About Us

The set-up

I work mainly single-handed at our small premises comprising home and workshops. I have occasional sub-contract help and sometimes work with owners. I also subcontract to other builders and work on boats in the various boatyards within commuting range. I run the traditional boatbuilding course at the Nottage Institute, over the winter, this takes place on alternate Saturdays (October - March)

Biography

Boatbuilding, and boat design, along with sailing, were an early obsession; I made boat building my career (a few years after completing a university degree) with an apprenticeship at Arthur Holt’s yard at Heybridge Basin, near Maldon, Essex, starting in 1978. I started on own in 1982 and spent five years building boats at Osea Island on the river Blackwater. I moved to Rowhedge in 1987 and have occupied the present premises since 1990.

Over the years the the work done has been roughly 40% new boats built,50% repair and restoration, and 10% allied work, with the occasional piece of furniture and non-marine work. Recently, I have been building new boats by other designers - Phil Bolger, Iain Oughtred, and Albert Strange.