Mirror Restoration in Australia updated Youtube link

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this iconic class last year I decided to find an old Mirror and restore it.
So along with my daughter that was what I did.
Firstly finding one lying in a neighbour's garden before restoring it in 2014 here in Sydney.
Since then I've cruised and lived aboard it solo.

https://youtu.be/7Te0xg4PevM

Kelly's picture

Hey Kevin - Looks fantastic. I just did the same thing this year - mine was also built in '69. It was a lot of work but I'm so happy I was able to sail it again. Mine was sitting in a back yard rotting away - almost beyond repair. Still some things to do on her but she's sailable now. Loved your Cruising video too.
Nice work!
Kelly

Kevin Green's picture

Thanks Kelly and I hope you family your Mirror. For me I'm always finding more repairs ad my boat is
So old the plywood is pretty tired. For example I did a lot of rowing last weekend - I use surfboat
Oars - but found to my horror that the Mirror's rowlock/gunwale area is disintegrating
. So i'll reinforce it. Also I have to add a hatch cover to the aft bulkhead for inspection & drying ou
Purposes.

PuffinInTegel's picture

@Kevin: Once you've made the hatches, take the opportunity to inspect the interior condition. Some DIY shops sell endoscopes to be connected to computers and to be used for such purposes, but I simply stuck my digital camera in and took a few shots "blindly". This one is Puffin's starboard side tank, you can see where I failed to get a nut on the bolts holding the jam cleats ;-{) The epoxy has held the bolts quite satisfactorily in hours of hard sailing, all the same.
tank interior
I had to rebuild a section of the port side and replace the entire outer gunwale some years ago. The reason was that water had seeped into the middle ply causing the wood to rot from inside outwards, spreading to the gunwales and shroud-chainplate block. One day my mast simply fell overboard in light airs, the shroud fitting had simply pulled out of the rotted wood block which looked perfectly good on the outside. My fairing work was not very good (I had to use a different grade and thickness of plywood) so you can make out the patch where the boat's name is. The spliced-in section of the inner gunwale is visible too, the outer gunwale is totally new mahogany. The additional rowlock mounts are there to make it easier to row (without a mast) when you have a passenger sitting in the stern. I put a cushion over the mast step and sit there when rowing with the rowlocks in the forward position.
patch
Much success with your repairs!
Gernot

Kevin Green's picture

Hi Gernot.
Good tip re checking.
Id actually like to add small buoyancy bags inside the tanks. For extra safety. Maybe plastic bottles or wine bladders.