Utsjoki boatbuilder sends traditional river boat to Ireland

Boatbuilder Jouni Laiti from Utsjoki has completed an 11-metre traditional Teno river boat for a customer in Carrick-on-Suir in southern Ireland, Yle reports.

Laiti's boats have now been delivered to Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and Ireland. He says orders have been arriving from increasingly distant locations as his work has become better known.

Every part of the boat must be made carefully, but Laiti works quickly. The finished boat was loaded in Utsjoki and transported safely to Ireland by a transport company.

The boat caught the customer's eye in Norway

Ralph O'Callaghan first saw one of Laiti's Teno boats four years ago while on holiday in Norway. The boat was on a riverbank in Lakselv, and O'Callaghan was immediately struck by both its shape and the way it moved on the water.

After meeting the boat's owner, O'Callaghan asked who had built it. The owner wrote down Laiti's name, starting O'Callaghan's search for a way to order a similar boat.

When Laiti did not initially respond to his emails, O'Callaghan contacted the company that supplies the boatbuilder with materials. He said he thought Laiti may have suspected a scam because the inquiry came from abroad.

O'Callaghan travelled to Utsjoki this summer to meet the craftsman and see his future boat. It exceeded his expectations.

O'Callaghan had planned to build a trailer in Ireland to collect the boat, but it was not completed in time. He therefore arranged for a transport company to deliver it.

A future on the river

O'Callaghan grew up in a region where people, as in Sámi Country, have traditionally travelled along rivers. Ships delivered goods to larger ports, from where people transported supplies to their villages by boat.

Now retired, O'Callaghan worked on the river with his father when he was young. They fished for salmon and excavated sand and gravel for companies. When the river could no longer provide a living, he worked as an electrician.

After receiving the boat, O'Callaghan plans to establish a tourism business, transport people along his home river and tell visitors about local history.

He says his lifelong experience on the water has given him an understanding of river boats, particularly wooden boats, and that he feels fortunate to have met Laiti.