Haabjas-expanded logboats of Soomaa. Safeguarding by building and use

Background

Photo above: The author Aivar Ruukel in his dug-out boat during the flood season: the fifth season in Soomaa. Photo: Mati Kose

Although dugouts are built in many places around the World, the Soomaa region in Estonia has the only living culture of expanded logboats within the European Union.

Why safeguard?

The building and use of expanded logboats of Soomaa in Estonia was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding list in December 2021, the reason was that the tradition was under threat.

Until the 1950s they were used for daily transport and fishing. With the advent of cheaper boat types and modern road networks, haabjas-boats are no longer indispensable for everyday life, and there building and use has diminished. The building and use of expanded logboats of Soomaa was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding list in December 2021. The reason was the need to safeguard the tradition that was under threat because of weak demand and few builders.

However, they are important for the identity of the local community and for tourism in Soomaa national park. Documenting and passing on the skill of making these boats and finding new markets for the boats, especially in tourism, gives hope for the continuation of the tradition.

Haabjas- Aspen boat.

 Haabjas is an Estonian language term for a boat, hollowed out from a single log and expanded by using fire. Such boats are usually made of Populus tremula, in Estonian haab, so haabjas translates aspen boat (Mäss, 1996). According to Ilmari Manninen, an ethnographer and the first director of the Estonian National Museum, expanded boats could still be found in the 1920s in three regions of Estonia: Matsalu Bay and the Kasari River, the Soomaa region in the Pärnu River basin, and the Ahja River near Lake Peipus (Manninen, 1927). However, their numbers steadily declined as they were replaced by plank boats, which, though less convenient and heavier, were cheaper (Schneider, 1929). One reason for the decline in building expanded aspen boats was the local depletion of suitable large aspen trees. Guido Schneider wrote hundred years ago: “Interest in dugout canoes, those vivid witnesses to humanity’s earliest cultural endeavors, was awakened late – though not too late – to collect and document what remains to be found. The motorboat, the fiercest competitor of all small watercraft, is on the verge of displacing the last dugout canoe. Furthermore, the matchstick industry, which claims all available aspen stocks for itself, is already making it nearly impossible to find logs suitable for crafting these snake boats (Schneider,1929).”

Photo: Aivar Ruukel

Haabjas in the Soomaa region- “The fifth season”

In the Soomaa region, there has been a practical reason for the continued use and preservation of haabjas-building skills: regular flooding. High water typically affects the local villages in the spring, during the ice melt, but in some years, it can also occur in the autumn or winter (Ruukel, 1995). A saying from the village of Tõramaa notes that the area has five seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter, and the flood season (the fifth season), with the latter potentially overlapping with any of the previous ones. When floodwaters surround houses, the advantages of a lightweight expanded logboat with good maneuverability and a shallow draft become especially clear (Ruukel, 2022).

For centuries, haabjas-boats have been the only means of transport during high water when roads, yards, and fields are submerged. During floods, people would paddle or pole their way to woodsheds, barns, and storage buildings. Expanded dugout canoes were also used for fishing and hunting, taking kids to school, transporting grain and milk to mills and dairies, hauling hay and firewood, and even for leisurely outings (Ruukel, 2003). The locals have always regarded flooding as a natural phenomenon. The chronicles of Soomaa villages recount: “The high water brought both laughter and trouble. Young people, in particular, looked forward to the arrival of the spring floods as if it were a holiday. Big tasks could not be undertaken during this time. People went fishing and hunting, and they enjoyed themselves paddling haabjas and rafting. In the evenings, all the young people would gather in a sheltered cove, where they sang and played music. On quiet evenings, the songs of several villages – Tõramaa, Riisa, Kõduküla – could be heard echoing across the vast expanse of water (Haud, 2001).”

