All these practices share a common ground. By the end of the 1970s the gradual substitution of fibre-glass had virtually abolished wood as a material for boatbuilding. On the basis of data from annual sales catalogues, one could argue that this situation has not changed: wooden boats remain outside the mainstream commercial catalogues. However, since the 1970s there has been an increase in the number of active sites for performing wooden boating: magazines, fairs, associations, races, web-pages and blogs are all ‘locations’ in which boats, owners and crews meet and enact wooden boating. New practices have evolved around the old boats, old designs and, in general, around wood as a distinctive material.
Despite this shared background, the Finnish case is itself fragmented. The various genres of wooden boating revolve around wooden vessels of different age and type. There are those who sail replicas of vernacular boats or attempt to catch the mood of the Vikings on the sea, there are those who restore and embellish the forgotten glory of vintage yachts, and yet those who seek to produce modern designs using modern materials of wooden boat-building. The genres link with diverse developments in other geographical areas: whereas the Swedish fleet of vintage boats has long been envied and admired in Finland, the modernization of boat-building with epoxy resins make use of techniques and practices of the northeast United States.
Wooden boating draws on particular ideas and skills. Hence, the practices of wooden boating include (the learning of) cognitive and practical skills of maintaining boats in boatyards and of using them on water. Equally, they include the skills of representing boats on web-sites, speaking and writing about them, and strolling around specialist exhibitions and fairs. The variety of orientations or genres and the degree of exposure, involvement and skill create a mosaic of unique ways of doing wooden boating.
Vernacular Replicas as Reconstructed History
Vernacular traditions form the basis of one particular and prevalent way of doing wooden boating in Finland. The first association dedicated to wooden boating was set up in the late 1960s to document and reconstruct small vernacular models of fishing boats. Since then, numerous new associations have been established, and vernacular replicas now fill the order books of many contemporary boat-builders. This activity is most obviously about remaking history (Laurier 1998). The boats are replicated in detail, and modern materials such as Dacron cloth for sails and epoxy resins for gluing are frequently excluded. At local events these vessels are matched with humans who clothe and decorate themselves in keeping with their boats. Tar, cotton for sails, linen for the seams and ornamented wool for the clothing make much of this practice.
Making Time
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