VALE - RON OF ARGYLL
By Jim Woods
The beautiful 1928 gaff topsail ketch “Ron of Argyll“ has been lost on a reef in Shoalhaven Western Australia. In the world of wooden boats, there is, quite rightly, a concept of custodianship rather than ownership. I was her custodian from the late 1980's to the mid 2000's. But, right now, on hearing the news, I feel more like an owner than a custodian. She was my old girl and I don’t mind saying there are a few tears hitting the keyboard as I write this obituary.
Her history is (sorry was) that she was built in Scotland in 1928 by Robertsons of Sandbank on the Clyde River to a design by John McCallum. The first owner was Colonel Spencer who used her for summer cruising around Scotland. She passed through a number of custodians and spent the 1960s and 1970s chartering in the Caribbean before coming to Australia via the Pacific,Islands. She was 50 feet on deck and carried five lower sails being jib, staysail, main, mizzen staysail and mizzen as well as three uppers being a flying jib and jackyard topsails on the main and mizzen. All of the running gear was handled manually – no winches. The highlight of the below decks was the saloon which looked like the inside of a private gentleman's club.
But these custodial facts don’t convey the intimacy of our nearly 20 years together.
She was in a pretty sorry condition when I took her over. The original construction method of iron floors with copper fastenings created a battery in the bottom of the boat which required a major structural rebuild. Tim Phillips of The Wooden Boatshop told me “ I’ll fix her up so she won’t drown you”. He did exactly that and provided a vessel which allowed me to survive many errors of judgement as I gained experience in open ocean adventuring.
Tim completed the rebuild in November 1994 and our first trip was to Sydney to compete in the 50th Sydney to Hobart race. Every day on board was an adventure creating memories and relationships that are still fresh more than 30 years later.
We cruised Bass Strait in the summer and took her to the Whitsundays to work as a charter boat over the winter. She also chartered in Port Phillip - especially during the pre- Christmas period. The trips to and from the Whitsundays each year became a bit of a chore and for the last five or six years of my custodianship, she worked out of Airlie Beach giving European backpackers their first taste of tropical cruising.
She was strong, safe and great fun to sail with a group of mates.
In attempting to find something positive in her demise, I can only think that coming to grief on a reef in Western Australia is preferable to a slow death in a marina from lack of maintenance.
For those readers in Hobart for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival who have a connection with the boat, join us for some reminiscing at around 6 pm onFriday 7 February 2025 on Margaret Pearl.
Jim Woods
A note on the photos starting and finishing this article. they were sent to me through a number of different hands. We are leading the fleet in one of the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron Twilight Pursuit Races. I reckon it's about 1998. We used to have an open house on the Wednesday nights for the twilight race which regularly drew between 15 and 30 people. I don't know who took the photos but they were clearly taken by helicopter and I suspect that Roger Dundas had his finger on the shutter. I've spoken with Roger about this and he can't remember taking them but I can't think of where else they may have come from.