Our Mirage 24 had a good winter. Not too much mildew inside and the tarp held up ok but it was much too big. We have now cut it in two for next fall. Dave has been busy doing some work to get her ready. He powerwashed her a couple of times, before and after sanding the bottom. The keel had a good ding on it (not made by us!) so he grinded it and then applied some type of epoxy to fill it in, then sanded. Next came painting the bottom, keel and rudder with VC17. We also bought a new motor mount that we hope will be easier to handle. The old one was hard even for Dave who is a big guy. That may be the last time he changes that part as he had to crawl into the small locker quite a few times!!
The boat came with some instruments but as it turns out, we don't think they work. The knotmeter is original, so from 1979. I may have found someone who has the same one that works and willing to sell it as he replaced it with something else (still waiting for a reply after I said that we were interested!). There is also a Humminbird dept sounder but we think it is missing the transducer. So it's a good thing I know the lake and the river after all the years sailing on it!!
Here are some before and after pictures!
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| New motor mount, old motor! |
And she was renamed - Suzie Q!
Dave also did some wood work for the inside. Good thing he's handy!! He built a frame with a screen for the forward hatch and some kind of box with a sliding door where we can put a cooler. In that hole used to be the original cooler that had no door anymore.
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| This is the screen in the open position. |
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| Cooler compartment with door. |
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Finally Suzie Q was launched on May 31 and mast was raised about a week later. She is ready to go and we hope to have our first sail during the weekend of June 22-23.
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