Clinker boats – a Nordic collaboration
The project aims to highlight and strengthen the living cultural heritage surrounding clinker-built wooden boats along the Sörmland coast.
About the project Clinker boats – a Nordic collaboration
Purpose and vision:
The purpose of the project is to strengthen, preserve, and highlight the local wooden boat culture – through active association engagement.
Overall goals:
- Strengthen local wooden boat culture through voluntary engagement and association-driven activities
- Highlight the coastal cultural heritage digitally and physically – both locally and internationally
- Create long-term networking among coastal actors in Sweden, Finland, and Estonia
Examples of project activities:
- Four local workshops where craft skills are highlighted
- Collection of stories, photos, and documentation for a digital platform
- Participation in study trips, national meetings, and networking events
- Joint event on the Sörmland coast in the summer of 2026
The associations participate with their specific knowledge and resources – but the activities should be planned together with the project leader to stay within the project's framework and avoid cost deviations.
Contact Leader Sörmland Coast:
Jacqueline Hellsten
Email: info@leadersormlandskusten.se
Phone: 070-725 62 69
Contact Oxelösund Municipality
Gabriella Fernström
Email: gabriella.fernstrom@oxelosund.se
Phone: 0155-381 75
Contact Sörmland Museum:
Niklas Eriksson
Email: Niklas.Eriksson@regionsormland.se
Phone: 0763- 75 49 46
About ”Wooden Waves”
Wooden Waves is a network between Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. The purpose is to highlight and preserve wooden boat traditions and maritime craftsmanship in our respective regions.
The initiative was taken by Kuggom Boat School in Finland. Each country is responsible for its own activities – such as documentation, workshops, events, and stories – but we collaborate on common parts such as:
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A digital platform to spread knowledge about the boats and the culture behind them
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Study trips and international meetings for inspiration and exchange of experiences
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Exhibitions and guides where we highlight our local history in a larger context
We work in close collaboration with voluntary associations, schools, museums, and municipalities. Together we want to give new life to a living cultural heritage – across national borders.
What is happening in the project
Information on how you can sign up for our events is best found via our FB
Lectures
Discover the history, craftsmanship, and people behind the clinker boat tradition. Inspiring lectures with knowledgeable speakers from Sweden and our Nordic neighboring countries. Programs and dates are published on the website and promoted through our FB page.
Workshops
Try the old craftsmanship with new hands! Our workshops invite practical learning, community, and knowledge exchange around wooden boats, sails, and ropes. Programs and dates are published on the website and promoted through our FB page.
Study trips
Join us on our trips to coastal communities in the Nordics and experience how the clinker boat tradition continues – through meetings, festivals, and new collaborations across the seas. Programs and dates are published on the website and promoted through our FB page.
The boat team
The administrative hub between the associations with coastal and archipelago culture. (umbrella for the wooden boat associations)
Contact Christer Marklund
Our national partners
Here you will find links to our partners within projects such as Wooden Waves – Clinker Boats
Boatman
BOATMAN is an EU project aimed at increasing tourism and knowledge about the maritime cultural heritage in the southern Baltic Sea. The vision is a network of centers (destinations) that collaborate across borders for sustainable tourism in the southern Baltic Sea, united around the theme of maritime cultural heritage.
Maria Nordensten project manager Boatman, maria.n@vasterviksmuseum.se
Maritime Museum
Karolina Matts, Curator at the Maritime Museum
Tel: +46 8 519 549 58 Karolina.Matts@smtm.se>
www.smtm.se
Karolina will inform us about Post Rowing
The Museum of Work
Ellika Kyndel
Labor Life Curator
Tel: 011 23 17 25 | Switchboard: 011 23 17 00
www.arbetetsmuseum.se
Ellika Kyndel works with the country's labor life museums. An initiative is currently underway to form a fishing history network
Finland
Leader Silmu (Lead partner)
The Comradeship for Kuggom School
Camilla Stjernvall Mail
Project activities
✅ Digital content and documentation
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Collect and produce image, film, and text material about wooden boats, crafts, and environments
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Document actors, boats, and knowledge from our region
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Deliver material according to templates to the digital platform and contribute stories and facts
✅ Events and study trips
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Participate in international meetings and organize our own event
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Support associations to be visible in public contexts
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Document and spread our participation
✅ Support for local association goals
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Provide practical support to each association in implementing their activities
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Stimulate collaboration and exchange of experiences
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Follow up and make the associations' development visible
Local Association Goals
This is what we want to achieve
🎣 Friends of the Fishing Boat
– Form and engage a working group for planning and implementation of the Femöredagen
– Preserve and showcase the association's wooden boats and engines as well as maritime local history
– Increase the membership base and the association's visibility
Contact person: Uno Hesselgren
⛵ Oxelösund Local Heritage Association & Pilot Archive
– Engage more volunteers for maintenance, simple repairs, and handling of rowing boats
– Organize workshops in boat maintenance and local historical communication
– Sort determine typical local boat and Sörmland's peculiarities
Contact person: Christer Marklund
⚓ The Archipelago Museum in Oxelösund
– Lift the collection of smaller boats in the museum's possession
– Create educational content for the digital platform
– Collaborate with other actors for knowledge dissemination about traditional boat building
Contact person: Rolf Blomdahl
🔨 Stensund Folk High School
– Develop training in rope making, sail sewing, and tar burning
– Make the boat building education visible and secure future student support
– Explore the possibility of an exhibition of clinker-built boats in collaboration with Sörmland's museum
Contact person Pelle Nestorzon
The boat team
The administrative hub between associations with coastal and archipelago culture along the Sörmland coast.
