Joe matthews

Hi all been lurking here since the summer when I brought a seahawk named beetle seems to be an original reedcraft design with an annoying non tabernacle mast step as of yet its annoying since I live on the broads and have her moored in a place where to take her out i have a low bridge to pass, she also has the original 1970s jeckells sails, I've been sorting a few bits out on her and am just about ready to take her for her first sail in a few years. Been loving thos website absolutely full of information advice and friendly people it seems.

I brought her for £250 with an electric outboard, she needed some ropes replacing and a very good clean, shes got crazing all over the gelcoat and the inside benefited from a fresh paint, she gets a few leaks from the roof when it rains very heavily, she was also missing her kicking strap so I've made one up whoch seems to fit quite well, she could do with getting taken out of the water soon and cleaned with rubbing strip replaced. Plenty of little projects I want to crack on with aswell as those listed

Another interesting thing ill mention is that on the broads registry the make of my boat is down as a "seahawk 17 firefly" its the only one on there with the make down as firefly and I can't really tell why I assume someone made a mistake previously when filling in paperwork as far as I'm aware there is no such thing as a seahawk 17 firefly and there seems to be no noticeable difference between mine and anyone else's seahawk to garner a different name if anyone knows anymore about this please let me know.

Hi Joe,

Welcome to the forum!

I think you hold the record for the time between registering and posting your introduction.

I'm sure you'll be right and an early owner added the boat's then name to the Make/Model section of the Broads registration form.

Is there a trace of a sail number on those sails of yours? I don't have and records of a SeaHawk named Firefly but it's just possible I know how by a different name.

Although you don't have a tabernacle, which is a little unusual for a boat based on the Broads for a while, having an electric outboard does suggest she's been used on inland waters previously. I gather you don't know too much of her past.

Heavily crazed gel coat on an early example is not unusual. Leaks through roof fittings suggests that you may have a saturated balsa layer between the inner and outer GRP skins. That's quite common if you have a roof vent fitted and that was quite common on early Reedcraft boats.

I always welcome photographs to add to my collection. (It's usually best to email them as the forum software won't accept images larger than 1Mb)

Best of luck with your boat. I hope it serves you well.

Thank you. No sail numbers can be seen unfortunately, I also don't know much else about her history.
The leaks come from the some screw holes which I patched and the windows plus a bit comes through the mast step which I've been meaning to remove pour some wood sealant/repair stuff in then seal the mast step back on.
I also have no roof vents.
And to add to the tabernacle discussion I have an old strong weekend tabernacle that was gifted to me which if of the right dimensions I might prepare to mount onto the craft but am still a bit unsure about how I would go about modifying the mast without doing it damage.

I shall send you the few pictures I have some won't have the mast up as I'm yet to sail her and was using her as a motor boat for a few weeks to take dog on walks🤣 since to leave Norwich the mast has to come off so I left it off

Don't rush to send pictures!

You're right that to adapt a mast for a tabernacle requires some special skills.

Take a look at the third photo down on:
https://www.seahawk17.org.uk/boat-description-rigging.php
to see how the foot of my mast originally looked.

Then compare it with how it looked after being prepared for the tabernacle. Scroll up from this link:
https://www.seahawk17.org.uk/owners-custom-sailing-tabernacle.php#inuse

You'll see the back of the mast had to be cut off and a tube welded into the mast to take the hinge bolt.

As you'll read I used Marine Weld of North Walsham to do the skilled aluminium welding work that was necessary.