Off-road across Sweden (Part 3) - The Göta Canal

... and if this doesn't work, try standing up (it's not very deep!).

The Gota Canal (pronounced yo-ta) route

We left Lake Vänern and entered the Göta Canal at Sjötorp (pronounced qu-air-tor). And once again, our expedition yacht becomes a canal boat! The Göta Canal is 85nm (nautical miles or 190 kilometres) long with 58 locks lifting to a high point of 91.8m and down to the Baltic Sea. It is a magnificent feat of engineering. With construction starting in 1810, the canal took 22 years to build using 58,000 labourers to hand-dig the 87km of canals. The remaining 103km is through lakes and natural waterways.

Up and over....

We also learned that the Göta Canal's nickname is The Divorce Ditch - hmmm, just how tricky are these 58 locks and 45 opening bridges?? The canal is planted with 16,000 ash trees along its length, their roots help stabilise the banks. This makes for a glorious avenue to wiggle along and provides shade.

The ash trees along the canal keep it green and cool

While the Trollhätten Canal is still used for commercial shipping, the Göta Canal is recreational. Although there are tour boats that operate on the canal that are considered commercial and have priority. This is also the case for the Göta Canal Charter boats. So at times we had to wait to allow them to pass. The trains also have priority so we expected some delays at the railways bridges.

Squishy!

Squeezed into the first lock with another boat, we lifted into the canal proper. With no room in the first basin to tie up, we went through the double lock and under the opening bridge into the main basin. It was vaguely terrifying entering the first locks. All the locks are the same size, 30m long and 7m wide and with Chinook being 4.4m wide, we have a mere 1.3m clearance on each side.

Chinook in lock Sjötorp #1

But first, you must drop a crew member off on the tiny wooden platform just before the lock so they can take the lines and secure the boat to the rings. This wee platforms are more designed for small power boats rather than beasts like Chinook. Landing the 'leaper' and managing to avoid the lock gates took some skill. With Sean's knee not quite being 100%, it was decided that Kate would be the leaper and Sean, the helms person. Sean's skills in manoeuvring in tight spaces have increased dramatically and Kate can leap across some rather wide gaps without hesitation!

Locks 2 and 3, with the upper marina basin above them

Safely in the main basin, all the berths alongside were taken so we had to execute the bow-in, pick-up-the-stern-buoy-as-you-approach mooring manoeuvre. These are ubiquitous in Sweden so we had better master the technique. We tied up without incident and enjoyed a beer to settle our nerves. We were able to move the boat to an alongside berth the next morning. Much easier than clambering over the bowsprit and anchor.

Sean demonstrating the technique in Norway

As part of the fee to transit the Göta Canal, all the guest harbours are included. These have excellent facilities - water, power, showers and laundries at no extra charge. We love our little onboard washing machine but nothing beats a big washing machine and dryer for the sheets and towels. They were put to very good use along the canal!

Fully loaded, Megan and Sean ride back to Sjötorp and Chinook.

And cause for great excitement!! Rachael and Megan arrived after a few days in Stockholm. However, being Sunday, the buses do not run between Lystadt (where the bus from Stockholm dropped them) and Sjötorp. Being only 5km, they decided to walk along the canal path. Like the fabulous hosts we are, we rode our bikes to meet them and take their bags on board.

Chinook waits for us on the visitors' pontoon, along with some other motor and sail boats

Guest accommodation aboard. Doesn't that look inviting?

Our view while the guests settle in.

Megan and Sean rode the bags back to Sjötorp leaving Rachael and Kate to have a lovely amble along the path catching up with all the news from the last six months. We spent the next day in Sjötorp, getting Rachael and Megan settled onto Chinook and providing some instruction on how to work the lines as we traverse up the locks.

We did take some breaks from boat orientation ... in the 24°C water!

The weather was warm and sunny so there was lots of swimming and exploring around the town. It is very much a holiday village with as many motorhome as there are yachts!

No shortage of holiday-makers around the start of the canal

We found the sports grounds ... and a bin full of handballs and basketballs.
Rachael and Megan couldn't resist a few quick shots!

We had to sample the local waffles - and they were delicious!

A calm, warm evening in the upper marina basin

The next day was was our first together going up through the locks, or "up-locking." It is a nerve-wracking process if you have never done it before.

Illustrations from the Göta Canal Skippers' Guide showing the method

You have to manage a sixteen-or-more-ton boat in swirling, incoming water. There could be other boats in with you, and the walls are granite. Yikes! Here's the process in point form:

manoeuvre Chinook to a corner of the lock entrance
let one or two crew off, usually by hopping down from a gently drifting boat
the onshore crew manage a bow line and a stern line and walk up with them as the boat s-l-o-w-l-y enters the lock
the stern line is put on a hard point by the onshore crew and helps to stop the boat going forward
the bow line is put on a hard point and a on-deck crew takes up the slack
the lockmaster closes the lock gates that you have just come through
when all the crew signals that they are ready, the lockmaster starts the ingress of water
the water in the lock gets really, really swirly as it fills

When the lock is filling, you have the equivalent of a four lane, 25 metre swimming pool rush into the confined lock in SECONDS.

Rachael and Megan caught on really quickly and we progressed through the day's locks without incident. We had a delay at one lock having to wait for a tour boat to lock through. We used this time to have a dip to cool off. We got going again only to be told by the lock master we would not make it past the next set of locks because they had to balance the water in the canal.

Not a lot of room to pass.

No problem, we are not in a rush. We spent the most delightful night on the waiting pontoon below the Riksberg flight of three locks next to a field of chamomile and cornflowers.

In some places, the canal was 26c!

