. Now my cockpit stays pretty dry. I keep a large sponge in the cockpit to take care of the minor water that we drag in there on our feet or that washes in over the deck. As a byproduct of removing the baler which pertruded from the bottom of the hull I have also reduced the drag of the hull by .000001%...................
The bailer leaks while sitting still, I thought you would have to moving pretty fast for it to work also. I'm going to take it apart to see if that's where the water is getting into the inner hull and replace the gasket. I'm guessing it used to be twice as thick.
It seems like a handy thing to have, even if it's just good for draining the cockpit after it's out of the water.
The drag reduction is VERY tempting though, we like to trim it till it tips!
It seems like a handy thing to have, even if it's just good for draining the cockpit after it's out of the water.
The drag reduction is VERY tempting though, we like to trim it till it tips!