G'day all;

As my user name might suggest I'm a Canadian arrived recently to Sydney on a 4yr internal transfer with my employer. My wife and I have been here for just under a year already (where does the time go!?) and we hope to be able to stay forever. We love it here.

I just bought my first boat. I say "bought" because I got it for virtually nothing (an included outboard, tender, a year's rego, and was on mooring - including apparatus - that we were able transfer because no waiting list) from a guy whose student visa is running out and he has to leave Australia in a couple of months. She's an Endeavor 24 and is sound, but needs some tidying up; some of the standing rigging should be replaced, a few leaks around the windows, needs a clean and new anti-foul big-time, cabin needs a lot of attention, things like that. She's moored in Port Hacking and I plan to leave her there until slipping her later this year. Ultimately I'd like to moor her nearer to home which is on the Parramatta at Breakfast Point.

As a kid I sailed the Solent in the UK (grew up in the UK), mostly dinghy sailing and occasionally on my father's 21 footer. More recently my wife and I have taken a few bareboat charters in the BVI. I can't wait to get out and sail here, which will hopefully be this weekend for a shakedown sail in the Hacking.

As a newbie to NSW sailing I hope I can try your collective patience with a myriad of questions on NSW cruising and Australian sailing etiquette - and as a newbie to working on boats I hope I can do that for maintenance and repairs questions!

Cheers;
Mark

Welcome Mark,
Lots of good advice here,
good luck with the shakedown and happy trails.
Dale

Mark, you might be interested in this:
www.rmycph.com.au/cruising/Port_Hacking_Cruising_Guide.pdf

Four or five years old but some interesting stuff in there including places to explore before you leave Port Hacking.

And remember that the port / starboard markers are reversed from the Canadian way. www.rms.nsw.gov.au/maritime/safety-rules/rules-regulations/navigation-marks-and-signs.html

Thanks for the welcome.

DrRog, thanks for the link, that's a really useful read. And yes, I'd realised about the reversal of the channel markers (just need to remember while on the water that it's NOT red-right-returning!)

Thats a a great pic Ramona.

I'll take some pics of mine on the weekend and begin the questions soon thereafter...

So, I have been out a couple of times now. The boat is definitely in need of some TLC, particularly the bottom as when I jumped in and had a proper look underwater with mask and snorkel I saw that bottom has a huge amount of growth. I'm losing at least a couple of knots from that alone.

I don't like the way the deck hardware is laid out - gonna make some changes there to make it a more logical layout (for me, at least). I'll replace some with new, move some other and remove that which doesn't work for the way my wife and I like to sail.

I have a suspicion the mainsail isn't original design for the boat - it's huge and has an enormous twist even with the yang brought as low as practical. It's extremely full and while the conditions we were out in were fairly benign, I'd like the option of being able to flatten it a bit more than it is possible now. As it is, it won't really point up much closer than a beam reach. I checked out the reefing and that's all good and easy to put in/take out.

Initial jobs are going to be the deck hardware, re-install the lifelines (doesn't bother me so much but it unnerves my wife) and replace the main halyard which has some fraying. I also want to get a mainsail cover made as I don't want to waste 15min setting it up every time we sail because it's stored below.

However, we did have a couple of nice afternoons pottering about in the Hacking and we both loved getting out on the water. We only went aground (very gently) once when I found that at the very bottom of the low tide the approach to the mooring is only possible from one direction without rubbing up on the mud/sea grass that surrounds it!

Come down to BBYC at Sans Souci Saturday mornings, there's a strong fleet of Endeavours racing most weekends