Canoe building Course - Finnia Canoe Summer 2025
Finnia Canoe building courses 2025
Easter: international building course for Women April 14th to 23rd
Summercourse 1 : June 23rd to July 1st (5 places left)
Summercourse 2: July 4th to 11th (6 places left)
Two wooden canoe building courses will be held at Ämmätsä Manor in Pälkäne in summer 2025. The eight-day course is an instructor-led introduction to the necessary tools and their use, and provides hands-on instruction in the construction of a Finnia canoe through all stages: building the keel, joining the pre-milled boards, fixing the boards in place and finishing and surface treatment of the canoe. The course is best suited to working in pairs, allowing even inexperienced builders to progress in their construction work.
We would like to invite you to visit us in Finland and build the Finnia canoe together with an experienced instructor. You can use the canoe immediately after the course and take it home after the course. If you wish to use your new canoe right away, there is on our doorstep on Lake Kukkia, or on one of the other lakes here in Finland, there is plenty of choice. By using CNC-milled components, it is possible for even less experienced craftsmen to build the canoe. The course is offered in Finish, English and German.
If you want to register or have questions about the course, please contact the course leader Juho Paaso (+358 45 6720874) or Jouka Dehm (+358 45 78759452) from Vendia Woods.
We offer this course as a duo building course, which means that each canoe is built by at least two participants. As it is a two-seater, this is a great project for mum/son and dad/daughter, for couples or even good friends. Of course, togetherness is also a central component of this course. As last year, we offer various accommodation options and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
The canoe
The canoe we offer in the course is a new construction by our customer and partner Thomas Vochezer from the German region Allgäu. It is a two-seater that is ideal for water hiking. The canoe has been specially developed taking into account the material properties of our Vendia marine plywood. It is a clinker construction made of 5 and 6 mm thick boards. The clinker construction method makes it possible to build without the use of fibreglass mats.
The surface treatment will be done on site with a mixture of linseed oil, pine tar and wood turpentine, which makes it possible to finish the treatment within a short time and to use the canoe immediately afterwards. Of course, it would also be possible to give the finished canoe a varnish, but this cannot be done within a short time. Of course, we leave it up to each course participant to carry out the surface treatment according to his or her own taste.
Finnia - Clinker Canoe
Technical data:
- Length: 4,56m
- Width: 0,8m
- Weight: 30kg
- Seats: 2
- Payload: 200kg
- Material: Vendia Boatplanks
- Surface Treatment: Linseed oil - Tar - Terpentine mix
Varnishing the Canoe is a viable option, but it takes more time and is not possible to be finished during the Course.
Accommodation
The farm "Ämmätsän Kartano" is a beautiful 18th century farmstead. Situated in the middle of vast forests, on the shore of a small lake, this farm provides a very beautiful backdrop for our canoe building course. The building seen in the photos has been renovated in recent years and offers guests a very nice Scandinavian ambience. There are 3 double rooms and spacious common rooms. Of course, this house also has a sauna, there is no other way in Finland. The large communal kitchen is ideal for social evenings with good food. The distance to the closest municipality, Luopioinen, is about 13 km. It is possible to borrow electric bikes/bicycles for the duration of the course.
Arrival with camper/caravan
It is possible to rent a caravan at the farm. It is also possible to stay overnight in a tent. Our course participants also have the possibility to arrange their own accommodation here in the area, we are happy to help with this as well. The sauna on the beach is available to all course participants.
Luopioinen
In the picture you can see Lake Kukkia. Characterised by many small islands, beautiful bays and countless places to linger, this lake offers a very beautiful paddling area. Due to the shallow depth and many dangerous stones, the lake is a difficult body of water for motor boaters, all the better for us paddlers! The region around Luopioinen is characterised by old forests and many small and medium-sized lakes. The village of Luopioinen is situated on the western shore of Lake Kukkia and offers many opportunities for visitors. Sports and cultural activities are varied during the summer months. At a distance of about 60 kilometres you will find the somewhat larger cities of Tampere and Hämeenlinna, which are certainly worth a trip
We can help you finding ways to travel to Finland.
Course content
The eight-day course is an instructor-led introduction to the necessary tools and their use, and provides hands-on instruction in the construction of a Finnia canoe through all stages: building the keel, joining the pre-milled boards, fixing the boards in place and finishing and surface treatment of the canoe. The course is best suited to working in pairs, allowing even inexperienced builders to progress in their construction work.
There will be two courses in the summer of 2025: course 1 (Tuesday-Tuesday) 23 June-1 July and course 2 (Saturday-Saturday) 4 July-12 July.
The course fee includes the necessary materials: boards, wood materials, glues, finishers and tools. Participants can also order ready-made paddles and floating pads for their canoe through Vendia.
Course price:
The course price per pair is EUR 2980 (incl. VAT 25,5%). When registering for the course, participants will be charged half of the course price as a pre-registration fee. If Vendia has to cancel the course for any reason, the course participant will receive a full refund of the advance payment. If a participant has to cancel before 1 April, the advance payment will be refunded in full; before 1 May, 50% of the advance payment will be refunded.
Additional services:
Accommodation
There is a lakeside sauna with cooking facilities, a shower and sauna, and a wood-burning stove. Ämmätsän Manor will charge the participants directly for their accommodation. In addition, Vendia can help participants find cabin accommodation in Luopioinen for the duration of the course.
Meals
If the course participants agree before the course, they can bring their own morning coffee, soup lunch and daily coffee supplies to the workshop daily at cost price (about 25 €/day/day).