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Like father, like
son. The 53-foot
Carolina Girl
is owned by
George Harriss
Enterprises, a
local real estate
development firm.
George’s son, John,
a property manager for the company is
her captain. She was built by Jarrett Bay
Boatworks in Beaufort, N.C. in 1993,
and went through a succession of owners
and names (Real Quick, Diamond Girl).
Just prior to her purchase by George
Harriss Enterprises in 2005, she was
owned by pro golfer, Curtis Strange, who
had her christened The Lady Sarah.
She is an example of a classic Carolinabuilt
boat — plank on frame — as
opposed to most modern boats, which
are fabricated from a fiberglass cold
mold. She carries a Detroit 6B92 diesel
engine that’ll push her to top speeds of
24 to 25 knots.
“The original owner was Carroll
Thomas from Wrightsville Beach,” John
says. “It had been around here and done
a lot of fishing. We’d known the boat
when it was here before, and as we look
at it, she’s back home now. Carolina Girl
just seemed like an appropriate name,”
he adds.
George, 76, a distant cousin of Gene
Woodbury, owner of the Stardust, still
likes to get out on Carolina Girl, as often
as he can, although health issues have
tended to restrict this activity a bit during
the past year or so. As spring approaches,
though, George Harriss says he’s feeling
32
WBM april 2011
that familiar itch.
“I like to get in the cab and ride on
out in it to fish,” he says. “When it gets a
little warmer, we’ll have the opportunity
to take clients out, too. We were going to
try and charter it at some point.”
“It’s not a fast boat,” he adds, “but
it’s a smooth, dry, just very comfortable
boat.”
Eric Rydzewski’s
38-foot Louisa,
with its personally
designed, built and
patented drive system, is
the culmination of a long
history that began with
Rydzewski’s work as a
boat mechanic during the
time he was attending high
school in Virginia in the
late 70s and early 1980s.
Rydzewsk gravitated naturally
to engineering school
at Virginia Tech, and when
he graduated, he went to
work on submarines as
a civil engineer for the
Charleston Naval Shipyard.
He worked for the shipyard
for about five years before
eric
rydzewski
Louisa
GEORGE
& JOHN
HARRISS
Carolina
Girl
Allison Breiner Potter
John Harriss