Sailing & Saunas: A Journey Through the Finnish Archipelago
Travel, Independent, Documentary, 30-Sep-2026
Sailing & Saunas follows a crew navigating the southwest coast of Finland's archipelago by boat, stopping at six islands accessible only by water. On Elisaari, they meet Samuel Aarnio (co-host of the Perfect Sweat series and producer behind several award winning Sauna Channel films including the Spriit of the Löyly & The Changing World of Moroccan Hammams) who speaks about birch whisks, family history, and the löyly ritual, before sauna healer Laura Foon leads a session of Sauna Akka, alternating heat and cold with herbs, scent, and song. At Project Ö, Aleksi Hautamäki shows the crew his eco-conscious island build, its salt-water hot tub set for sunset swims. On Jurmo, Dutch traveler Robin Cairo joins the crew to talk with Ralf Nikander about the island's pull toward solitude and stillness. Björkö belongs to Santeri and Tiia, a couple living without electricity or running water, whose sauna and lake plunge is shared with the group in the middle of their working farm. On Aspö, seasickness reshapes the itinerary into an impromptu women's-only healing retreat, built around song and birch. The voyage ends on Brännskär, where architect Simon Stromsund walks through the design of his sauna cabin, its wide window framing the archipelago beyond, closing out a journey shaped as much by friendship as by the water and heat that carried it.