Greetings from Kallavesj’ 2016 fair!

Kallavesj’ 2016 fair was held on the first weekend of April in Kuopio, Finland and it was an opportunity to see our mahogany faced VENDIA marine plank. Niko-pulling boat was also present. It looked great since it had received the final varnish layers and the beautiful appeareance of mahogany really stood out.

Next to Niko-pulling boat was presented another boat made of VENDIA. It was a rowing boat made of pine faced VENDIA marine plank by Boatyard Ruotsalainen.

In addition to these boats a pine faced Niko-pulling boat was on view at Kuopio Adult Education Center’s section. That specific boat was built on the pilot course of Niko-pulling boat during January-Febuary in 2016. Niko-pulling boat has been designed as an easy boat model to build. Two boatbuilding courses have already been booked for the coming winter. More information about Niko-pulling boat model: venesuunnittelu@gmail.com

VENDIA bends also in the hands of beginners

Many people dream of building an own wooden boat but many of us wonder the lack of experience. Building a wooden boat is fine handicraft but at the same time it is demanding work, so different kind of boatbuilding courses are excellent places for the beginners to build the first wooden boat. For example in Finland the local adult education centres arrange boatbuilding courses for the beginners. There is a professional teacher on the course who teaches the boatbuilding step by step. Also the materials and drawings are arranged on behalf of the course so it is easy to start the boatbuilding. And what’s more, at the end of the course the hard work is rewarded with a self-made wooden boat.

Many boatbuilding courses have taken VENDIA marine plank as a material for their courses, so we have had the possibility to follow the progress of these courses and completion the boats. In July 2014 we wrote about the boatbuilding course held in Sorsakoski, Finland. On February-March there was another boatbuilding course in Sorsakoski where VENDIA was used as a material. VENDIA marine plank has been chosen as a material for a number of boatbuilding courses because for the beginners VENDIA is pleasant to work with. Because of the structure VENDIA marine plank bends regularly and it doesn’t crack. Also the shaving and jointing are easier for the beginners because VENDIA’s face veneer is always thicker than the core veneers. Another feature that helps working the joints is another lengthwise veneer below the face veneer. Due to these features VENDIA has received a positive response also from the rookie boatbuilders.

Boatbuilding courses for beginners have been very popular in Finland and there are more people willing to participate on the courses than there are courses available. If your dream is to build your own boat but there is no such a course in your place, gather a group of friends and ask for example your local adult education centre to organize a boatbuilding course. Experiences so far have shown that a teacher, materials and place are easy to arrange with a little effort.

The course participants from left Markku Alaraudanjoki, Kari Luostarinen, Markku Holopainen, Eerik Oresmaa, Seppo Viinikainen, Einari Oresmaa, Heikki Hiltunen, Raimo Voutilainen and Ilmo Koivisto.

Our previous posts about boatbuilding courses can be found from here and here.    

The first touch of boatbuilding with VENDIA

VENDIA marine plank has been popular material among boatbuilding courses in Finland. One of the courses was held in Suonenjoki, in Northern Savonia. During last October and November the course had completed seven wooden boats made of VENDIA marine plank. The course lasted a month and the participants made all the boats together. Surface finishing for the boats will be done in the spring when they also will be raffled among the builders. At the beginning of summer the course participants will get to try the new boats to the Savonian lake scenery.

All the seven boats have been made of VENDIA marine plank. The course teacher, Ilmo Koivisto, was the builder of the first boat made of VENDIA. He considered VENDIA as beautiful material and he thought it was easy to work with. That is why he also recommended VENDIA marine plank to the boatbuilding course participants who didn’t already have extensive experience in boatbuilding. All the boats built on this course are Savonian-type, so called Vendace-type boats. There is little American nuance on the keel – it is a bit wider than in traditional Savonian-type boats. The boats are also slightly bigger than normally. The length of the boat is 5.85 meters, while traditional Savonian-type boats have typically length between 5 - 5.5 meters.

Three participants of nine were members of the Suonenjoen Tehdäänitse ry -association. The association organizes a name competition for the boat they made and on the next summer the boat is in common use of the all members of the association.

Boatbuilders with VENDIA

Wooden boats were made of VENDIA marine plank in boatbuilding course of Soisalo Institute in Sorsakoski, Finland. Course participants Viljo Huovinen, Paul Hämäläinen, Timo Kervola, Reino Uusaro, Veikko Hiltunen and Keijo Issakainen built their own wooden boats with a course teacher Ilmo Koivisto. To most of them, building a boat was the first time. Now part of the course participants are planning to build another boat the next winter.

VENDIA marine plank was used as a boatbuilding material in the course. Ribs were made of aspen and other parts were made of solid pine. The boats were impregnated with a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine. The surface was treated with a glimmer shade. According to Uusaro, VENDIA marine plank was easy to bend and work. Hiltunen, for his part, tells that the marine plank is flexible and it is easy to handle. Hiltunen is already planning to build the next winter a 6-metre-long motorboat using VENDIA as a raw material.

Several weekends and also some weeknights of hard work were rewarded with self-made wooden boats in the beginning of June. The finished wooden boats were drawn to their builders in Paukarlahti, Finland. Now these boats afloat already and experiences have been great. Issakainen mentioned, that now the way to the island cottage is less than an hour with the new boat. With the old boat it took an hour and a quarter. Also the fuel consumption is third lesser than before, says Issakainen.