The first thing to do is fill in a few detail in your bio, particularly where you are situated. You may find a lister close by that can offer face to face advice. The cost of slipping very much depends on your location.
The Hood 20/23 have foam glass decks that rot, the foam sandwich gets soggy. This can be repaired quite easily by drilling a series of holes then opening the foam with a bent nail in an electric drill. The spaces are then filled with epoxy and a filler of your choice.
Tiller should be a piece of teak. The teak is usually left bare and goes a grey colour.
Scrub the deck with Diggers Stain Remover, follow the directions and hose off with fresh water.
I would remove the mast and take the standing rigging in to your favourite ship chandlers have have them duplicated. Really the best bet is to get to know your neighbours on the moorings, bound to be some helpful pensioners who will just love to offer advice and help.

Here are some pictures of the boat taken over a couple of days. She really isn't too bad apart from the dirt. And the rigging. The tiller I need to get a closer picture at, it definitely has gone a gray colour but its also ridged and has lichen spots on it.














I think that she will have to be towed to the slip for her antifoul, do you suppose they will let me rinse her off of with freshwater then?? I have been ferrying jerry cans of fresh water from shore and I don't want to keep doing that. Is seawater such a problem for a fibreglass boat??

Mage

Welcome to the sailing world!

Just a few pointers, I'm sure others will have more to add.

It's fine to clean everything topsides with salt water. Down below you should only use fresh water - if you get too much salt down there you'll get corrosion problems and mould; wiring, electronics etc will degrade; and nothing will ever dry out properly.

I think your tiller is probably OK. Just clean it up with water and a scotchbrite pad, but rub across the grain (rub teak with the grain and it will gradually disappear).

Do get the bottom cleaned up before you start using the boat. If there's a lot of growth it will detract from the whole learning to sail experience. A good new antifoul will last anything from 1 to 3 years depending on lots of factors, and you can extend it without hauling out by giving a light rub using snorkelling gear.

Try to get some independent advice about the rig. Surface discoloration doesn't necessarily tell you anything about stainless condition. And you'll find that boats can absorb unlimited amounts of money, so you need to prioritise your refit. This is hard to do until you have some experience with the boat. So what I'm saying is don't blow the budget straight away - do only what is clearly essential until you've had time and experience to properly assess what needs to be done.

Hi Mage, reading your bio got me a bit worried. Instead of just " Motoring out and putting the sails up one at a time" why don,t you check out your local Yacht Club and see if you can jump on a boat doing twighlight racing for a bit of experience.
Where is the boat moored by the way ?
Cheers
Ken

Great suggestions guys, man this forum rocks for helping newbies out!

OK, looked up where you are and as was suggested before, contact a yacht club and go for some twilights, no better way to learn,

Give Phil, Mel and Robyn a call @ Deck Hardware on 9905 9400. They are marine wholesalers and can help you with alot of what you need as well as handing out some great advice and are not far from you. Phil and Mel love getting people into sailing and have some fantastic contacts in the sailing community on the northern beaches and will hook you up with the right people for some fun races.

Thankyou for all your helpful suggestions - I will go clean her up and then try and get a ride in a twilight race, that sounds like a good idea.
I'll post more pictures when I'm done. Thanks again! I feel way more confident now :)

Hi Mage,

Just to add to what Charriot said,

In NSW no boat license required for a power boat under ten knots (18.5 kmh) no license at all needed for sailing boat.

Whilst the the three month grace period is generous, you will find yourself running out of time and as Charriot says, the time to get your own mooring is NOW, it will be cheaper in the long run.

You can't get a mooring for an unregistered boat.

Regarding safety items, buy the best you can afford, after all it is your life and those of your passengers. There are some brands out there that are best avoided. Going to a sailing club and asking what the members there have is a good way to get an idea for what is going to work for you. Be nosy, very nosy and ask lots of questions.

Gosford Sailing Club is a very good club to visit, they sail everything from dinghy's to keelboats. The Boat Captain there is a very approachable bloke .... just look for the high speed wheelchair whizzing around.

good luck, Harry

MorningBird said...
Hi,
I sent you a message with my contact details. I can probably have a look at it with you and give you some direction on what might be best to do now and what can wait.
Cheers

Took your time! I was going to dob you in if you didn't. Thought there was enough hints about pensioners!

