Welcome
About
The Orkney Historic Boat Society (OHBS) was launched in 2013.
Our Vision: To preserve the boating history of Orkney for future generations.
Our Mission: To preserve historic boats and related traditional boat building skills and crafts. To collect preserve and communicate knowledge relating to boats built in Orkney or having contributed significantly to Orkney life and to further the education and knowledge of the public in relation to historical Orkney Boats, including establishing a boat museum and workshop.
The society is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) with Charity Number SC044884.
This website
Here the society retains information of interest in the long term. This includes information of preserved boats and their equipment. Latest News and Event information is distributed via the society Facebook page.
The society is seeking information on potential boats for gifting towards restoration/preservation and display in the established Boat Museum. To ensure the right boats are selected for potential work and showcasing, an acquisition process has been developed. Please click on this link to download the OHBS Boat Acquisition Form. This form should be completed and then sent to the OHBS for assessment.
Get Involved
You don’t have to be an expert in research or renovation to join the Society. We welcome members who share our belief in the importance of preserving and promoting Orkney’s nautical heritage and traditions. Obviously experience in boat building or renovation would be welcome but we also need folk who are happy cleaning, painting and varnishing.
A lot can be learnt about working with wood and jobs can range from transporting water, wood, coffee and tools right up to actual renovation tasks. If you want to give it a go, contact us. You are welcome to come along for one or two sessions to see if you like it, but be warned, you might end up hooked!
There are few greater pleasures than knowing that you have contributed to the preservation of Orkney’s maritime heritage.
Join the Society
Subscription Rates and Membership Type:
Individual Membership (Annual): £15.00
Junior Membership (Annual): £2.00
Life Membership: £150
Annual Subscriptions are renewed on 6th April each year. If you would like to join please click on this link to download the OHBS Membership Application Form.
Past OHBS Newsletters are available here.
OHBS Policy documents are available on this page.
Latest News
On Facebook
- The catamaran Venture has been moved to the Old Herring Factory in preparation for some restoration work. With Venture moved we could tidy up our second storage location to allow some boats in preservation mode to be moved out of the Old Herring Factory.VentureTidy up complete
- Falcon has finally been moved to Ian Richardson's yard so that he can instruct a group of volunteers on how to go about making and attaching several missing planks.While at Ian's yard we inspected Ian's latest project – an elliptical stern yoleBack at the Old Herring Factory Nellie's steam boiler arrived, being rather heavy it […]
- With the help of a Hiab Loader Lorry we moved some boats today. Lagertha was moved within the compound. AKL was moved from Ness to the Old Herring Factory, then Shownia followed. Moving Lagertha AKL arriving at the Old Herring Factory Shownia arriving at the Old Herring Factory Inside Saga was treated to a further […]
- In addition to restoring and preserving old boats we have to do some maintenance on the building. Today the side trim on the new boat door was weather sealed (the top trim had already been sealed).Falcon has been put on a trailer ready for moving to Ian Richardson's shed so that the missing planking can […]