Should I Beef Up The Hull?

Submitted by bonio on Thu, 05/05/2022 - 12:36

Forums:

My first post so Hello!

Ive got (I think) a 1967 mirror (my first dinghy) in pretty good condition. I decided to strip the old paint off the hull and re tape the seams.

Im what we call round here a 'big unit' and am worried about cracking the floor in the boat.

Is there anything I can do to the underside to maybe avoid problems in the future? I was wondering about a couple of glass fibre panels on the outside? I don't want to get involved in lots of joinery work in the cockpit.

Thanks for any help.

PuffinInTegel's picture

PuffinInTegel

Fri, 05/06/2022 - 20:37

Welcome at the Mirrorists' hideout!
What is the boat's hull number? That would give you a fair estimate of its vintage.
Personally I'm no friend of fibreglass on wood. It always seems to end up promoting rot. If the wood is sound and has no cracks, a good-quality primer and several top coats should keep it healthy.
If you are worried about robust use (heavy crew, kids hopping around in the boat), you could add longer battens on the inside of the cockpit. A major point is to avoid putting a load on the floor when the boat is out of the water. Once afloat, the pressure of the water is proportional to the load in the boat.
The forum member who has probably repaired and rehabilitated more Mirror dinghies than anyone else is Ron Vass. I'm not sure how often he looks in here, but you could contact him via the "contact" tab on his profile. You can then opt whether to continue using the contact function or to resort to regular e-mail correspondence.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

bonio

Sat, 05/07/2022 - 17:32

Hi thanks for the reply. The Hull number is 10987 and someone has kindly confirmed its age now.
I am very careful moving about in it and am keen to keep it original so as you say it should be OK when in the water I'll leave it as is I think.

I'm having to do the work outside so doing it now and I'm keen to get it back in the water ASAP.

curlew's picture

curlew

Mon, 05/09/2022 - 17:56

Trident sell the floor battens and say you can have three each side.
I have just finished repairing a massive hole in my floor as the boat was blown on to its trailer! The wood is thin but the repair, using scarfed edges wit epoxy/filler seems quite good.
david
Curlew

bonio

Wed, 05/11/2022 - 09:08

Thanks for the reply David, I enjoy your videos and find them quite inspiring!

I might add another floor batten either side once I get the thing turned over. I just have to re tape all the outside seams and paint the hull, Im working outside which isn't ideal as I am relying on the UK weather :(

Ive decided to use polyester resin to tape the boat, I would prefer to have used epoxy but I cant afford it and after all the original job lasted 54 years so hopefully it will see another 50, fingers crossed.

bonio

Wed, 09/07/2022 - 10:18

Just an update on what I did.

I re-taped all the seams under the boat stripped the hull back to bare wood, 4 coats of primer first 2 thinned slightly and then 3 coats of gloss. I never added any more floor strips.

All the horrible creaking noises I used to get from the boat as I moved around in it have now gone :) It looks like new and original. I also added an inspection port to the rear tank so I could paint inside it and add some tape.

PuffinInTegel's picture

PuffinInTegel

Wed, 09/07/2022 - 11:49

I'm glad to hear that you've fixed the problem.
Now for some sailing stories.
Cheers,
Gernot H.