“She was owned by my late father, I think from around 1970 to 1976. Certainly she was sold in 1976, at Mylor. I remember her being on the beach in front of what is now Café Mylor, for sale. The coachroof had already been added before my father bought her.
See attached photos from 1973, taken in Pill Creek, with my brother Jason and I on board.
So the following statement on your website doesn’t appear to be at all correct:
‘Muriel’ was ‘rebuilt’ twice under the ownership of Paul and his wife Pat. In the 1970s she was converted into a Bermudan cutter with large coachroof for safe sailing with their children.
The coachroof was added in the 1960’s or earlier.
And I have no idea who Paul and Pat are! If they owned her – and they were the ones that added the coachroof – then that would have been in the 1960’s. However, when we bought her the coachroof was old, and Muriel was in poor condition. I would guess that the coachroof was added in the 1950’s.”
Above information courtesy of Richard Freeborn.
Recent History
‘Muriel’ was ‘rebuilt’ twice under the ownership of Paul and his wife Pat. In the 1970s she was converted into a Bermudan cutter with large coachroof for safe sailing with their children.
In the 1990s she was re-fastened, re-decked and re-rigged as a gaff cutter with large sail area. She did however stay faithful to Paul’s choice of colour, red.
In 2017, ‘Muriel’ was relaunched following another restoration. After the passing of his parents in 2016, Jonathan and Penny Heighway took her on and she underwent a thorough refit, including a new hollow mast and running rigging. To reflect the next stage of her life, ‘Muriel’ has been painted white and will continue to sail with the South West Gaffers.
