A Mirror Dinghy progress update
Mar. 21st, 2026 05:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnI finished stripping the dinghy.
Then I agonised a lot about whether to remove and replace all the glass tape. Most of it was very securely in place, so in the end I decided to cut out a couple of pieces that were loose and replace them, and then put a layer of epoxy over the rest. I also put a thin coat of epoxy resin over the whole bottom of the boat, the idea being that the dry bare wood absorbs the resin and makes a kind of epoxy laminate with the wood fibres reinforcing the resin. And I filled a few little holes and dings with epoxy filler.
Epoxy was easier to use than I'd feared. It's a two-part mix but the kit I bought came with syringes to measure out the liquids, and even gloves. The hardener was yellow and smelled disconcertingly of urine, but that went away once applied. The kit also had two kinds of mixer for creating a light hard fill for little holes.
I did consider putting glass cloth over the whole thing and epoxying that to create a thin strong fibreglass shell, but I came across someone who had done that and ended up with a very indestructible and heavy boat, no longer able to plane. Since I picked a Mirror for its lightness, I decided against.
Epoxy has to be applied at at least 17C, so I ran an electric heater in the room until my boat was the right temperature : what a luxury!
Anyway, eventually the agonising, epoxying, filling and sanding was all done, and I started putting undercoat back on.
Right: one coat, left, two coats.
Mirror discussion online is filled with people recommending different approaches to paint. "It's a cheap little boat, just use ordinary gloss" is popular, but with the disclaimer 'well obviously not the very cheapest own-brand gloss. That would be foolish!'. In Pembrokeshire, I don't actually have access to a lot of big DIY stores. The nearest B&Q is in Carmarthen. And I'm a bit dubious about mail ordering tins of paint for their damage capacity, plus, they are heavy.
Whereas I do have access to a really good chandlery that I can just pop into without using any extra fuel, paying postage, or risking covering the postie in paint, so I went with actual posh yacht paint : International One Up for the undercoat and Toplac Plus for the top coat.
I am charmed that I can go to that chandlery and buy an entire boat including a big expensive outboard, or four screws for 19p each. (I have not bought 4 screws, but the guy behind me was doing exactly that.)
I would have sworn I'd sanded the whole thing very carefully, but of course once I put paint over it, I could see all kinds of horrible dents and runs. I might give the worst bits another go with the sander before I put the final coat of undercoat on.
I've bought replacement rigging direct from Trident, who still sell the original Mirror dinghy wooden kits, and all the stuff for them. I could have bought that stuff from the local chandlery too, but Rope Is Complicated, and it's easier to buy 'Mirror dinghy mainsheet' than work out how long and what kind of rope needed. Most of the bits of rope and string are very perished so I can't just measure what I have.
I have not bought new shrouds / side-stays (the wires that hold the mast up.) The ones I have are ancient, but seem in good enough condition and I learn that some people prefer Dyneema climbing rope for that nowadays. Which would be kinder on the hands. I'm going to try the ones I have before making a decision.
The auto-bailer seems to be completely jammed, and I can't unjam it from underneath so that's another thing to look at once the boat is the right way up again.
Then I agonised a lot about whether to remove and replace all the glass tape. Most of it was very securely in place, so in the end I decided to cut out a couple of pieces that were loose and replace them, and then put a layer of epoxy over the rest. I also put a thin coat of epoxy resin over the whole bottom of the boat, the idea being that the dry bare wood absorbs the resin and makes a kind of epoxy laminate with the wood fibres reinforcing the resin. And I filled a few little holes and dings with epoxy filler.
Epoxy was easier to use than I'd feared. It's a two-part mix but the kit I bought came with syringes to measure out the liquids, and even gloves. The hardener was yellow and smelled disconcertingly of urine, but that went away once applied. The kit also had two kinds of mixer for creating a light hard fill for little holes.
I did consider putting glass cloth over the whole thing and epoxying that to create a thin strong fibreglass shell, but I came across someone who had done that and ended up with a very indestructible and heavy boat, no longer able to plane. Since I picked a Mirror for its lightness, I decided against.
Epoxy has to be applied at at least 17C, so I ran an electric heater in the room until my boat was the right temperature : what a luxury!
Anyway, eventually the agonising, epoxying, filling and sanding was all done, and I started putting undercoat back on.
Right: one coat, left, two coats.
Mirror discussion online is filled with people recommending different approaches to paint. "It's a cheap little boat, just use ordinary gloss" is popular, but with the disclaimer 'well obviously not the very cheapest own-brand gloss. That would be foolish!'. In Pembrokeshire, I don't actually have access to a lot of big DIY stores. The nearest B&Q is in Carmarthen. And I'm a bit dubious about mail ordering tins of paint for their damage capacity, plus, they are heavy.
Whereas I do have access to a really good chandlery that I can just pop into without using any extra fuel, paying postage, or risking covering the postie in paint, so I went with actual posh yacht paint : International One Up for the undercoat and Toplac Plus for the top coat.
I am charmed that I can go to that chandlery and buy an entire boat including a big expensive outboard, or four screws for 19p each. (I have not bought 4 screws, but the guy behind me was doing exactly that.)
I would have sworn I'd sanded the whole thing very carefully, but of course once I put paint over it, I could see all kinds of horrible dents and runs. I might give the worst bits another go with the sander before I put the final coat of undercoat on.
I've bought replacement rigging direct from Trident, who still sell the original Mirror dinghy wooden kits, and all the stuff for them. I could have bought that stuff from the local chandlery too, but Rope Is Complicated, and it's easier to buy 'Mirror dinghy mainsheet' than work out how long and what kind of rope needed. Most of the bits of rope and string are very perished so I can't just measure what I have.
I have not bought new shrouds / side-stays (the wires that hold the mast up.) The ones I have are ancient, but seem in good enough condition and I learn that some people prefer Dyneema climbing rope for that nowadays. Which would be kinder on the hands. I'm going to try the ones I have before making a decision.
The auto-bailer seems to be completely jammed, and I can't unjam it from underneath so that's another thing to look at once the boat is the right way up again.
no subject
Date: 2026-03-22 11:28 am (UTC)I’m a huge fan of dyneema rigging, but still like steel for my application, on a 25ft boat.
On a dingy, it’s perfect though. Easy to splice, and rig up when ready—a quibble I have with dyneema is it creeps when set. That problem doesn’t exist for a dinghy.
And it’s fun to splice!