Kråkskär – camping bliss on a beach
Kråkskär is in the middle of the archipelago national park. I think it is one of the most charming places in the area, with a campsite available.
Camping is allowed throughout the island, offering the choice of setting up camp next to a sandy beach or on the flat green grass in the inner part of the island.
You can see Kråkskär’s location at the end of this post.
It’s important to note that Kråkskär is not accessible by ferry. Visitors will need a boat or kayak to reach the island.
The island features a beautiful sandy beach bordered by rugged rocks, providing a great spot for swimming. The beach is in a sheltered, south-facing bay and is a popular mooring place for boats, especially in July.
Camping Facilities In Kråkskär
There’s a fireplace on the beach with benches. Near the beach, there’s a toilet, woodshed, and an information board for the national park. In May (2024) there was a lot of firewood available and the toilet was clean.
A walking path leads from the beach to the inner parts of the island, offering picturesque views of a large green meadow with a small red archipelago cabin and dining tables on the side of it.
From the cabin, a path leads to the western shore where a few sheds are located, surrounded by big old ash trees.
You can still see pieces of stone walls around the meadow. The walls kept the fields warmer, as they stored heat from the sun. They were hand-built, naturally.
The information boards tell about the island’s history, although they are only available in Finnish and Swedish. I’ve translated the stories from the boards below.
Life Was Hard For The Kråkskär Residents
Kråkskär was inhabited from 1847 to 1956. The first residents moved here from Björkö. They were renting the island, which meant they didn’t own any fishing waters nearby.
The main source of livelihood was fishing, which required the residents to fish further out in the archipelago, often 30 kilometres away. At that time, they had to row or sail the distance.
Read more about Björkö: Björkö – Swimming Paradise In The Outer Archipelago
Fishing
The spring herring fishing season began as soon as the sea was free from ice and continued until midsummer. They needed the fish for themselves, but if they caught a lot of fish, some could be sold in the markets of Turku or Helsinki. The herrings were salted to preserve them.
In the autumn, there was another season of herring fishing, aimed at catching enough fish for the winter. During many weeks, men would be out fishing with nothing but potatoes and salt to eat.
They usually spent the night in fishing huts, but sometimes, when they were in a location where there were no huts, the men slept several weeks under a boat that had been turned upside down.
Cattle And Farming
The area that is now a meadow used to be fields where potatoes and vegetables were grown. A cow and sheep were kept on the island, but there wasn’t enough grass for them to eat, so they were taken to nearby islands for the summer.
The cow had to be milked twice a day on the pasture island, so women had to row there twice a day and bring the milk back.
Preserving enough food for the animals was also a job in itself. Hay and leaf clusters were collected for the animals as much as possible. Some of the sheep were slaughtered in the fall, and the meat was preserved for the winter.
It was considered good luck if the cow calved during the summer, as veal sales in the autumn were the surest and most reliable source of income.
Seal Hunting Was A Form Of Art
In addition to fishing, the residents also caught birds during their migration and hunted seals with the help of dogs.
Seals lived under the ice in winter. Dogs could smell the nests, and when the nest was found, a net was lowered under the ice at the supposed exit. When a seal leaves the nest, it becomes entangled in the net and drowns. As soon as the sea froze and the ice was strong enough to carry men, seal nets were also used.
The seal’s flesh was used for food, the leather provided warm and watertight shoes, and the fat was boiled into oil, which was used to make paint.
The oil was mostly sold to Taalintehdas, where it was used as a lubricant for the ironworks’ machinery. The oil was well paid, so it was an important income.
The islanders used to climb to the highest point on the island to have look around. During these trips, they discovered the locations of the seals, which tended to reside on specific islets.
Once the hunters found the seals’ locations, they would hide with their rifle behind a stone wall on the islet. The hunter may have had to wait for hours until the seal appeared. You can still see these stone walls in the little islands in the outer archipelago.
Wintertime was used for repairing fishing gear and making new fishing nets. Children participated in the work.
Despite the small size of the cabin, at most 16 people lived there at the same time! It’s hard to imagine how everyone could even sleep! In the summer, of course, much of the time was spent outdoors.
Looking at the idyllic view on the island today on a sunny spring day, it is hard to imagine the struggle life has once been here.
Kråkskär’s Location
Map source: luontoon.fi
