A Seafaring Country

With so many islands and rivers, it seems natural that the Finnish take to the sea often.  Here's the marina, and a giant fin.

Mermaids!

Here's a unique "bridge" - a boat that goes back and forth from bank to bank, bringing people across the river.

A familiar boat.

Here's an old Viking ship! 

There are even some very interesting twists on the traditional boat idea: here's a car/boat, with fins and skis.

A one-man submersible.

The most famous of the boats along the river is the giant white boat, the Finnish Swan.  It was built in 1902 and even served in WWII. 

Bunk beds in the swan.

On the deck.

Bram tries to steer.  He has to push really hard, because the boat is in port.

We also visited a more recent war-ship, built in the 1950s.  It was a minelayer. Mines line up, ready to be deployed at sea.

Don't jump too hard in the boat.

Bram checks out the radar.

I steer this ship.  I tell Bram to watch out for that other boat on the horizon.

The "cozy" bunk beds.

Bram in the sights of a big gun.

We made friends with the captain of the cruise ship. 

He didn't get the word of what we ate earlier that week.  Mum's the word.

Some neat model boats.  This is a sail/paddelboat.  Gee, I wonder why this design never took off. 

A boat with a castle built in!