Tankar (63.949918, 22.850983) is a small lighthouse island as we love them, located at the entrance of the pathway to Kokkola. It used to be a busy pilot station and even though the station moved to Kokkola, pilot boats are still stopping over in the old pilot basin between assignments.
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| Tankar pilot basin, with Belisama on the right and Anitra on the left |
The approach is straight forward. There are 15 guest mooring in the harbour, including the old pilot basin where one can moor except on the west pier still used by the pilots. The draught is three metres. The north and east pier of the pilot basin are equipped with electricity. Staying overnight costs 10€, 15€ with electricity, to be paid at the café.
We are welcomed by Johan from Anitra, the boat on the left, who tells us to get into the pilot basin and helps us to moor. As we discuss, he mentions that he has already seen such a boat as ours a couple of years ago, and I immediately connect with a
story François from Cybèle 17 has written in his blog in 2016. And indeed, the Johan welcoming us in Tankar is the same Johan welcoming François and Valérie in 2016 in Mustakari. Small Baltic world!
Tankar has been inhabited since the mid 1700s' by fishermen and pilots. The 30 metre lighthouse was initially built in 1888 using pre-bent iron plates manufactured in Germany. It was equipped with a Fresnel lens carrying the beam 13 miles away, being the best in Finland at the time. Today, the lighthouse has been electrified and covers 27.5 miles. The lighthouse is still operational and remains one of the brightest lighthouses in Finland.
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| Tankar lighthouse and the lighthouse master house |
In case of fog, small dynamite charges were blown every 10 minutes to warn boats around. We could not visit the lighthouse as it is opened only Saturdays and Sundays during the summer (3€ for visit).
At the height of the fishing in Tankar, more than 100 fishermen and their families lived in Tankar. The "Sjöblom’s bastu" below is the oldest one remaining in Tankar, dating 1768.
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| Sjöblom’s bastu from 1768 |
The chapel in Tankar was built in 1754 to allow fishermen to attend the mandatory service on Sunday without having to get back to the main land during the fishing season. Service was ensured every Sunday by an assistant priest, or by the harbour pilot of the assistant could not come.
Concerts are organised occasionally in the summer.
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| Tankar chapel |
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| Votive fishing ship |
Each fisherman on the island were assigned one seat in the chapel where they carved their initial, looking like runes.
The painting below dates 1697 and represents one episode of the Bible, the dispute between angel Michael and Satan over the dead body of Moses.
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| Dispute over Moses body |
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| Painting from 1764 |
A map of Tankar can be found
here and more in formation
there.
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