Cautious Clara

Dream of Arden Design : Published 1945 

  
 

Cautious Clara

Photograph Found in Old Family Album 
It is with considerable pleasure that I am able to present the above photograph of Cautious Clara. It was thought that no picture of her existed. However, it transpires that she was photographed in the Canary Islands in 1976. Possibly the shot was taken near Los Christianos at the southern end of Tenerife, but it could be at the southern end of Gran Canaria where Cautious Clara booked into the marina of Los Pedros. Aggressive developments at both locations since 1976 make the background difficult to identify.
Adventurous Voyage Log Book
A log book of Keith Murray's epic sailing adventures with his Harrison Butler designed yacht Cautious Clara has been located. With a sailing companion, it details Keith's 1975 voyage from England to Spain and then to the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo and the Canary Islands. They then made way to Dakar, Senegal, and to the Gambia. Cautious Clara went a good distance up the Gambia river. The log covers further adventures, concluding in 1977.
The log book is held by Keith's sailing companion, who would like to return it to Keith. It's not known if Keith is still alive.
Attempted Suicide
I have unearthed an archived letter, written in 1994, from a Daniel D Roten, giving detail of Cautious Clara's demise;
   “I first saw Cautious Clara in 1986 in the anchorage where I was living in St Thomas in the Virgin Islands. I barely recognised her as a Romadi sistership. I cannot remember the owner's name though he was British and had sailed her for many years in the Caribbean and South America. She had the original stem headed rig, unlike Romadi, which now has a 4 feet bowsprit. Her cockpit was decked over at the level just below the top of the coamings. She had no engine, the space making another cabin of sorts back aft. As for the rest of the interior, not much was left of the original joinery. Later, Cautious Clara moved to the main harbour of Charlotte Amalie and while anchored there was hit in the bow and some planks sprung. His girlfriend left him and, depressed, he shot a flare gun into his propane bottles housed in the stern cabin. This sunk Cautious Clara and covered his body with third degree burns. He went back to England and Cautious Clare sits on the bottom of the harbour. The mast was salvaged.”
   The other information on this page comes from the Lloyd's Registers. This Cautious Clara is not to be confused with the Itchen Ferry, Cautious Clara, built in 1910, renamed Itchen between 1949 and 2001 and, back under her original name, now owned by a previous treasurer of the HBA, Peter Crook.

Cautious Clara Statistics
Built : 1951 by Mashford Bros, Plymouth
LOA : 30' 0"
LWL : 24' 0"
Beam : 8' 7"
Draught : 5' 6"
Displacement : 8 tons TM
Lloyds Regester : N° 184129, Plymouth

Cautious Clara Custodians & Home Ports
Keith Murray (1975-1977-?) Burnham-on-Crouch
AG Beale (1974-1975) Burham-on-Crouch
GA Pollard (1969-1973) Maldon
Ian Greaham (1968) Maldon
Vernon Harvey (1967) Falmouth
RF Parker (1966) Falmouth
Philip H Fox & Anthony F Laity (1964-1965) Falmouth
Philip D Tuckett (1951-1963) Plymouth

Cautious Clara Links
• None found (January 2020)

Page last updated : January 2020

 
  

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