Sorry for the long post. But I want to thank all you guys for your generosity, it's making me feel more and more confident and much appreciated :) The sailing community reminds me of the motorcycling community in this way. Everyone seems to be an instant buddy, and there is a subtle pride that regular people just don't have and can't imagine.

I've just spent the last two days on her cleaning her up, and she is looking so lovely now, it was mostly just algae and lichen and bird droppings, I scrubbed her all over by hand and washed her down with buckets of water. Then I took pictures of the rigging, and made a list of the equipment she has.

She came with a vhf radio that appears to work, old solar panel on a pole, coastal maps/charts of Pittwater/Broken Bay/Hawkesbury, cabin lights/switchboard, large metal bilge pump under the deck, sand anchor and chain [rusty looking], boat hooks, one set of oars, one kayak paddle, one large rubber dinghy 2 person, fish landing nets, assorted ropes, fire extinguisher, tool box full of tools, 4 life jackets marked PFD1, two sets of fenders, scrubbing brushes, buckets galore and a deck of cards.

And I had another swim and pulled off some of the cunjevoi that are on the mooring rope and the underside, I think they might be good bait actually, they smelled quite seafood-analogue when I cut some open. You can't eat them can you?

Looking very good, you have certainly worked hard to get her to this state.

Cunjevoi are edible, Aborigines used to eat them, but I have no knowledge of how they prepared them, Maybe a bit of trial and error, try thinly sliced and fried in butter with a bit of garlic. If you need to wash them then it maybe prudent as with abalone to only use sea water, as fresh water renders them very tough.

Nice bargin you got there!
Something I have always wanted to try is an axe handle from bunnings I reckon they could make a nice cheap tiller
Disclaimer ; I have never actually tried this and it may be a rubbish idea.
As for the old lines try soaking them in a bucket of detergent and maybe some mould killing stuff before you give up on them . I figure on a boat that size most lines are way over speck to make them comfortable in the hand so if the have lost a little strength ... Meh?
As some other smart arse said to me once "anyone can make a boat look nice by throwing money at it" but with a 600 buck boat the challenge is to not over spend.
Enjoy the ride !

Do you guys really wash your boats in salt water? I hate my boat covered in salt and always the first thing I do once tied up is wash my boat in fresh water....and all the charter boats I have worked for do the same....salt on chain plates,stanchions and all fittings need to be washed in fresh water as soon as possible. Just the same as any other water sports,diving,fishing,underwater photography....etc.

Yeah, I have to put my freshwater in a 10L jerry can and row it to the boat in the dinghy, by the time I've done that I only want to use it for drinking!

Just one more quick question guys, I have a chance to get this outboard motor for cheap, its a 6HP short shaft.

The short shaft I am not sure about but not too worried, I can always get a bracket if it's too short, but the HP I don't know about.

Is 6 HP enough for a boat like mine, to push it out from the mooring to somewhere the sails can go up??
The other motor I am trying to get, which is more expensive, is a 15 HP longshaft.
Would that be way too much for my little boat?

Thanks again!!

Hi Mage, I have a 6 hp evinrude from Noahs boat on my Boomerang 20 and it comfortably pushes it along at 5 kts. A long leg is a must especially in a following swell . Even the long shaft gets swamped and cavitates occasionally. Have a look on www.trailersailerplace.com.au/ as they often have outboards for sale
Cheers
Ken

Measure the cut out on the transom to the water to see if a long shaft is required. I think its 20 inches off the top of my head for a long shaft. Use the cut out provided, its far better and cheaper than using a bracket and will keep the propeller closer to the stern and lessen the possibility of it coming clear of the water in sloppy conditions. 6hp is ample, I would always go Tohatsu personally. This is a small boat and the weight swinging off the stern should be kept to a minimum. 3.5 Tohatsu [Mercury/Nissan] with integral fuel tank would be compact and light enough to lift off and on if you had to. Fuel tanks and line in a small cockpit are a pain.