Instructions

For the rowers

You may reserve a seat in one of our boats, or bring your own. Each of our wooden river boats has two pairs of oars. Approximately three or four people fit in each boat (groups larger than this will be divided into two or more boats). be two people rowing and one or two passengers in each boat; the rowers and passengers usually take turns. Generally, you are expected to be able to row for at least half a day. If your group is bringing (a) small child(ren) to the boat, then the grown-ups will row the whole way.

In addition to the three or four rowers+passengers, there is a coxswain steering each boat. The coxswain is in charge of the boat, and will steer and give instructions as needed.

You do not need a lot of prior rowing experience to attend Iijokisoutu; we will teach you. You do need to be in a physical condition to be able to row a boat for a few hours, though.

In addition to the breaks in the schedule, other smaller breaks will be taken if the rowers are tired, or if the weather condition gets momentarily bad, or if we have to wait for slower boats to catch up.

For the paddlers

We do not recommend partaking in Iijokisoutu as a paddler if you are inexperienced, unless you're coming with a more experienced paddler friend who can instruct you. For the inexperienced, instead of paddling we recommend reserving a seat in one of our boats, where the coxswain will instruct you if needed.

Taigavire rents kayaks and canoes.

What to bring into a boat?

Life vest, a cushion to sit on, a hat that protects from the sun, sunglasses, a water bottle, gloves for rowing a boat if you get blisters easily, sun lotion, a raincoat, possibly a change of clothing. Appropriate footwear such as sneakers (no rubber boots in the boats please). Snacks, if you want to eat something between breaks. It's enough to take a small bag of these essentials into the boat.

Everyone must wear a life vest. You may bring your own or rent from us (5 €/day or 10 €/the whole event). We have a limited quantity of children's sizes. Note: the rent of the life vests must be paid in cash at the office car.

The office car

We have an office car, which will follow along the event. You may keep your additional luggage there and access it during breaks.

Retrieving your car

Each day at the end point of the daily rowing, a bus will be waiting to take those retrieving their cars from where they were left in the morning. A ticket for the bus costs 5 €/day or 10 €/whole event.

Insurance

Our head organisation, Suomen luonnonsuojeluliitto (Finnish Association for Nature Conservation) has an accident insurance, which is valid for the Iijokisoutu event. The insurance is valid for accidents that happen during the event or immediately on the way to or from there. The insurance has been updated, and is now valid for all participants aged 18 or older.

In addition, Iijokisoutu has a liability insurance, which will be valid for liabilities caused by the Iijokisoutu event and its organizers. Please note that it will not compensate for liabilities caused by yourself, such as dropping something in the river. You may get your own travel insurance for that.

Contact

Chairwoman of the Pudasjärvi Nature Conservation Association and the Head of the Event Pirkko-Liisa Luhta (+358400 293 023)

Head of the Coxswains Eero Moilanen (+358400 204 165)

You may also email us at info(at)iijokisoutu.net if you have additional questions.

The sign-up sheet can be found here.

The event is organized by The Pudasjärvi Nature Conservation Association. It is a local member association of The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (SLL).