How it is done

Building the haabjas

Building haabjas  is a complex process, beginning with the selection of a suitable tree and culminating with the boat’s launch. To make haabjas, a straight and healthy aspen (Populus tremula) is needed: 5 m length minimum, with a crown end diameter of at least 50 cm. The process of building haabjas can be divided into four stages: shaping the large log into a cigar-like form; hollowing it out to a pod-shape, heating it with the combined use of fire and water to soften it; and fashion it into a boat shape; and finally, adding the ribs, finishing, and tar-coating it.

Photo: Mati Kose

A detailed description of the building process of Soomaa style expanded logboats is available in the master thesis work of master boatbuilder Jaan Keerdo:  “Theoretical Principles and Practical Solutions for Haabjas Construction (Keerdo, 2011).”   A brief manual for building an Estonian dugout canoe has been written by master boatbuilder Priit-Kalev Parts, the article has been published in the journal Studia Vernacula (Parts, 2019).

Dugout canoes are propelled with a 2–3 meter-long paddle that has a long, narrow blade making up almost half its length. The handle has a transverse grip at the end. In Soomaa, dugouts are typically paddled while standing, so they usually lack fixed seats.

Photo: Annika Haas

Revitalization of the craft

Building an expanded logboat is a challenging task that only a few people possess the skill to accomplish. Every household in the village’s Soomaa region usually had several boats. Not every man built their own boat; there have always been master boat builders. These skills were traditionally passed down from master to apprentice.

Luckily, in the mid-1990s, when the current generation of haabjas builders acquired their skills, there were still three master builders: Jaan Rahumaa (1929–2000), Jüri Lükk (1928–2001), and Martin Tollberg (1914–1998). Jaan and Jüri were apprentices of the last professional boat builder, Aleksander Olev in 1950s. Martin, on the other hand, had expanded his first logboats together with his father, Jaak Tollberg (1874–1962), as passing down skills and techniques from father to son was historically a common practice (Pärdi, 2018). There was no demand for boats from other villagers, but the motivation of these men was to build a boat for personal use to do fishing.

Jüri Lükk completed over a dozen boats during his lifetime, and Jaan Rahumaa built more than thirty. Both participated as instructors in haabjas building summer course held at Saarisoo tourism farm in June 1996, initiated by Estonian Ecotourism Association, Soomaa National Park Administration and Estonian Fund for Nature (Ruukel 1995). Participants were people from the Soomaa region and other parts of Estonia, and one international participant, Fredrik Koivusalo from Finland. Six new expanded logboats were built. Similar haabjas building courses were held during five years, 1996 – 2000.

Today there are five master boat builders in Estonia, the author of this article is one of the five men and has built 15 expanded logboats since 1996, two of which were made of linden (Tilia cordata) and the rest of aspen tree.

Photo: Ülo Soomets.

Reflections for the future

The key to the survival of the craft is its use. Finding new uses and thereby new markets for the boats is essential. Having a UNESCO-listing has strengthened the interest for the boats, and now tourism is important arena for the continued use of the boats.

In 2023, a new and innovative tradition was born. At around the time of summer solstice in June, dugout boat rides were held, starting from Estonia’s “spring capital” Türi, and finishing in the “summer capital” Pärnu, coinciding with the festive transfer of the “seasonal capital” title. This event has been held three years in a row and is on the way to becoming a new annual tradition. People from villages near the river joined the boat trip.

Haabjakoda (Dugout Boat House) was inaugurated in Tori, a rural municipality centre in the Soomaa region, in  April 2025. Thanks to the support of the Tori Municipality, Soomaa’s dugout boat masters can use the building of a historical fire station as a permanent “home” for Soomaa’s dugout boat culture. The house, located on the banks of Pärnu River, allows storage of dugout boats all year round, is a meeting place for the dugout boat community, and a venue for exhibitions and various events.

In 2025 the first international dugout boat camp was held at Haabjakoda in Tori, with participants from USA, Sweden, Finland, UK, Hungary and Germany. The camp included exchanges of experiences between practitioners and academics. For the safeguarding of boat building skills the master-apprentice programmes will be organized. This includes the training of the next generation of dugout boat masters and ensuring intergenerational continuity of the tradition

Photo: Aivar Ruukel