A Sunshade, A Life Line And The Mirror Dinghy Repair Begins

[@knucker4931]

Nice to see the Mirror getting some love and attention. The sun shade looks usefull. Perfect for hot sunny days when you try fishing. Best wishes Al

[@SailingWithDave]

Maybe fishing on the sea for my supper!!

[@anotherangleUK]

Once the UV gets on the covers they soon go brittle. Nice to see the little mirror getting some tlc. PS I live in a counrty where we don't have an issue with too much Sun 🤣

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi There. Ahhh, the wonderful workd of fabrics!!! Nylon does have a slight issue with UV, but if you use Nylon 6 or Nylon 12 then it's a lot better. I think I have some for my tent that has a coating on it too for UV. I could have gone for Polyester but its not so strong and abrasion resistant and I think it warps/stretches more easily so thats possibly why I got some Nylon!! It could also be that it was just the cheapest and I went for that!!! I am hoping that it won't be in the sun long enough to degrade too quickly. I also think this is a little small. Needs to be wider ideally so maybe MK2 sunshade is coming!!!

[@glenpollard6101]

The shade cover looks great. If you put some acitone on a rag you can wipe up the epoxy drips before they harden and save a lot of sanding

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks for the tip Glen, I will try that as I always get drips when using epxoy!!! Bummer to sand off!

[@draftmama75]

My pa built us a Mirror when I was 5. I learned to sail on her and have been a sailor for the rest of my 75 years!!

[@SailingWithDave]

So many sailors started life on the Mirror Dinghy. I have talked to so many people about their fond memories when they first started in one too. I think once you've owned a Mirror your part of a huge global family forever. Great little boats. Mochyn Du is my first love when it comes to sailing.

[@jakedonnely4094]

​@@SailingWithDave is it actually fiberglass or epoxy. I heard epoxy is stronger. And better for wood

[@jakedonnely4094]

​@@SailingWithDave also. How do the wood mirrors cope with being outside all time. I'm giving serious consideration on buying one. But if I can't find the grp model I'll go for the wood version

[@SailingWithDave]

@@jakedonnely4094 Hi Jake. Well epoxy is the glue so to speak, the fibreglass is the woven matt that comes in various formats like chopped strand, interwoven etc. Fibreglass needs Epoxy to stick it down, and using fribreglass with epoxy will always be stronger. You use epoxy on its own usually for things like glueing 2 piecies of wood together and there are various fillers you can use to make it more suitable for certain things. 404 filler for exmaple is very good for glueing things together, 407 is better for fairing/finishing and is actually quite good at fillet joints. So here I am using 404 filled epoxy to glue the skeg on. I also use some inverted screws for lateral support but probalby didn;t need them! I then run some fibreglass over it to make sure, but again I probably didn;t need that, althoyugh it did have it originally as you can see when you sand it down.

[@SailingWithDave]

@@jakedonnely4094 The wood is fine, its the varnish that is the problem. My Mirror stays outside all year and it will last a lot longer if you can keep her dry but thats very difficult in the UK weather. I last renovated her 2 years ago, and she's actually in good condition, other than the gunnells need a quick sand and polish. My gunnels have been sealed really well underneath where they connect to the hull with a very nicely filleted epoxy joint. This means you can leave her upsiude down and the rain won;t get into the gap in the gunnels which is a classic area of rot on the Mirrors. I personally hate varnishing. It is so boring and you have to do so many coats and in the winter its almost impossible to get the right temps to do so it takes days if not weeks to get done. However would I want a fibreglass Mirror? I don't think so. I'm glad to have owned my wooden one, it's a right of passage and she will always be something I can remenisce about with other sailors. Would my next dinghy be wood though? Absolutely not!! Fibreglass is amazing stuff. It needs hardly any care, other than sorting bangs and scratches and ythe odd polish and it suits if you just don't have time to sort things out. There's always a bit of wood somewhere but when the whole boat is wood, its a pain to keep in top condition. If I had the money for a fibreglass one then I would actually buy an older but larger dinghy like a Wanderer now that I have learnt to sail.

[@fat_tommo_goes_boating]

Sunshade looks great! With my old wooden mirror, I found it better to store it upside down on the trolley with the cover over the hull, that way everything stayed perfectly dry all the time

[@SailingWithDave]

Well I think I should have done that this winter instead of having it stood up against the wall and tied up. She has a big hole in her hull now which needs another fix from falling onto my garden wall in the storms. Poor little boat.

[@fat_tommo_goes_boating]

@@SailingWithDave oh no, well another thing to do one day I guess...

[@anotherangleUK]

@@fat_tommo_goes_boating Hi Tommo, didn't know you'd had a mirror as well as all the other boats.

[@fat_tommo_goes_boating]

@@anotherangleUK I have had 2 wooden mirrors and a GRP one Phil. I used to be a member of the DCA, like Dave is and camp aboard and all sorts

[@dwightmarshallphoto]

Nice 😅

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks!