Boating industry loses one of its stalwarts
by Bob Wonders on 15 Dec 2010
One of the last photographs talken of the late Col Allison. Typically, he was standing alongside an Allison boat in his favourite colour, red. Bruce Allison
The sad news came through to me on Tuesday afternoon (December 14) that Col Allison, founder of the Allison Boat Company, had passed away.
He was 82-years-old.
Col had been confined to a nursing home in recent months and according to son, Bruce, had been ‘doing it tough’ over the past few weeks.
'In typical Col Allison fashion, he stared death in the face and knew his time was up,' Bruce said.
Col is survived by his wife, Irene, sons Bruce and Craig, daughter Susan and eight grandchildren.
I first met Col shortly after he began the business, building his first boat, a 32’ fibreglass sports cruiser, in an industrial shed near the Horizon Shores Marina, aboud half way between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
That boat proved to be a classic of its time and is still revered by its owners today.
Allison Boat Company, as the operation became known, then moved to the Brisbane industrial suburb of Archerfield, and was to build fibreglass boats, primarily in the runabout and sport fishing style, for nearly 20-years.
With Col’s semi-retirement and the boating industry suffering hard times during he global financial crisis, Bruce and Sue Allison made what they recall as a 'gut-wrenching decision’ to move away from fibreglass.
Today, the Allison Boat Company is emerging as a highly efficient producer of alloy boats, similar in design and application to the ‘glass boats that won respect for Col Allison.
During its fibreglass era, Allison Boats became quite renowned for the durability and quality of construction.
The company had a strong dealer network in Melbourne (Bay Marine), Adelaide (Hodge Marine), the NSW south coast (Nowra Marine), Brisbane (Cunningham Marine) and Sydney (Andrew Short Marine).
With Bruce and Sue at the helm, the company today operates from a modern facility at Loganholme, again roughly half-way between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Col Allison was one of those ‘old-fashioned Aussies’, always pleased to see you, always ready to make you feel welcome.
A born and bred Brisbane lad, Col lived all his life on the city’s southside, primarly at Mount Gravatt later at nearby Sunnybank.
He will be missed.
The boating industry, particularly in Queensland, has lost one of the good ones.
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