Hi there,
Apologies for the long post!
I'm new to the forum and have sailed probably 30 times in my life - and have enjoyed every sail - except for one particularly blowy race off Ocean Reef in Perth. I was foreword hand! I've also grown up with boats, have owned powerboats up to 5.9m, and so I am generally boat experienced. I sold my last one 6 months ago, and had this offer not arisen I wasn't looking to buy another one soon.
Anyway, to explain the subject 
of this post better, I have been offered a racing fit, cabin decked out fixed keel Hood 24 to look after. As good as it sounds on the surface (pardon the pun), there are loads of questions I have. I'm hoping you experienced yachties can help with one, some or all of them.
Firstly, I live in Ballina and the yacht is in Sydney. So I need to get it up here. From experience I know it would be costly to transport, and to be honest the idea of sailing her up us quite exciting. My partners father, an elderly but very experienced sailor is happy to help bring her up from Sydney but I wouldn't like to rely on him physically for any dramas which may arise along the way. Also, neither of us have real navigation experience/skills. I can read marine charts at a push, and with marine GPSs, how realistic is it that we could get her up in one piece (and us as we'll)? Any weather or time of year tips? Would any yachties in Sydney be interested in coming along to assist? I'm not in a position to offer any payment sadly, just come along to help, and for the love of it.
Next, once she's up here, most of the sailing would be on the Richmond river so I'm wondering how the fixed keel will affect access. Are there any Ballina sailors on this forum?
There's also the mooring / penning and upkeep of her. This is another cost so any comments on either or both? Penning sounds easiest but also most expensive. Are there any places where you can store them on land but still get easy/quick access to the water?
She's fully rigged for one man sailing and apparently has good racing type sails.
That's about it for now. I need to cost the exercise and look at how many times I might actually get out as I often have work contracts which incur significant travel.
The other option is simply to hire/rent one up here when we want to go out.
Thanks in advance for your replies. Any comments at all, good or bad, will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Andrew 
Well done Andrew and welcome to the forum, I presume you are talking about a Hood 23. These were extremely common on Sydney Harbour years ago and there are still heaps about. Endeavour 24's and Hood 23's used to be pretty much the standard family yacht raced on Saturday and cruised on Sunday.
If it was me I would day sail from Sydney to Ballina planning on easy day sails and staying overnight in the usual bolt holes. No rushing and spread it over several days using weather windows. Ensure you have all the safety equipment of course. For navigation I would use a handheld GPS and a laptop/gps puck and Seaclear nav programme with a paper chart back up. Plan the daily trip on the laptop or chart and use the handheld or if you have one a fixed GPS plotter.
Ballina is a long way from Sydney and if I recall correctly there are all night sails involved.
Check out this info http://skipr.net/cruising/docs/Passage%20Planner%20V2.0.pdf
Having your own mooring in Ballina would be the cheapest in the long run.
Hi Andrew,
Setting up the Hood should be easy if it's been well looked after. Check out the Roads and Maritime website for the regs.
If the boat doesn't have any navigation gear, and you have a tablet, the cheapest and easiest is to download the Navionics App. Once you pay for the app, the maps are free. You still must also carry paper charts for the area you travel though.
If you have three on board, you could also do a straight trip. Pick your weather window and sail the journey in one go, each taking watch while others sleep.
Call Marine Rescue Ballina to find out about the bar entry and they'll also give you some local info on mooring and marina facilities.
There is also a blog of a friend of mine who sailed to the Whitsundays in a Top Hat, you can find it at tophatyachts.org.au look under Top Hat Voyages for Seaka.
Most of all, have fun!
Damn, you are just full of handy information Ramona. Those passage planners are excellent and I have duly saved them on my drive. Ta muchly.
Hi Andrew. I am in Sydney and might be able to assist with the delivery or part of it. I might also be able to have a look at the boat for you.
Send me a message with your phone number.
Cheers John
Hey Andrew,
Have you tried the marina down in emigrant creek, they were pretty cheap last time I checked
Cheers
Rick
While I will be working for the 1st half of this year it will be part-time and fairly flexible so I should be available to assist with deliveries. Let me know if you need a hand.
