Charles works closely with the Maritime Heritage and Conservation world including authorities, architects, museums and developers. He works tirelessly to acquire and maintain both a wide circle of contacts and an excellent reputation within it.
He is a member of the Maritime Curators Group and the UK Maritime Collections Strategy. He was a Trustee of the new 14 million Heritage Lottery fund supported Museum in Docklands at the West India Docks in London, Dunkirk Little Ships Restoration Trust which is involved in bids for an HLF funded major project. In 2001 Charles was contracted as Managing Project Consultant to the Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth.
As an historian of the 18th & 19th Century London South Sea Whale Fishery, Charles has written and lectured extensively on the subject both in the UK and in the USA. He also writes for journals and presents papers to conferences on maritime heritage and events.