Page published: 4 January 2005
Clocharde
Clocharde,
is French for tramp or vagabond, says owner Julian Green. "She was
given to me for my 30th birthday by my girlfriend of 10 years Holly,
the one in the pictures."
The boat was bought through brokers in Sandwich, Kent, and is kept there on a berth that dries out on the River Stour. It's a three mile trek down river to Pegwell Bay and the English Channel and initially this passage had to be done with a noisy Seagull engine which Julian would like to replace.
At the end of a "fantastic" 2004 season, the boat was taken off the mooring. These pictures were taken outside Julian's father's house in Burnham On Crouch, Essex, where Julian and Holly are hoping to under take some restoration work. After the electrics, first on the list are new windows and possibly a paint job, depending on the cost.
Clocharde's inventory includes a log, fitted forward of the starboard locker, though Justin reports that this did not work when he took delivery of the boat.
The cockpit shows that this is boat probably dates from the late 1970s. It features cockpit lockers of the type found on Reedcraft boats and three anchorage points for the main sheet. (These were reduced to a single point on the transom on later boats, produced by Moores.)
The starboard locker is fitted with a lid, although not of the kind fitted by Reedcraft. Although it might seem a better idea to top-hinge the hatch, so that it "self-closes", placing the hinges at the bottom allows the lid to lie on the cockpit deck. This makes it easier to get heavy equipment in and out of the locker. The Reedcraft hatch design fitted within the locker opening and was hinged at the bottom. A number of boats that have the Reedcraft-style starboard locker lid, also have the aft wall of the locker cut away. On a two-berth boat, with the lockers well forward, this provided sufficient length for an outboard motor to be stowed out of site, rather than left on the transom.
Inside, the boat has the conventional galley moulding fitted and a sea toilet to starboard (an example of which can be seen in the Description section). Hiding the toilet is an owner-fitted bulkhead fitted with instruments and a chart table.
Looking aft, it is seen that both bunks are fitted with additional plywood panels. While that to starboard is necessary to support the chart table, it would appear that their other function is to stop the mattresses sliding out of position. An alternative approach would be to fit strips of wood to the underside of the mattress panels that locate openings in the berth moulding, though keeping the panels free of protrusions can make them easier to store off the boat in winter.