A thick mooring rope runs across the polished wooden deck of a boat and around a brass cleat, with calm water and dock pilings visible at dusk.

Heritage boatyard

Old hulls, back in the water

We restore wooden sailboats: planking, frames, caulking and varnish, done by hand in a working yard.

Describe your boat Visit the yard
  • Hull on the stand
  • Teak in the rack
  • Out on the water
  • Planks going on

Yard notes

Our story

Hello Boats started with one tired hull on a trailer and nobody in the county willing to touch it. We learned the work the slow way, sanding back to sound wood and replacing what the rot had taken.

We still work that way. Original timber is kept where it holds, new planks are steamed and fitted to the old frames, and every seam is caulked before the first coat of varnish goes on.

Read the full story
A silhouetted person stands inside the curved, ribbed wooden hull of a large boat under construction, with warm light falling across the timber and strips of blue evening sky visible above.
Silhouetted people gather before a large blue-and-orange illuminated display, with a cap-wearing person in the foreground gesturing toward others and two masked figures visible in the background.

Plank and frame repair

We cut out rotten planking and fit new stock to the original frames, leaving sound timber where it holds.

Long teak planks are stacked in a timber rack inside a dim boatyard storage bay, where low sunlight from an opening beside the water illuminates the wood grain and casts striped shadows across the concrete floor.

Brightwork and varnish

Stripping, sanding and building up coats of varnish on spars, rails and trim, one thin layer at a time.

A man on the wooden deck of a sailboat adjusts rigging beside the mast at dusk, with ropes in the foreground and a forested shoreline beneath the fading sky.

Relaunch and rigging

Caulked, painted and rigged, then taken down to the water for a sea trial before she goes home.

Enquire

Tell us about your boat

Describe her age, build and condition. We reply with a plain view of what she needs.

Send your enquiry Plan a visit