Charlotte Hole, The Cirdan Sailing Trust
Charlotte has been a member of Cirdan’s crew for the last 2 and a half years, but was unfortunately made redundant from her seasonal contract in July, after a period of furlough. During furlough, Charlotte lived aboard Cirdan’s converted Baltic trader Queen Galadriel and while government rules meant she couldn’t do any work for Cirdan during this time, Charlotte took it upon herself to look after her accommodation by sanding and painting areas that she knew needed attention. With the lockdown period stretching on, she also decided to fill some of her time by making new matching sailing bags for Duet, a 22m long vessel which was built in 1912 and has been on permanent loan to Cirdan for the last 25 years.
Once she was made redundant, Charlotte went back to her family but her dedication to Cirdan didn’t end and she offered to make some much-needed sail and hatch covers for Duet. These will not only improve the appearance of the vessel but will also help preserve her aging wood and equipment. She has since filled her parent’s home with metres of canvas to produce covers for the main sail, mizzen sail, butterfly hatch, forward hatch, gas locker, spar and windlass. Cirdan had received quotes in excess of £3,000 for the work, but having measured and calculated the material needed, Charlotte quoted £400 for the work.
Charlotte has been a volunteer for the Rhona Trust for many years in addition to her work with Cirdan. She is totally dedicated to sail training and learning more about historic vessels. Cirdan are hoping to be able to reemploy her, but in the meantime would like to thank Charlotte for her commitment since her redundancy which has saved them over £2,000 and is of enormous support in this difficult time.
Watch the Awards Presentation here: https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/page/awards-2020