From Lake Vänern to Gothenburg: the Trollhätte Canal

Sailing south down the lake.

From the middle of Lake Vänern, we had about 90 nautical miles and one more canal before we were back in coastal waters. The Trollhätte Canal is a commercial canal that is open year round and generally uses as much of the Göta Älv river as possible to link the lake to the sea. From the lake we stopped in Vänersborg and then continued south to Trollhätten. The city marina is on an island with a beautiful park that has barbecue areas, a sculpture garden, walking trails, and a phenomenal playground. The kids played on the playground for hours every day. 

Foggy sunrise in Trollhätten.

The playground in Trollhätten.

We're focusing on keeping this kid smiling and getting adjusted to the cruising life.

  

Trollhatten was a great place to tie up and spend a few days. Matilda was still upset about leaving Mariestad and so far she isn't convinced about the cruising life. She prefers to stay in one place, all the time. Pretty much the antithesis of the life we have chosen. Keeping that in mind, we're trying to stay at least a couple nights in each place and we're also trying to seek out the best places to visit in hopes of convincing Matilda that this is a pretty awesome life. She loved Trollhätten, but we were still ready to keep moving south and west to the coast. We all looked at google maps together and chose our next stop to be a massive old castle from the 14th century. Bohus Fästning.

First we had to traverse quite a few locks and go under some bridges. The locks were amazing. You could see how they dynamited the side of a mountain in order to make a waterway link between the river and the  lake. The walls of bedrock towered over us on both sides of the boat as the locks lowered us over 100 feet. The locks were huge, both in terms of girth and length and the vertical difference. They also have a double bottom, so the turbulence was minimal. It was simply a matter of keeping a line tied to shore to keep the boat close to the edge. In one lock, the skipper of a smaller sailboat behind us was able to simply use a boat hook to keep his boat next to the wall. The locks and bridges are all operated by cameras and remote controls. Hans spoke with the lock/bridge masters on the VHF and they opened and closed locks and bridges from their main station just south of the Trollhätten locks. It was a little eerie transiting through massive locks and under bridges that were operated solely by camera and remote control. But it worked and we didn't have a bridge lower down on our mast or a lock inadvertently open at the wrong time!

For a great vlog on the Trollhätte canal, check out Ran Sailing. They did the same journey this past summer, with a baby onboard! They also have episodes on Vadstena Castle and the Gota Canal.

Entering the lock, waiting for the water to start going down.

A few minutes later, at the bottom of the lock. Check out the granite mountainside.

 

Exiting the locks after we dropped over 100 feet. 

After going through the four locks in Trollhätten, we were on the Göta Älv river, with a pretty fast flowing current pulling us toward the sea. We spent one night at a "marina" in Lilla Edet. It was basically a cut-away in the side of the river, forcing Hans had to steer the boat around 180 degrees doing some kind of crazy 3-point turn. Leaving the next morning was tricky because we had to turn the boat around in the marina, which was basically as wide as our boat was long, and there was ICE on the decks. I stood on shore and used the bow lines as basically as bow thruster while Hans used the engine. My main concern was not going overboard! We went through our final lock (hurrah!) and motored down the river for another four hours to the castle. 

A little fishing village on the river. 

Lego creations are getting more and more intricate.

 

We tied up at a vistor's dock on the castle grounds. We couldn't see the castle from the boat but we knew it was high above us. We spent an afternoon exploring the castle. I think the kids' favorite part was the dungeon and the exhibit with the gallows and torture chamber. Gruesome. 

 

 

Fall scenery on the river.

We pushed off the next morning for Gothenburg, only a couple hours further south down the river. I stayed down below with the kids and we did Monday's schoolwork while Hans piloted us down the river to the downtown marina. We found a slip at the end of the marina, right next to the Opera House. Unfortunately there is a big road construction project at the entrance of the marina so we feel a little blocked from the rest of the city. But it's only a matter of crossing through the construction zone and then we're in the city proper. We spent the first afternoon walking around the city, feeling a little awed. We haven't been in a big city for a long time. Lots to see and, watch out for the bike lane! Look out for the street cars! Agh, there's a car coming! 

Trams, bikes, cars, pedestrians--look both ways before crossing the street!