Workshop Boat Group HASSELÖ
🛠️ Renovate a wooden boat – learn from the ground up!
Location: Tompa Bäckström's boat yard (Thursdays)
Start date: January 15, 2026 10-13
Our perhaps only boat builder in Oxelösund, Tompa Bäckström , invites you to a unique learning workshop for anyone who wants to learn more about the care, renovation, and maintenance of wooden boats.
During a semester, you will follow the renovation of a old motorboat , step by step. Among other things, a new oak deck will be built.
💡 Purpose:
To spark curiosity and spread practical knowledge about the construction and maintenance of wooden boats – directly from the workshop floor. A golden opportunity for both beginners and boat enthusiasts to learn from an experienced boat builder.
🚤 Goal:
That the motorboat, when it is fully renovated, can be used as part of the municipality's rental fleet – and thereby contribute to more people having the opportunity to experience coastal culture up close.
Register your interest at:
Boat Team-Oxelösund
Workshop Boat Group HULDA
Maintain a wooden boat – learn from the ground up!
Location: The Archipelago Museum Bagarstugan & Boat House's workshop section
Start date: January 13, 2026 at 10-13 (Tuesdays)
During a semester, you will follow the maintenance of the wooden boat Hulda
💡 Purpose:
To spark curiosity and spread practical knowledge about the construction and maintenance of wooden boats – directly from the workshop floor. A golden opportunity for both beginners and boat enthusiasts to learn more.
🚤 Goal:
That the motorboat can be used as part of the municipality's rental fleet – and thereby contribute to more people having the opportunity to experience coastal culture up close.
Register your interest at:
Boat Team-Oxelösund
The Archipelago Museum in Old Oxelösund
The Archipelago Museum is a charming summer museum housed in the historic Grantorpet , one of the oldest houses in Old Oxelösund. Annually, a new exhibition is created that follows the fictional fishing family Eriksson's life on the island Granö, with themes such as Christmas celebrations, weddings, and everyday life.
The area also has:
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A boathouse with old traditional boats , tools and engines
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Sheds with flea market, crafts and curiosities
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Art and craft exhibitions , flea market and café activities with free entry
🎙️ Hello Rolf Blomdahl – why is Wooden Waves important for you?
Wooden Waves is an international project where we, together with associations in Finland and Estonia, want to highlight the history and craftsmanship of wooden boats – and show that it still lives on! For us at the Archipelago Museum, it is about getting support for what we are already doing, while also having the opportunity to showcase our knowledge to more people.
This project gives us:
✅ Visibility and attention – we become part of a larger context where our boats, stories, and knowledge are highlighted digitally and in various events.
✅ Support to develop – we get help to organize workshops, meetings, and document what we know. This allows new people to become interested and perhaps engaged.
✅ Contacts and exchange of experiences – with other associations and actors in Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. Perhaps we can also participate in a study trip!
What is expected from this?
We are participating as one of several associations. We should not carry the whole load ourselves – but we are responsible for contributing what we can: e.g., pictures, stories, ideas for workshops or events. We do this together with a project leader who coordinates so that we are not left alone.
Why right now?
Many associations have difficulty finding new active members. Through Wooden Waves we can gain new contacts, attention, and perhaps even hope for the future. This is a chance to show that our knowledge is important – and alive.
📌 How do you become a member?
📞 Call 073-983 78 03
📧 Or send an email
🌐 Please visit our website!
Workshop No. 3 Draft
🧵 Rope making, sail sewing & seafaring life at Stensund 🌊
Explore life on board and at the shipyard – welcome to a day of practical crafts and conversations!
🪢 Under the guidance of teachers and course participants from Stensund Folk High School, you will gain insight into traditions such as rope making, sail sewing, and seafaring crafts. You can try, watch, or just listen – all in an environment where knowledge meets the future.
📍 Location: Stensund Folk High School, Trosa
📅 Date: [Enter date]
⏰ Time: [Enter time]
🎓 At the same time, we will talk about the history and future plans of the boat building school – and how you can get involved.
📌 Co-organizers:
Stensund Folk High School & Täljeakademien
In collaboration with the project Wooden Waves
📧 Sign up at: [enter contact details]
Workshop No. 4 Draft
🚢 Pilots, motorboats, and everyday life at sea – theme evening with Klubb Maritim & the Pilot Archive ⚓
Welcome to an evening about the history of modern boat people – from pilot to lifesaver!
