Charlotte III - First day on the Tees

Wow this is a fantastic boat!!  



Today I and a couple of pals launched and sailed Charlotte III No 390 on the river Tees for the first time since buying her last week.  I had adapted the trailer with an extension but found this not to be long enough.




This was the least of the problems when one of my helpers decide to walk a further yard along the landing stage to pull the boat off the trailer, only to find it was not an extra yard longer. Plop he went.  He is normally known as Dr Miller, from now on it will be “Dunk” Miller.  A hot shower and a change of clothes and we were off down river passing under the award winning Infinity Bridge with a few feet to spare, first under power from my 44lb trust electric outboard and then under main and jib in light breeze she performed beautifully.  We tacked back upstream and landed “Dunk” as he has to meet his wife for a shopping trip.  We are not sure how he explained the fact he was wearing somebody else’s clothes 5 sizes too big!!!
 


Eric and I then hove to in the middle of the river, fortified our self’s with coffee and sandwiches before dropping the mast to pass the 6 bridges on the way upstream to open water and the rural surrounds of Teesside (yes it is rural, the industry we had has nearly gone but what is remaining is further downstream towards the sea)  

Running gooswinged with a couple of jibes we went a couple of miles upstream and had to beat back to the bridges, dropped the sails and mast and powered back to base.  Recovery required waders, but I now know the solution, extend the trailer another 8 ft and it will be easy.

 Impressions from the days trial?
 
Again, Wow this is a fantastic boat!! , comfortable, stable responsive, quick in light air and the luxury of a cabin to avoid a couple of heavy showers.  Having sailed several types of dinghies, a long keel traditional boat and occasionally large yachts offshore, Sea Hawk 17 is a dream.

It is on account of the Seahawk17 web site’s excellent informative comment that I made the decision to purchase Charlotte III.  Definitely the right decision. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

Really like the brown hull paint job.

Hi Tom,

I stand to be corrected by the current owner, but I believe that boat still has an unpainted gel coat in the original "tangerine"! See:
http://www.seahawk17.org.uk/gallery/uk/penny.htm