A field of chamomile and cornflowers

Next morning we were on the move again, locking up the three locks. We are becoming quite the experts at up-locking. It makes a big difference having extra hands aboard! We stopped in Töreboda for a swim, an explore and a grocery shop. The canal front was bustling with people, boats and campers, out enjoying the sunshine and ice cream.

We had quite a long delay waiting for the railway bridge and arrived at Jonsboda afternoon. We hovered in front of the bridge but it did not open. We waited. A couple of other boats arrived and still the bridge did not open. Rather than continuing to hover, we pulled onto the pontoon at the Guest Harbour.

Megan found a comfy spot to read her book

And waited some more! Eventually, the lock keeper came by to explain the bridge opening system had failed and the technician was on the way to repair it. Unfortunately, they could not guarantee it would be fixed today. Guess where we stayed the night?

Kate enjoying a cup of tea

It was a great afternoon. We swam to check out the ice-cream shop, read, swam some more, played games and generally were one with the rhythm of the canal. As the afternoon turned to evening, the smells of BBQ's wafted from the camp ground next to the dock. The brief shower of rain failed to dampen the spirit of a magical evening.

Magical evening

A little rain and rainbows

The maintenance crew worked their magic and the bridge opened on time the next morning. This leg of the journey required us to negotiate the Berg Canal, Lake Viken and the Spentsnäs Canal - a VERY narrow section of canal.

The Spentsnäs Canal is just before Forsvik and take us into the oldest lock on the canal

Rachael took to helming like a duck to water and steered us down the canal and across Lake Viken like a pro. The weather remained glorious and we were very appreciative of the bimini. We did fold it away when going through locks so we have better access to lines and improved visibility.

Rachael at the helm - what a natural!

The Spetsnäs Canal was one of the first sections of the Göta completed and the lock at Forsvik was the first one built. The canal is very narrow and we were fortunate not to meet oncoming boats until we were near the end and it had widen out marginally. Meeting one of the big tour boats would have been very problematic. It is the section we should have recorded with time lapse and drone but, of course, we thought of that only after we were through.

We are going against the buoyage so we have to keep the red marker on on starboard (right side)

And not only is the canal particularly narrow, it also has sloping banks so we needed to stay at least 1.5m off the bank to avoid scraping a rudder. Yikes! But aside from the worry of meeting another boat, it was just Beautiful. We came out into the pond just before the lock and moored on the dock to wait our turn in the lock.

"Varning" signs are prominent along this section

We are moving at 5 knots (full cruising speed) - not much wiggle room here.

Forsvik waiting pontoon. We sometimes had to allow vessels to pass us through canal sections only big enough for one boat.

It was the perfect place to cool off with a swim and eat lunch. Lake Viken is the highest point on the Göta Canal. After this, we start to lock down. Just as we had mastered locking up, we have to change or technique and master locking down! Forsvik was our first down lock, and we dropped 3.5m! We were one of three boats in the lock and the walls are not straight, rough and rocky, they come bow in at an alarming rate.

Look closely on the left side to see the lock walls
protrude well into the lock!

We spent a perfect afternoon in Karlsborg swimming, exploring the town and its fortress and soaking up the ambiance. From the waterside saunas to the deck chairs and hammocks on the lake banks, the summer life style is amazing. We watched groups of friends meet for BBQs or a glass of wine on the docks that pepper the waterfront. Our favourite sight was two elderly ladies balancing their wine on the seats of their walkers as they enjoyed a view across the lake!

Megans gets into the swing of a Swedish summer

Guess where!

Karlsborg Fortress

Sean enjoying the ambience lakeside in a public hammock

Again, another glorious sunny day. We slipped our lines and passed under the Karlsborg Bridge when it opened and out onto Lake Vättern. The lack of wind foiled our sailing plans but it was a delightful motor across sparkling water. And so our voyage along Sweden's Blue Ribbon continued. Lazy day after lazy day under a glorious blue sky. Through locks and bridges, across lakes and past towns enjoying the rhythm of the canal. No need to hurry.

Crossing Lake Vättern

Going down the locks was a bit easier. The water wasn't gushing in - it was slowly draining out through one panel in the lock gates, like a bathtub draining. The onshore crew was able to step off Chinook to shore that was almost level with the side decks. It was a much gentler process.

Most of the trip was serene and calm, puttering along at 5 knots

bumper rails lessen the anxiety of damaging the bridge or Chinook

We dropped off the outboard in Motala and spent the night docked next to the industrial museum but sadly, it is now closed. We did find the Göta Canal Museum which went through the building of the canal which was really interesting. We spent the afternoon swimming and ate the most decadent waffles at the cafe across the canal.

We weren't the only ones cruising the canals. This scooter gang makes use of the pull tracks that have been converted to walking/riding trails that run the length of the canal.

Swedish waffles with ice cream seem to be a popular thing here. Motala had a restaurant that did not dissappoint! It was a challenge to finish these.

On the left is an old foundry that has been turned into a museum and performance space. Sadly, the museum was closed while we were here.

Tied up in teh evening sun outside the Industry Museum in Motala.

Notice the pole to the right of the bridge? It has a camera that spots oncoming boats and the bridges are remotely opened and closed from the canal control office.

Most of the lock-keepers' houses were picturesque. We caught Sweden at it's most photogenic time.

In a couple of places the canal goes OVER a roadway!

The bridge openings were often tight. Hull of Aluminium. Nerves of Steel.

Stopped for the afternoon at a scenic spot.

Megan has mastered the lasso toss from the foredeck.

We drive into a deep lock. The water drops. Now the water is not so deep. The lock gate opens. Repeat seven times.

Once the helming is done for the day, we can enjoy some refreshments!

Rachael and Megan stop to smell the ... pansies?

Chinook is bow-in at Söderköping. To go ashore, there is no way to get down from the side decks. We climbed over the pulpit and bowsprit and used the anchor as a step.