At the funeral service Pat Crockford gave an address of which this is an extract.
I have known Ralph for the best part of 50 years having met him when we were working together at Falmouth Boat Construction. At the time he was 18 years old and his nickname was Kitty Wee after his uncle Fred. We were work mates with a strong interest in CRA rowing which led to Ralph's interest in gigs.
When building a hollow mast at FBC we would put a wieght inside so that it rattled when rolling. Another trick was to tie a bucket under a punt so as to make it hard to row for the joiners going to work afloat.
After Boat Construction we went our own ways. Ralph stayed boat building, married Rosemary and had three children: Vanessa, John and Patrick but any time he needed help I was there. Like the time we brought the gig Sussex from the Isles of Scilly to Pill Creek on the deck of my fishing boat so that he could rebuild her.
In 1971 Ralph, with Truro Riowing Club, attempted to row the gig Campernell to Roscoff but unfortunately had to abandon the attempt because of bad weather.
On one occasion he repaired a Hayle skiff for John Daniel. When finished, Ralph, John and I raced her and won the Fal Race in a time of 47.5 minutes. The total age of the crew was 170 years. Ralph was always looking for turns to use in buidling gigs and, even in this race, we were looking for fallen trees.
Ralph also worked for Falmouth Marine College where he built Energy which was his first gig. Little did he know that there were 120 to follow. He also made the steering wheel for Adix.
Later, Ralph became a volunteer at the Museum where his favourite boat was Daisy Belle which he completely restored. By this time he had met and married Marie with whom he wrote a book about Devoran. Remembering events and dates was very easy for him.
Instead of 'see you again' I now have to say 'goodbye': the hardest thing of all. Ralph, you will not be forgotten.
