One of the largest utility boat museums in Fenno-Scandinavia. The collections span the period 1850-1970.

• Open in summertime. At other times by appointment.
• Entry fee.
• Guided tours.
• Café and restaurant close by.

More information

The Kvarken Boat Museum is one of the largest utility boat museums in Fenno-Scandinavia. The museum is situated in a culturally and historically valuable piece of shoreline containing hundreds of boathouses. All of the river valley at Malax and Åminne has been classified as a cultural landscape on a national level.

The Kvarken Boat Museum was set up in 1970 and is administered by the Malax Museum Society.

BOATS FROM ALL OVER THE REGION

The boat museum has a regional accentuation. All of the approximately 60 boats come from Ostrobothnia, from Larsmo in the north to Kristinestad (Sideby) in the south. The oldest collection of wooden boats from Ostrobothnia is exhibited here: from the punt which is poled along shallow inlets, to the large fishing boats which struggle in the rough open sea. Owing to the rising of the land in Ostrobothnia, the coastline is continually changing. Thus, the different types of boats have been adapted to suit various external conditions.

All of the boats in the museum are made out of wood. They are peasant utility boats, used by the region's fishermen, sealers and peasants in the 19th and 20th centuries. There are seal hunting boats, many different types of fishing boats, skiffs, punts, flat-bottomed rowing-boats and motor boats.

The oldest boat, originating in Larsmo, dates from 1850. A wooden speedboat from the 1960s, and a wooden boat coated with fibreglass in the 1970s illustrate the evolution of "boats of the new era".

The boat for catching Baltic herring, built in 1860, is a rarity. The punts are also well worth seeing. Another rarity is poet Zacharias Topelius' green skiff dating from the 19th century, called 'Gröngölingen' ("Greenhorn"). The two metre long (!) hunting and fishing boat which was sculled across shallow waters is particularly interesting.

FISHING AND HUNTING SUPPLIES

Objects associated with fishing and (seal) hunting are exhibited in several buildings in the museum area. The museum has a large collection of fish traps, nets, sails and boat engines. Seal hunting is presented in an exhibition hall of its own. Temporary exhibitions are held in the gallery every summer.

A fisherman's cottage in the style of the 19th century has been erected in the museum area. Only a small number of similar cottages still exist on the outer islands of Malax. A stone labyrinth, a "maiden dance", has been laid out at the museum, from a model at Storskär. Objects associated with the local rafting tradition are displayed in the rafting shed next to the museum area.