The inquest into the death of Mayo RCMP officer Michael Potvin heard evidence Tuesday from the lead officer in charge of the investigation.

Sgt. Mark London, of the Yukon RCMP major crimes division, gave the jury a history of the police boat Potvin was riding in when it capsized in the Stewart River in July 13, 2010.

His body was found more than two weeks later.

London said files on the boat, which was purchased in 1985, offered "scattered information,” particularly after 1992 when boat records were moved from Whitehorse to being stored at the detachments.

There was no single place to go to find the boat's history and information regarding a number of modifications and maintenance was missing, he said.

Through his investigation, London presented the jury with a timeline he created from what he could gather regarding the history of the vessel.

The 18-foot boat was custom built for the RCMP and delivered to the detachment in Old Crow in 1985.

It had no capacity plank, indicating the limitations for a motor, London noted.

Months after arriving in Old Crow, the boat sunk in the Porcupine River, London said. A summary of the events at that time claim that the "unit was found to be underpowered and too short for safe operations,” London said.

His investigation found some indications that a five- to six-page report of the Old Crow incident was completed.

That report was never found.

By 1987 the vessel was moved to Carmacks, at this point it had a 50 horsepower motor, London said.

Two years later a 70 horsepower motor was purchased.

In 1991 a bracket was added to the back to mount an auxiliary motor.

In the winter of 1995 and spring of 1996, the boat underwent $5,000 worth of modifications including the addition of two fixed fuel tanks, two seats attached and a new motor. This time a 100 horsepower, two stroke engine was fitted to the flat-bottomed riverboat.

In October 2002 a 115 horsepower outboard motor was rented and in July 2003 it was replaced with a 140 horsepower four-stroke outboard motor.

By August 2007 the motor was damaged and could not be repaired.

In May 2008 a 150 horsepower four-stroke motor was purchased.

The motor was serviced a month before it was sent to Mayo on May 20, 2009.

After Potvin's death, the boat was taken off the water. It has not been used since.

The jury has heard testimony about the boat sometimes taking on water over the transon in the back.

It did not have a radio, the bilge pump to remove access water was not working and neither were many of the gauges, including the fuel gauge.

Yesterday the jury continued to hear about a 2009 incident where the boat nearly sank in Mayo Lake.

Const. Mitchell Hutton told the jury he "felt it was the end of my life” when the boat began to take on water while he was hunting with another officer.

The motor had stalled multiple times and water was coming over the back, he said.

Hutton said he bailed water out of the boat while the other officer, Const. Andreas Seidemann, worked feverishly to get the motor running.

A black substance was on the floor, he said.

"It made it difficult to bail because I couldn't stand without having one hand on the boat,” he said.

The men eventually were able to get the boat back to Mayo safely. While they told the other officers in the detachment, no formal report was made.

Hutton said he once met Potvin and told him not to go on the boat.

London said it is common practice for the major crimes unit to be called in when an officer dies. Investigations were also done by the Transportation Safety Board, Transport Canada, federal labour officials and other independent investigators.

More than 80 interviews and 8,000 pages of documents make up the investigation, London said.

The inquest continued today with testimony from Cpl. Brent Chapman, who was with Potvin in the boat when it capsized.

Chapman spent some of the morning detailing concerns he had with the boat. It was during the first test run of the summer to determine the condition of the boat that it capsized and Potvin drowned.