Alla Semakova probably painted this picture after visiting the village of Lopshenga on the White Sea coast. Most villagers were Pomors, whose whole life was connected with the sea. That is why each family had at least one, and more often two or three boats.

 
Small boats used by the Pomors and designed for one or two people were called ‘shnyaks.’ Most often, they were built of spruce or pine wood. The bottom was sometimes made of a single trunk, and then wooden boards were attached. Usually, the Pomors did not use metal nails. Instead, they resorted to wooden dowels, long roots of spruce or juniper, young shoots of willow and birch. Small wedges were hammered into the fixing holes to prevent water leakage. The cracks between the boards were caulked with sphagnum — a kind of moss.

 
This vessel had no deck. The fishermen took shelter from bad weather and cold on the stern or bow, and slept there. They cooked food directly in the shnyak boats; the fire was made in a special tray of stones and sand.

 
Shnyak boats were a type of sailing and rowing vessels. Usually they had one mast about six meters high. A straight sail was attached to it. Sometimes an additional mast with an oblique sail was installed, so that the vessel could sail faster. However, this type of construction could interfere with fishing, so it was removable