The association was formed on 9 November 1982 by some who had taken a course in bottle ship building at the Maritime Museum. The course leader was then Björn Thunberg.

After the course, the participants did not want to split in different directions, but wished to continue meeting even outside the course premises. An association was formed and initially had no name. After voting on several proposals, the name "Bottle Ships" was agreed upon. Björn Thunberg became the obvious first chairman. They decided to meet on the first Thursday of every month and the meeting place was on board the lighthouse Finngrundet.

The idea of ​​the association was to meet over a cup of coffee, talk about bottle ships and boats in general. Those who wanted could of course build bottle ships during the meeting.

The association has grown over time and has about 40 members from Skåne to northern Norrland.

When the number of members increased, the meeting room at Fyrskeppet Finngrundet became too small and the meetings moved to Skeppsholmsgården on Skeppsholmen in the middle of central Stockholm. Our Thursday meetings once a month have turned into building meetings every Monday with a small membership meeting once a month.
The purpose of the bottle ships is to spread knowledge and preserve the tradition of bottle ship building, develop and make it interesting for the future. Arrange meetings, courses, study visits and collaborate with other like-minded associations. And of course we reveal the secret behind "how the ship gets into the bottle"