Finland's Canoes: A Nordic Legacy
An Invitation to Build Your Own Finnish Canoe This Spring
Isn’t there something poetic about carving a vessel from wood—taking a material shaped by wind and rain, bending it to form, and setting it free again upon the water? In Finland, this tradition has been deeply rooted in the culture for centuries. Sleek and silent, canoes have long been vital for navigating Finland's vast network of lakes and rivers, which together make up approximately 10% of the country's total area. Today, while modern materials dominate the global boat building industry, a quiet revival is underway—one that honors tradition, artisanship, and sustainability, offering a renewed connection to our shared home on Planet Ocean.
This coming Easter, a group of women will gather in Pälkäne, two hours north of Helsinki, to take part in a Finnia canoe building course. Under the guidance of professional boatbuilder Heike Löwenstein (a valued member of our newly-formed Wooden Boatopia Council), they’ll construct their own wooden canoes, reviving an age-old practice with their own hands. To understand the significance of this course, we need to step back and appreciate the story of Finnia canoes—their past, their resilience, and their future.
Finnia Canoes
Canoes have long skimmed the waters of Finland’s endless lakes and twisting rivers as an elegant and efficient mode of transport. Before roads and railways carved through the landscape, people relied on boats to travel, trade, and fish. While the larger Baltic Sea trade routes demanded sturdy sailing vessels, inland Finland’s sprawling waterways required something smaller, lighter—something that could be carried over land, paddled with ease, and built with available materials at hand.
Traditional Finnia canoes trace their lineage back to dugout boats, crafted from massive pine or birch trunks. These early vessels, hollowed out by axe and fire, were the lifeline of river communities. Over time, the design evolved. Builders began to use planks, splitting and fastening them into sleek hulls reinforced with ribs, creating what we now recognize as puuveneet (wooden boats). Finnish craftsmanship took influence from Scandinavian clinker-built techniques, producing durable, lightweight canoes that could handle both tranquil lakes and fast-moving rivers.
This deep-rooted tradition is now recognized on a global scale. In 2021, the Nordic clinker boat building tradition was added to UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, acknowledging the historical and cultural significance of wooden boat craftsmanship across Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. This designation not only validates the importance of traditional boat building but also reinforces the urgency of keeping these skills alive through teaching, apprenticeship, and hands-on experience—exactly what the upcoming women’s canoe-building course at Vendia Woods is about.
While fiberglass and aluminum have largely replaced wooden canoes in commercial production, Finland remains one of the few places where traditional wooden boat building is still thriving. Builders, such as those from the Puuveneveistäjät (Finnish Wooden Boat Builders' Association), continue to preserve and teach these skills, ensuring that wood remains an option—not just for nostalgia, but for its sustainability and performance.
And there’s something else keeping this heritage alive: a growing movement of women stepping into the world of traditional boat building.
Meet Heike Löwenstein
A driving force behind this shift is Heike Löwenstein, a skilled boatbuilder and educator dedicated to fostering inclusivity in the craft. Trained in traditional wooden boat construction, Heike’s passion for both artisanship and community, combined with her background in education, has led her to teach courses where knowledge is shared in a supportive, hands-on environment.
At Raindrop Boats, Heike merges her expertise with a keen understanding of how boatbuilding is both a technical skill and an opportunity to engage with the materiality of wood, understand its living history, and gain confidence in working with tools in a way that feels both intuitive and empowering.
Her upcoming Easter course at Vendia Woods offers just that: an immersive, women-led canoe-building experience set in Finland’s heartland.
An Invitation to Build Your Own Canoe in Finland
This Easter, from April 14–25, 2025, Ämmätsä Manor in Pälkäne—two hours north of Helsinki—Vendia Woods will host a women-only canoe-building course. Under Heike’s guidance, participants will construct their own Finnia canoe.
The course runs for ten weekdays, with a break on the weekend to explore the surrounding wilderness of Laipanmaa or simply soak in the quietude of the Finnish landscape. Participants will work in pairs, making the course especially welcoming for those with little or no woodworking experience. Every step—from constructing the keel to making and fitting the stays, joining the pre-milled boards, and finishing the canoe—will be covered. Multiple finishing options are available, including traditional tar/linen oil varnish, clear varnishing, or painting.
Vendia provides all necessary materials:
· Sustainable wooden boards
· Wood materials for benches and fittings
· Glues and finishing products
· Full access to tools and workspace
By the end of the course, participants will have built not only a canoe but a deepened understanding of the craft of canoe building and self-reliance. Those who wish can also test paddle their Finnia canoe before bringing their own vessel home.
Why Join?
A Safe & Supportive Learning Environment: This is an opportunity to learn from an experienced female boatbuilder in a space designed for encouragement and collaboration.
A Connection to Finnish Boatbuilding Heritage: Building a canoe with traditional materials in the heart of Finland offers a rare chance to step into the legacy of Nordic craftsmanship.
An Unforgettable Experience: Beyond boatbuilding, this course is an immersion in Finland’s natural beauty, complemented by the warmth of shared learning and a chance to unwind in an authentic Finnish sauna.
A Sustainable & Personal Craft: Unlike plastic or fiberglass alternatives, a wooden canoe built with Vendia planks binds carbon, saves forests, and eliminates microplastic pollution in waterways.
Course Details & Registration
📍 Location: Ämmätsä Manor, Pälkäne, Finland
📅 Dates: April 14–25, 2025
⏳ Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:30 AM–5:00 PM (optional work over Easter weekend)
💰 Price: €2553 for UK & overseas participants, €3000 for Finnish & German residents (excluding travel, accommodation, and meals). The price covers one canoe, which can be built solo or as a team of two—making it a perfect opportunity to join with a partner, friend, or family member (such as a parent and child) at no extra cost.
🛠️ Skill Level: No prior experience needed! Perfect for beginners or those looking to refine their woodworking skills.
✉️ To register or inquire: Contact Heike Löwenstein via email at heike@raindropboats.com or WhatsApp at +44 7711 316 210.
For those outside Finland, Vendia offers tuition during the course and can freight canoe materials so participants can complete the build at home.
Contact Vendia Woods to inquire about their mixed canoe building course in the summer.
A Final Thought for Crafting the Future
Traditional wooden boat building, though a traditional art form, is a practice that continues to evolve. Practitioners step into a lineage of markers who, for generations, have shaped vessels that enable the traversing of waterways and time itself. And perhaps, in shaping wood, we shape something within ourselves too.
Certainly, this mindset is at the heart of our own Polynesian-inspired wooden voyaging canoe build.
Video: testing a canoe built during last year’s mixed course.
Selected References
Finnish Wooden Boat Builders’ Association: www.puuveneveistajat.fi
Finnish Wooden Boat Designs: www.puuvenemallisto.fi
Yle News: "Women-Only Boatbuilding Course: A New Wave in Finnish Craft"
Raindrop Boats x Vendia Canoe Course Spring 2025 Brochure
If this resonates with you, consider sharing this article with someone who might dream of crafting their own wooden canoe.
Floating Stories Lab Fundraising News
NEW: We now have a ‘Buy Me A Coffee’ page set up but instead of coffee, folks can chip in $5, $10, or $15 to buy us a ‘bit of wood’ as a one-off or recurring monthly contribution. You can also leave your name or social handle and a nice message :)
