The boats typical of Lake Ladoga developed over hundreds of years to suit the conditions of the lake. Influences came from many directions.<\/p>\n
Inspirations and lessons have been taken from the White Sea, among other places. According to western seafarers, White Sea vessels in the 16th century were clinker-built and their planks were bound together with withes. The Englishman Stephen Burrough sailed in the White Sea in 1556. He recounts that the local vessels sailed considerably faster than the English ones.<\/p>\n
The structure and designs of the ships remained unchanged for centuries. In the 19th century, they were roughly the same as 400 years earlier.<\/p>\n
By sewing<\/strong><\/p>\n Even in the 13th century, boats were made by sewing leather together with tendons and tree roots. This construction technique was known at least to the S\u00e1mi and the inhabitants of the White Sea coast. Wood may have begun to be used in construction in the 8th century. In the regions of the S\u00e1mi, Finns and Karelians, boards were initially fastened by sewing. The use of nails became more common later.<\/p>\n In the time of Finnish rule, Lake Ladoga had its own distinctive type of boat, which has been called the Ladoga boat. The boats were not uniform, having evolved over time into slightly different forms in various parts of Lake Ladoga. They can be divided into boats of the southwestern, northwestern and northeastern coasts. The southwestern region extended from Mets\u00e4pirtti to north of K\u00e4kisalmi, the northwestern region from Hiitola to the Sortavala archipelago, and the northeastern region from the coast of Impilahti and Salmi to the Russian border.<\/p>\n The size and shape of the Lake Ladoga boat varied according to the intended use. The smallest ones moved by rowing, while sails and later engines were used in the larger boats.<\/p>\n Boats evolved and changed over a long period of time. In the 20th century, the change was faster than before as engines were introduced to boats. This meant an increase in the shape and size of rowing boats as well as the length of the waterline.<\/p>\n Original solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n There are both similarities and differences compared to boats from other regions of Finland. Ladoga boats were sharp at both ends and also moderately symmetrical. The shape was favourable in terms of sea-keeping qualities. Both the stem and the sternpost curve sharply inwards. Both the bow and the stern had a small deck, known as a *kansin*. In the stern, there was a storage compartment, which was also called a *tohko*, cupboard or locker. The compartment beneath the stern thwart was called the *alatohko* or *kormu*. Fish were stored there.<\/p>\n The smallest boats on Lake Ladoga were about 5 metres long and 1.4 metres wide. The length of the keel was about 3 metres and the height 3\u20135 centimetres. The boat was used as a rowing boat by both townspeople and countryfolk. The boat was known as a rantii or roach-net boat. The front rowlock hole could often hold a square sail measuring 3\u20134 square metres, which was attached to a halyard, known as a varpa or sesta, a stay, or a sail rope.<\/p>\n The upper edge of the boat's side was reinforced with an interior sheerstrake placed on the inside of the topmost plank.<\/p>\n For seine hauling, \u201dkier\u00e4veneet\u201d boats were made. They were half a metre to a metre longer than roach-net boats.<\/p>\n Even larger were the sea boats, which were used on open waters. The boats had a rudder, known as a ruotelj or rula, which was turned with a tiller, known as a rumppana or rumpeli. Large boats had two masts.<\/p>\n Before engines became widespread, the largest were the kokkavene, or saima, used for open-sea hook and line fishing. The word kokka referred to hook and line fishing, not the bow of the boat. The largest ones were even over 10 metres long and had two masts. The boats were fast and good at tacking. Their stempost was straight and bent backwards at a right angle at the top. The uppermost strakes curved inwards at the bow.<\/p>\n Engines in the 1920s<\/strong><\/p>\n Engines quickly replaced sails in deep-sea fishing when they were introduced to Lake Ladoga in the early 1920s. Initially, engines were fitted only to the largest boats.<\/p>\n Sail and motorboat hulls require different characteristics, and the boatbuilders of Lake Ladoga therefore began to manufacture proper motorboats. They were often built with a low forward cabin. Particularly on the southern part of Lake Ladoga, sailing boats retained their position for a long time, as in a storm the boats had to be hauled ashore, and motorboats were more difficult to handle. When breakwaters became more common in the 1930s, this problem disappeared.<\/p>\n Like the open sea in the south<\/strong><\/p>\n On the southern side of Lake Ladoga in the parish of Mets\u00e4pirtti was the Saaroinen fishing harbour. The coastline is open and shallow, and sheltered harbours or landing places are rare, so fishing was concentrated in a few fishing communities. Fish were caught as if on the open sea. Because of the shallow shores, boats were hauled high up onto the land, and the shape of the boats' midship section was indeed flatter than elsewhere.<\/p>\n In the north-west, in Hiitola, two-masted horse boats over 8 metres long, 5.5-metre seine boats and 4.5-metre fishing boats were built in the early 20th century. In Kurkijoki, mainly small rowing boats were manufactured, and sails were rarely used. In Lumijoki, by the open expanses of Lake Ladoga, large boats were made for use on the large open waters. Church boats were also built there. Horse boats were made for transporting livestock. Moatka boats were used for lifting the large pound nets known as moatkan. Smaller boats included kier\u00e4, rantii and roach-net boats. The large boats had a keel and a rudder.<\/p>\n Woodcarving skill was inherited<\/strong><\/p>\n Boatbuilding was often passed down from father to son. There were also many men in the villages who made their own boats. In the Sortavala region there were several boatbuilders, including on Haavus and Riekkalansaari islands. The lifeboats for the Suomen Joutsen were manufactured in Lahdenkyl\u00e4, Sortavala.<\/p>\n At Impilahti, typically two types of boats were manufactured: seine or fishing boats, and rowboats. Sails, one or two, were also used on rowboats. The boats of the gentry had floorboards in the bottom, while the peasantry had only plain boards. The bow was fuller than the stern, which made the boat more stable in the wind.<\/p>\n Much larger vessels were also built on the shores of Lake Ladoga. They were referred to by the terms deck saimaa, donskotti, galiot and three-masted ship. The vessels have had numerous other names as well.<\/p>\n In boat building, exact measurements were not important. Timber was used according to the grain patterns. In the gunwale planking, the sapwood side of the lowest pair was placed outwards. This caused it to curve inwards. The upper planks were placed the other way round. The wood species best available were used for the boats: pine, spruce and sometimes aspen.<\/p>\n All sorts of influences <\/strong><\/p>\n Boat and ship building on Lake Ladoga has naturally received various influences from elsewhere. Some inhabitants of Ladoga were of the opinion that influences had come from Viking ships. Models may also have been taken from vessels in the Novgorod region. Kalasaima boats had an angular stempost. A similar solution has been found in the Dutch coastal sailing vessel, the snik, as well as in vessels from the Onega region. An angular stempost is also found in V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen's boat in Akseli Gallen-Kallela's Aino triptych.<\/p>\n The Dutch influence is likely explained by the fact that Dutch shipbuilders operated in the White Sea region and Olonets. As early as the 17th century, the Dutch and the English traded at the seaports located in Kholmogory and Arkhangelsk at the mouth of the Northern Dvna.<\/p>\n Dutch *snigs* had a well for transporting live fish, and some vessels on Lake Ladoga also had wells. These *raassala* boats were used to transport fish to St Petersburg. At least on the Kola Peninsula and the White Sea, there has also been strong Norwegian influence in boatbuilding.<\/p>\n