Hello from Chloe
Thanks for a great issue (PBO, January 2023). As the skipper of an elderly GRP boat, based on a swinging mooring in Chichester harbour, there was plenty of material to identify with. When I brought Evadne to Mill Rythe in 1987 it was the cheapest place in the Solent, and it’s still a peaceful and good value mooring. There’s no yacht club, but plenty of friendly neighbours in the boat yard, free parking, a small toilet block and a dinghy rack. I haven’t been back to Hardway since that time, maybe it’s time for a revisit.
It was great to see Chloe in print again (10 Seadog Essentials). She accompanies us on all our trips, including the Elizabethans’ 60th anniversary rally in Lymington.
We still find the carry cage to be absolutely invaluable, ashore and afloat. I’ve since made a wooden base – like a small pallet – which keeps it out of the water in the dinghy and the cockpit. When is fully loaded in cruising mode, the waterline coincides with the cockpit sole. The base raises Chloe above any water creeping in through the cockpit drains beneath her kennel, especially when we heel.
