”When I leaf through my diary I meet many different hands”

A blank diary is nothing but paper and covers. But when it is filled with thoughts, reflections, notes; when it’s filled with the very essence of a person, that is when it becomes invaluable. A time capsule that helps us get very close to people who lived in a by-gone era. Often, they were not that different from us.

Tools for a Jack of all trades

Greasing, painting, splicing wire and rope, mending and making sails, coiling, building, forging and repairing… A deep-sea sailor is a true Jack of all trades and needs a score of specialised tools.

Åland’s first UNESCO honour – Gustaf Erikson’s shipping company archive included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.

Gustaf Erikson once owned Åland, Finland and the world’s largest sailing ship company. The archive that was left behind provides a unique insight into our shipping history. The autonomous island province of Åland has received its first UNESCO heritage honour as the Gustaf Erikson’s shipping archives were included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Register, thus joining the same echelon of invaluable cultural heritage as England’s Magna Carta, the French Declaration of Human Rights, the Gutenberg Bible and Isaac Newton’s manuscripts.

New exhibition on exceptional ship model opens 18. April

One of the world’s finest and most detailed ship models was built without drawings or tools in a prison camp during World War II by Åland sailor Runar Husell. From 18 April you can see this unique model at the Åland Maritime Museum. While waiting for the exhibition, you can watch the powerful documentary film “The Ponape Sail Ship – A Dream of the Ocean”.