VOLUNTEERS : Sea Scout Vessel in Need of Repairs

Climb aboard the Tall Ship Argus in Newport Beach and help the Sea Scouts--members of the Orange County Council of Boy Scouts of America--repair her rotting planks and send her back to sea.

The Argus, formerly a Baltic trader, was built in Denmark in the early 1900s. The boat was used to haul cement and lumber, but is now used exclusively by the Boy Scouts of America for sail training.

The Argus is docked at the Boy Scouts Sea Base with no open sea in sight until some of its planks are replaced. “What we are doing is required by the Coast Guard,” said Sea Base director Mickey Hunter. “We have to replace the planking above the water line on the sides of the ship. We cannot have the work done in a shipyard because of the high labor costs, and pulling the Argus out of the water is very expensive.”

The Sea Scouts use the Argus for weekend training cruises to Santa Catalina Island during the spring and summer, and for five-day summer cruises to Santa Cruz and other Channel Islands.

“Some of our spring cruises have already been canceled due to the work (needed) on the boat,” Hunter said. “Hopefully, we will have the work completed sometime in the middle of May. If we could have six volunteers working a day, that would be great. Weekends we do OK, but during the week we only have half as many volunteers, or some days none at all.”

J.R. Warther, the ship’s carpenter and the only paid worker on the Argus, directs the volunteers and the work aboard the ship. “The sea base has been lucky enough to have a few skilled workers, such as a master cabinet maker, (and) we have gotten a lot of quality workers who have previously worked as college professors to truck drivers. We try to figure what people can do and set them up with a job they can handle.”

Adults with or without experience in wooden ship maintenance should contact Mickey Hunter at the Boy Scout Sea Base, 1931 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, (714) 642-5031.