🎞 We will show pictures, tell stories, and invite discussions about boats with engines, pilot stations, and seafaring life in the service of the coast. Do you have your own story? Bring pictures or objects!
📍 Location: The Pilot Archive / Klubb Maritim, Oxelösund
📅 Date: [Enter date]
⏰ Time: [Enter time]
💬 We are collecting material for the project Wooden Waves – and you can contribute to a future exhibition!
📌 Co-organizers:
Klubb Maritim Oxelösund & Oxelösund's local heritage association
I samarbete med Leader Sörmlandskusten och Wooden Waves
📧 Sign up at: [enter contact details]
Under beredning
Studieresa till Finland eller Estland – Klinkbåtens kulturarv och folkbildning
Syftet med resan är att skapa ett internationellt nätverk ”Wooden Waves”.
Resan genomförs som en kombination av besök vid museer, varv, utbildningsmiljöer och föreningar som bedriver verksamhet inom träbåtskultur.
Antal platser 8
Under beredning
Studieresa till Valdermarsvik
Syfte med resan är att arbetsgruppen för Femöredagen ska få besöka Träbåtsföreningen och få inspiration från grundaren av ”Klassikerfestivalen”
Antal platser 8
Under beredning
Studieresa till Grisselehamn
Syftet med resan är att hämta inspiration från den årliga Postrodden
Antal platser 8
📌 Observera: Program, tider och kriterier för medverkan i de internationella studieresorna håller just nu på att tas fram. Mer information kommer att publiceras här under hösten 2025.
Håll utkik – eller kontakta oss om du är intresserad av delta!
Den här informationen gäller dig som är sammankallande i en medverkande förening:
Som kontaktperson i din förening är du en viktig länk mellan projektet och er lokala verksamhet. Ditt uppdrag handlar inte om att göra allt själv – utan att hålla ihop föreningens medverkan, förmedla information och bidra till att era mål uppfylls.
✅ Dina viktigaste uppgifter är:
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Vara kontaktperson till projektledaren
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Förankra föreningens mål och aktiviteter i styrelsen eller arbetsgruppen
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Delta (eller utse annan representant) vid projektmöten, t.ex. workshops och träffar
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Hjälpa till att dokumentera det ni gör inom projektet (bilder, korta texter)
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Följa upp hur projektet bidrar till föreningens utveckling
💡 Projektledaren finns som stöd – du kan alltid hjälpa till med samordning, material, idéer eller formuleringar.
📦 Du får också:
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Tillgång till kommunikationsmaterial (mallar, logotyper, info om projektet)
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Stöd för ansökan om eventuellt lokalt stöd/bidrag om ni behöver
Tack för att du hjälper till att föra traditionen vidare – och utveckla föreningens framtid!
🌍 Omvärldsanalys: Inspiration från våra grannländer
Vår LIA-praktikant Linda har gjort en spaning på hur andra länder arbetar med kulturarv och hantverk – med särskilt fokus på träbåtar och maritima miljöer. Resultatet ger värdefull inspiration till hur vi kan utveckla upplevelser kopplade till vårt eget projekt Wooden Waves!
🛶 I Danmark kombinerar Vikingeskibsmuseet i Roskilde historiska utställningar med levande båtbyggeri och möjligheten att segla vikingaskepp.
I Norge erbjuder Hardanger Maritime Centre traditionellt hantverk och båtuthyrning året om, medan Risør Træbåtfestival lockar tusentals besökare varje år med båtar, musik och familjeaktiviteter.
I Finland anordnar Kuggom båtbyggarkurser och Ålands Sjökvarteret bjuder på en helhetsupplevelse med varv, smedja, museum och mat.
🏴 I Skottland har St Ayles Skiff-rörelsen blivit ett internationellt fenomen som förenar människor kring klinkbyggda båtar och lokal gemenskap.
🔁 Vad kan vi ta med oss till Sörmlandskusten?
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A årlig träbåtshelg i exempelvis Trosa, Nyköping Oxelösund – med rodd, segling, hantverksmarknad och visningar.
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Upplevelsedagar för allmänheten , där man får prova på traditionella hantverk som tjärning, repslagning och båtrodd – inspirerat av Roskilde.
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Ett ökat fokus på hands-on-upplevelser för både skolor och turister kopplat till vårt levande kulturarv kring träbåtar.
Vi tackar Linda för en inspirerande analys som ger god näring till vårt fortsatta utvecklingsarbete!
Vi inspireras
Postrodden är en årlig, kulturhistorisk tävling and folkfest som går ut på att ro och segla över Ålands hav i traditionella allmogebåtar. Evenemanget arrangeras till minne av de postbönder från Väddö och Eckerö som under nästan 400 år hade skyldighet att föra post och passagerare över den ofta farliga havssträckan.