Finnish Sea Scout Guides

There are not many guides to the islands of the Finnish archipelago. The most popular are the volumes produced by Turun Partio-Sissit, the Sea Scout group.

The books are available in four volumes covering the Finnish coast, and one more, especially for foreigners, covering Aaland and the Gulf of Finland. The native books are in Finnish and Swedish, and the special book in English, German and Russian.

Each book starts with an introduction to the area and some useful addresses. It then has at least a page, sometimes more, on the various marinas and nature harbours. The special book has colour chartlets (mostly in Finnish format) and occasional aerial photos. There is short descriptive text in all three languages. The facilities available are listed in symbol form, with an index at the back of the book.

Towards the back of the book are a set of area charts, with the various harbours shown as indexed dots.

The local books have slightly more harbours than the combined book, but not to any significance. The books are all wire bound, so they can be folded back on themselves, and printed on reasonably waterproof paper.

The four books are:

• Suuri Satamakirja I - The Finnish Archipelago ISBN 951-98917-2-2
• Suuri Satamakirja II - Aland Islands ISBN 951-98917-1-4
• Suuri Satamakirja III - The Gulf of Finland ISBN 951-98917-3-0
• The Sea Of Archipelago And The Gulf Of Finland ISBN 951-95538-9-4

The special book has 120 harbours, including a couple in Estonia and Russia.

The local books cost €63, and the special €73, and are available from Troil Marin or online from the Sea Scouts as well as better bookshops in Finland.