There will be a course in Berlin this August! Together with our HUB partner Alveus Bootsbau, we are inviting up to six canoe-building pairs to build the Finnia canoe under the guidance of several master wooden boat builders and learn a great deal in the process. From materials and tools to the fundamental considerations you need to make if you want to take the course home as a business model, clinker boatbuilding theory and practice, Berlin culture and delicious food. All in one course!
The canoe will be built in ten days. The canoe is completed in a short course together with a partner. As the canoe to be built is a two-seater, the course is suitable for mother/father and son/daughter, couples or even as a joint project with a good friend. Togetherness is again an important part of this course. The Course is in Berlin and accommodation and travel must be taken care of by you. There is a catering at the course site.
If you are interested in building your own Finnia canoe during the course, please call Jouka on +358(0)45 787 59452 or send an email to jouka [dot] dehm [at] vendia [dot] fi (jouka[dot]dehm[at]vendia[dot]fi)
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.
Course content
The ten-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 one course in the summer of 2026: 12th to 23rd of August in Berlin/ Germany.
Articles about the course
YLE (fin)
Finnia Kanootti Valmis (fin)
Kanootin Veistoa tervaus istuimet (fin)
Canoe building blog post (eng)
