The original condition.

While browsing ebay just to see what was out there, I spied a Mirror dinghy that was going pretty cheap and needed TLC. Having sailed dinghys as a teenager and building the odd plywood boat I thought this might be an interesting little project. I arranged to drive to the other side of Melbourne to have a look.

On arrival I found a poor little mirror called "St Jim" that had once been a member of Somers Yacht Club. Its registered number was 41866 which indicated it had been built in 1973.

The good news was that it had all the parts so I wouldn't have to source anything. It also included a full set of sails including a spinnaker. The asking price was reasonable for a set of sails. All rigging was also there including rudder and dagger board. Looking from above the hull appeared ok but obviously needed some paint and tidy up. 

Then a closer look at the hull. It soon became apparent why the asking price was in line with the value of the sails and rigging. The hull was a wreck and virtually a write off. This little mirror had had quite a traumatic experience. My guess is that it had come off the roof of car or trailer at a fair speed. There were multiple fractures, scrapes and even one of the front panels was held on by masking tape. The snub nose so familiar on mirrors had even been smashed along its edge.

Once the hull was rolled over and the front panel was torn away I got to see the inner parts of a mirror that should never be exposed once it had been built. I thought that this was not worth pursuing as I was looking at not much more than fire wood. I was about to leave when I thought that maybe purchasing and utilising the sails and rigging on a future build.

So it was all bundled up and thrown on the trailer for the trip home. This time it was tied down securely.