Tankar

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.

Tankar started emerging as a simple rock couple of centuries ago and became an island when the land arose following the post glacial rebound. Known since the XIVth century by seal hunters, then inhabited by fishermen in the XVIth century. A basin for sheltering the pilot boats was added. The pilot harbour is more protected than the guest harbour. The approach is straight forward. There are 15 guest moorings 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.

At the height of the fishing in Tankar, more than 100 fishermen and their families lived in Tankar. The "Sjöblom’s bastu" (picture above) is the oldest remaining house in Tankar, dating 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.

The painting above left dates 1697 and represents one episode of the Bible, the dispute between angel Michael and Satan over the dead body of Moses. The painting above right dates from 1764.