Osprey and home location is applied to the bow and stern.

Matt Broadus, an old time surfing buddy, came by to add the name Osprey to my Seahawk.  He does great work. This coming Monday she moves across river for final set up and launch to her berth at Mandarin Marina on the St Johns river here in Jacksonville, Florida. Note - Jacksonville is a huge city - largest by land area in North America.  My neighborhood is San Marco (a truly lovely village) where she's listed as home.

Hi Tom,

I'm confident that you'll enjoy how she handles once she hits the water and that you'll feel it has been worth all the effort (and money!) you have put into her.

I'm really looking forward to your report of your first cruise.

Well Greg she's my last boat. No sense in ever buying another one. She was such a find in that Georgia swamp that I lost my head along with my wallet. You know I don't mind giving a breakdown on what I've spent.  It's probably not Brit polite but since I'm not a Brit...

Boat semi-poor state of disrepair with 4hp Evinrude in good condition - $1500
Trailer repair - $600 (tires, axles, bearings, electrical work)
Drop Keel repair including removal and sandblasting & ceramic coating $1500
Boat Paint - $400
Boat Painting - $2000 (including complete sanding, fiberglass repair and bottom paint)
Professionally rigged - $400
New Sails - $1000
Other stuff - radio, Coast Guard kit, registration, etc., etc., etc. - $600

Total - $8000

This for a unique antique boat that everyone comments on, all want to sail in and I find beautiful. And as an added plus pretty much one of a kind here in the States.  That said, I'm done. After a whole life of owning boats from 12' to 38' she's to be my last.  I swear.

Not ceramic to the keel - expoxy.

Hi Tom,

Tom Altee wrote

Total - $8000

Well that is a lot more than she'd be likely to fetch over here, but as you say, you do have a boat that is rather special, and it's always worth it when you know she's appreciated by those who see her.

I feel the same way about Just 17. I spend more on her than she is likely to fetch, but I do like to have a boat that looks good and I can feel proud of, and once I wash off the algae that's been accumulating over the last year or two because of my various house moves, she will look wonderful again.

I'm off for a cruise on a rather different kind of boat next week! See:
http://www.gregafloat.org.uk/canals/2015adderburyviewing.html
Wish us luck as we climb "Heartbreak Hill" (31 locks - all totally manual in operation - in 12 miles!) in what's forecast to be pouring rain and maximum temperatures of 7°c on Sunday!

If we make it as far as Macclesfield, they'll be a further flight of 12 locks to negotiate. Then we'll have to do it all again on the way back - a total cruise of 111 miles and 96 locks. Sailing is so much easier!

One word - Wow! What a trip.  Green with envy. As a newly single guy (at 61!) I could comfortably live aboard one of those.

Yes, I have spent more than she would fetch on the open market. But love is about more than market value. I'm at that age where I need to settle down with one constant companion and my Seahawk is her. I intend to lavish her with sailing gear/gifts.  As a retired school teacher I'm far from wealthy so it's all been done in slow motion over the last couple of years. But now she's ready for the water in a week or so.  My fondest wish at this point?  To have my Osprey grace the headline photo upon opening the Seahawk website. I will pester you with great photographs of her under sail in the semi tropics until you relent and post one up.  

At any rate have a good canal trip.  I will be following you on Greg Afloat.

Tom
Florida

Tom,

Have you made a blog or a record of all the work you've done, with photos? I am hugely interested. It looks like you've spent the same as me on getting boat and trailer in the first place, and my plan for renovation is almost identical to yours. I'd really be interested in the whole story, especially any photos on the way.

Also, what have you done on the inside?

Thanks

Perry

Sent from my iPad

Hi Perry,

Perry wrote

Have you made a blog or a record of all the work you've done, with photos?

I take it you're aware of My Blog at the GregAfloat site. It was started to record the work I did in 2010 on what was Imagination and became Just 17.

I'd really be interested in the whole story, especially any photos on the way.

If I have one complaint about Tom's photos it's that he doesn't use the option to post at 750px wide. The site was especially constructed to take images that width!

Also, what have you done on the inside?

Now that's a good point! While I have lots of images of the inside of Imagination/Just 17 scattered across this site and GregAfloat, I don't have a single page that shows the development from the time I bought her to her current state. I will do my best to rectify that, but no promises as to when, unfortunately. Life is just too hectic at the moment!

Thanks Perry!  Greg's blog has been a Godsend to me and my Seahawk now named Osprey.  When I pulled her out of the swamp in Georgia I had little idea of what she was or what I had.  The only thing I had was a name Seahawk.  When I got home I Googled British Seahawk and Greg's site popped up.  I was incredibly lucky that Greg had his two blogs - especially this one.  As I would hit blind alleys in her restoration Greg would nudge me in the right direction usually pointing me to the correct page of this blog to solve my problem(s).  No one on my side of our mutual pond had the first clue about her.  They would stand around scratching their heads collectively.  As I discovered more about her I decided that she would have a full restoration.  The outside is now complete.  Over the next year I will restore the interior.  All of the original orange cushions to this Reed Craft 4 sleeper are in good condition as are the underlying wood panels.  Because I'm a retired school teacher I didn't have the immediate money restore her all at once.  It's been three years now and we did one thing at a time often not sequenced correctly.  But all's well that ends well. Greg's lament that I didn't post the pics at the full size will be corrected.  Sometime early in the next month I will post up at the large size a complete run of photographs detailing her journey from purchase and restoration to launch.