THIS WEEK IN 1981: Kitty moves on from its landlubber post
The sailing barge, Kitty, built in 1895 and well-known at Hayling Island where she was berthed, was to head out to see once again.
Kitty, pictured, was lying at Yachthaven and had been run as a restaurant for almost three years by her owners David and Madry Anderson. They came to feel that Kitty should go to sea more often: ‘She is a beautiful craft and her place is at sea,’ said Mrs Anderson.
An engine was fitted to the boat to get it in and out of the creek, but this would not replace its sails.
Kitty was to be available for charter work.
Originally built for carrying on the Thames, she was still doing this work in the 1950s. The last time Kitty was at sea from Hayling was when she visited the Isle of Wight for Cowes week in 1980.