One Tiny Hamster. One Huge Boat. One Serious Project.
If you’ve landed here from the home page, you already know the basics: a neglected 1980s steel trawler is being converted into a 60ft UK liveaboard cruiser, mistakes are made, lessons are learned, and a slightly bewildered hamster—Pedro—watches it all unfold. What follows is the story of the people behind the work, and how a slightly chaotic team makes serious marine progress happen.
About HamstersAHOY!
HamstersAHOY! is a boating and liveaboard project platform dedicated to practical seamanship, boat building, refits, and real-world marine problem solving. Founded and administered by Jack Allen, the site documents hands-on experience from the HamstersAHOY! Project — currently based alongside the River Seven in Worcestershire, UK.
Unlike theory-led boating blogs, HamstersAHOY.com focuses on work carried out under real conditions, with real constraints and real consequences. Our emphasis is on:
- Practical seamanship and vessel handling
- Steel boat construction and refurbishment
- Liveaboard systems and design decisions
- Safety, compliance, and project management
- Lessons learned from active marine work
The Philosophy
HamstersAHOY! is independent and free from fixed commercial affiliations, allowing honest, experience-led content. We provide documented, real-world exposure to tools, materials, techniques, and services used throughout a long-term liveaboard conversion.
Independence, Collaboration, and Sponsorship: We welcome readers, collaborators, and responsible sponsors who share an interest in practical boating, craftsmanship, and life afloat. We are an ideas-led bunch of swamp rats! If you have an idea you’d like to explore further, contact
The Project
The vessel was originally built for working life rather than leisure. Our project didn’t begin as a restoration exercise or aesthetic upgrade—it started as a practical attempt to convert a neglected industrial boat into a functional liveaboard capable of extended use in UK coastal waters.
Work is carried out incrementally, largely DIY, within the limits of weather, time, access, and resources. Progress is documented as it occurs—misjudgements, revisions, and enforced pauses included. Challenges like hidden corrosion, missing structures, or obsolete systems are expected, not exceptional, and planned for accordingly.
The boat is being converted primarily as a family liveaboard, with sufficient robustness for secondary uses like diving. All design decisions are guided by UK operating conditions, regulatory requirements, and long-term maintenance realities. The humour keeps perspective, but the thinking remains structured and grounded in real-world constraints, environmental factors, and operational safety.
The Team
Meet the crew making it all happen—human, hamster, and otherwise. Each team member brings a mix of experience, skill, and irreverent charm. Pedro, our hamster, may not help with diesel engines, but he offers moral support, accidental perspective, and occasional reminders about staying calm in rough conditions.
Alongside Pedro, we’ll introduce the humans behind HamstersAHOY!—builders, designers, engineers, and lifelong learners. Their insights appear folded into the project rather than set apart, because, as our colleague "Tug" Wilson always said: "Good advice only matters when you’re about to need it!"
Stay tuned for serialized introductions to the full team. Each story will be a blend of humour, real-world experience, and the occasional chaos you might expect on a 60ft liveaboard conversion.
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