The Rhona H By Julie Porter
SV Rhona H By Julie Porter SV Rhona H taken from SV Derwent Hunter.
I must go down to the sea again, the lonely sea and the sky and all I need is a tall ship and a star to steer her by …. (John Masefield)
Register of Ships is the regulator of all things of registered boat ownership. It was a steep learning curve.
That line has always intrigued me but the tall ship part especially so.
We soon noticed the bell had 1942 marked on it with the name Rhona H. Definitely the bell belonging to the vessel, but a mystery when the registry had listed 1947 as the vessel’s date. Rather than get a new date inscribed (a tough ask on a cast bell), we started to investigate the origins of the vessel. It became a story of intrigue and one that has led to many connections and stories of Tasmanian maritime history.
Most people tend of think of tall ships as the big square riggers, either alongside with the yards overhanging the wharf, or out at sea with lots of canvas as they navigate the oceans. However, our tall ship happens to be a small, tall ship. Built in 1942 by Ned Jack, with the hull of Huon Pine, the decks Celery Top and the masts Oregon (or more correctly Douglas Fir), SV Rhona H is the oldest and smallest operating tall ship in Hobart. She is now a 52foot, gaff rigged, topsail ketch, fitted with a suite of clipper canvas sails. It was with some sense of awe that I signed the document giving me 32 shares in January 2014: my partner Charles owning the other 32. Little did I know then that boats are owned with 64 shares and the Australian
The boat was indeed built in 1942. She was first called Jessie (or Jessica) after the first owner’s, (Frere Youl) daughter. Mr Youl had commissioned the boat and she was built as a gentleman’s recreational fishing craft, rigged as a ketch, specifically to ply the waters of Bass Strait and the Tasmanian Northwest Coast. Sadly, he had to sell the boat and Max Hardy purchased it in 1946 and renamed her Rhona H after his then girlfriend, Rhona Bird. The Rhona H spent many years based in Stanley where she was used as a cray and couta boat traversing Bass Strait and the Women Who Sail Australia 11
