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Backyard Boatbuilding UK is primarily a non-commercial and advertising-free source of valuable information for those interested in building wooden boats in their backyard. Whether you are simply daydreaming about building your first boat (we all start that way, don't we?), are part way through building one and need some help or guidance, or already have a backyard built boat or two on the water, you are welcome here. And all, including our many ‘lurkers’, may take away from the site whatever information they may wish to glean from it. Some five years ago my wife, Jeannette, and I sat down one evening to discuss living aboard a boat. She had in mind a Dutch Barge as she had been browsing the Internet and seen a number of designs on a website in Holland that really took her fancy. They were steel hulled 50 to 60 footers with just about everything on board that would be found in a home – huge double beds; bathrooms with sinks, showers, even baths; full sized ovens and cooking hobs; big, widescreen televisions; computer stations; in some, a hold/garage (with crane to raise and lower a small car for use ashore); and so on and so forth.

It has to be said that it is quite unusual, at least in my own experience, for wives to come up with such ideas but the idea of building our own live-aboard boat was originally Jeannette's. I was, therefore, very pleasantly surprised by her suggestion. On reflection, it was perhaps far less surprising than it sounded at the time.

Where boatbuilding is concerned, I had helped my father build his several boats and spent many pleasurable hours working on cats and kayaks. My father, bless him, was a highly skilled carpenter/joiner and cabinetmaker and his abilities were without doubt exceptional. Much of my own knowledge about woodworking and boats was gleaned from him and he had perhaps passed on some of his talent in my genes. At least, I like to think so.

Together, Jeannette and I looked carefully at Dutch Barges. I eventually steered her away from these, mainly due to the fact that I cannot weld to save my life and I was not too sure about living on a boat that was restricted by its design to rivers and canals. We then began what so many other backyard boatbuilders do: a search for a boat design to fulfil our dreams. And that is not as easy as it sounds. There are many designs to choose from and so many different designers ‘out there’ that it is rather like a child sitting in a sweet shop and wondering what sweets to buy. However, there are definitely some sharks in them thar waters.

A search for ‘the right boat’ needs to be undertaken with extreme caution, not least because building a boat can be very costly both in money terms and in the inherent dangers that may lay in wait for those who choose a poorly designed boat. After some three years of researching on the Internet and in boating magazines, we ended up looking at a mere handful of designs from the drawing boards of just two designers. But it was a fascinating journey; one upon which we learned so very much about what is available on the market ‘out there’. We also learned a great deal about the many pitfalls for the naïve and the unsuspecting. It was, to say the least, an interesting and educational experience for us. And it is a journey we thought to share with others in an effort to encourage and assist.

We joined up as members on various websites and made a genuine effort to participate with what we hoped were like-minded individuals. Sadly, we found so many boatbuilding websites do little more than act as online meeting places for those whose wont it is to show off in a self-indulgent manner or to engage in sycophantic discourse with one or another boat designer. We also found a number of websites act as plans sales agents for a wide array of designers - ‘plans farms’ we call them - that simply seek to profit from the likes of you and me without offering any worthwhile advice on the quality of any particular design or designer. It seems to us that some plans farms favour one or another designer simply because that designer offers them a higher margin for profit. Like I said above, there are sharks in them thar waters!

In the end, we decided to set up a website ourselves; one that genuinely seeks to help other backyard boatbuilders to achieve their dreams and to do so without fear or favour. We felt it important to ensure absolute integrity and we decided to make the site free to access and free of any specific advertising or promotion of any one design or designer.

Backyard Boatbuilding UK was opened to the public on 1 October 2008. It has, of course, changed considerably with time and with our increasing experience in running a website. The site began its life as an interactive community forum like so very many others out there, with a completely open registration system. That was, we feel, a serious mistake. We have altered the way our site works and now ask people interested in joining us as members to make an application (see further below). That way, we manage to keep out most spammers, mischief makers, and those very few individuals who seek to use our site for self-aggrandizement or for profiteering. If you join us as a member, you will be free to post on anyone’s designs and to blog your own builds for the benefit of others. However, it must be strongly emphasized here that BBUK is primarily for the use of members who will build a wooden boat (or two, or more perhaps) in their own backyard. It is definitely not for ‘kit assemblers’, nor is it a place for seeking others to build a boat for you. That said, there are simply hundreds of beautiful, detailed, photos on this site and as much in the way of genuine, qualified, advice and valuable tips on backyard boatbuilding as it has been possible for us and our members to gather together in our spare time.

This site is not for profit. We do not seek or receive payment for anything displayed here, neither do we charge anything or try to separate people from the hard-won cash in their wallets. We have set BBUK up simply because we thought it a good idea to help others through a boatbuilding website that is completely unique among its peers. That's it. No profits being made here, no supposition being advanced as fact, no advertisements to be clicked on to make us a few pennies 'per click', no fees to pay. BBUK is simply about helping fellow backyard boatbuilders, ‘backyardies’ we call them, to achieve their goals. Warts and all, this site is just what it appears to be. WYSIWYG!


The Web is most useful as a source of information. However, it is vital to recognize that opinion is quite far removed from fact. One should not take on face value any information gleaned from the Internet, whether from here or elsewhere. It is always wise to check it against known, preferably authoritative, sources. BBUK is exclusively for the use of our members. The forums are, however, visible to non-members and guests, so it is important to bear that in mind when posting on it. To apply to join as a member, please use the 'Contact Us' link at the foot of every page - instructions on how to apply are under that link.BBUK is an ongoing project with much more to come as our own builds progress. Having had a few rather serious medical problems to slow me down, I have first built John Welsford’s beautiful little Tender Behind dinghy for our youngest daughter. Don't you just love that name? Ha ha.

You can find the Blog of my build – in three separate stages of construction – under our ‘Blogs’ navbar button.

Happy Backyard Boatbuilding

Mike and Jeannette