Mirror dinghy trailer

Mirror Painter

Mirror Painter

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I recently posted that a pal offered to give me his Mirror dinghy. It will be my first experience of sail. I have been to see her today and she is lovely - even with 35 years of cobwebs! My wife was there and was very rude about the boat which was embarrassing in front of my generous friend.

She's in very good condition and a just a moderate amount of paint and varnish is required. I think. There is a launching trailer but no road trailer. I have looked online in the usual places but no trailers (without boats) for sale at present.

Does anybody have a suitable road trailor within 100 miles of Swindon which they want to sell me?
 
I don't know of a trailer, but can I congratulate you on your new boat. I'm sure she'll give you very many hours of pleasure. It might be worth contacting you local sailing clubs. They may have a trailer advertised, or may be able to arrange for you to borrow one to bring the boat home. If you plan to keep her in one place, at a club, you might not need a road trailer for a while.
Good luck,
Nigel
 
Does anybody have a suitable road trailor within 100 miles of Swindon which they want to sell me?
Click to expand...

Get in the queue behind me!

Ive been watching ebay for a while.
I only want a roughish one for not much money to put my Mirror on so that I can sell it.

I let one go for a about £35 :mad: Ever since anything of interest has got up to nearly £100. The last one went for £83 to someone who put a bid in in the closing seconds.

I may have to refurbish the one I have.
 
Thanks Nigel.

Yes, exciting times! My pal had not only given me the boat but also has an estate car with roof bars so say he can get the boat to my house. What a nice man! My car has a never used tow bar but no roof bars...

I intended to decide which of two local sailing clubs to contact and arrange some leesons. I think I can keep the boat at one of those clubs at least. But the appeal for me, once I have an idea of what I'm doing, is taking the boat to different places on a trailer.

Stephen.
 
RichardS said:
You're lucky. My wife needs a load of the stuff before she's anything like presentable! ;)

Richard
Click to expand...

Ha ha - that's why I started a new paragraph! Today I made a silly joke about 'would the Mirror fit where we have the dining room table - just while I sand and varnish?'. It was a mistake and my usually compliant wife's behaviour reminded me of her mother for the first time.
 
There are some advantages to living alone. My hallway is full of wooden cabin fittings, and I've been varnishing in my tiny kitchen whilst the weather is so bad.
N
 
Contact both of the clubs & then choose. As I said earlier, you can rig the Mirror with just the mainsail (simply put the mast in the foremost of two possible positions). Read a bit about basic sailing, eg how to trim a sail, sailing downwind, across the wind, & into the wind.

Then go & have a play. Make sure you have insurance just in case, but keep well away from every one else (go on an evening when there is no racing!) You will soon start to get the hang of it. If everything is going wrong, just let go of everything, but keep your feet under any straps so you don't fall out.

(edit; and make sure you have oars, bailer & whatever well tied in)

Experiment with pulling in or letting out the sail & try to understand the consequences. In general, simplistic terms, you let the sail out until it flaps a bit & then pull it in until it just stops flapping & off you go, tighten the sail as you steer towards the wind & slacken it as you steer away. Balance by leaning over the side to keep it as level as possible & if it tips over, stand on the centre board to get it up again. There really isn't a lot more to know unless you want to race - which is a whole different kettle of fish.

A set of basic universal roof racks is a lot cheaper than a trailer & you can put the trolley on top of the boat too, but you will need 2 people to get the boat & the trolley up & down again. You & a teenager could probably manage. I manhandled mine a lot with me at one end & two pre-teens at the other.
 
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Moxon said:
Ha ha - that's why I started a new paragraph! Today I made a silly joke about 'would the Mirror fit where we have the dining room table - just while I sand and varnish?'. It was a mistake and my usually compliant wife's behaviour reminded me of her mother for the first time.
Click to expand...

Now you know what you have got to look forward to!:eek::D
 
Roof rack is as good a way as any, all you need is a bit of help to get it on and off. At one time some one was selling a roof rack kit which allowed you to get the Mirror onto the roof singlehanded, so searching arround Mirror sites may turn something up.

Because the Mirror is so light almost any small boat trailer can be modified to carry a mirror.

As for the clubs, go and have a chat with both, you will probably learn enough from that to pick the one best suited to you.

Good luck.
 
Moxon said:
It was not a good view...
Click to expand...

When me and my other half first got together, I went with her one Christmas to visit with her parents, they thought they were expected to give their approval of me, that may have been the case, but I was there to check out her mother. I must say that she passed with flying colours, she was delightful, and mad as a brush!:D

I then felt confident that any future that me and 'er indoors had, was at least going to provide loads of laughs! After 24 years, I am pleased to report that it has indeed been the case.:)
 
Really! My MIL howls at the moon and cackles.......a trait I fear my wife is following. Bless the day the funds are achieved so I can go..........
 
If it's just a one-off, you might well be able to borrow a trailer from someone in your new club.
If you haven't got a towbar, that can be pricey too.

Roof rack is easy, I think you want wide roof bars so the boat rests on the gunwhales?
 
Achillesheel said:
"All women grow to be like their mothers, that is their tragedy. No man does, that is theirs"

- Oscar Wilde.
Click to expand...

In my experience most men look no deeper than the paint on their faces whilst they are being led by the dick. More fool them says I.

Now that she has turned 60, she is more like her mum in loads of ways, and I don't regret any of it. Without her, I would be lost.
 
Public retraction.

Apologies for thread drift but it is my thread.

My wife isn't bad. Like Chrusty, I'd be lost without mine - even if she does later turn in to her mother.

The rare tantrum today about the dinghy may have been because she has been very patient about my cabin cruiser obsession and was hoping it would pass. I appreaciate that her realising a second boat was coming may not have brought out the best in my dear Mrs.

Back to mirror dinghy trailers...
 
Don't limit youself to boat trailers. The Mirror could go upside down on a box trailer, probably single handed too. If a bit short, quite easy to bolt an extension on the hitch tube.
There are bike trailers too, and much less likely to have been dunked in salt water.
DW

On the drift, I have a pic of MIL taken 30 yrs ago, spitting image of SWMBO now. (and I did see it before we were married)
 
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