This route starts in Goteborg on the west coast, and travels 210 miles overland to the east coast near Stockholm. We navigated 65 locks, which raised us 300 feet above sea level. Who knew one needed an altimeter on a boat?
Goteborg
Our berth in Goteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden, was in a great location, between a square rigger and the Opera house.
Viking, a 4 masted square rigged Bark astern
Happy to be by the Opera ahead
My maternal Grandfather, Lester Lundin, was a full Swede and Esther (Dow) Bixler Lundin, my Grandmother, was half Swedish. That makes my mother Dolly, 3/4 Swedish... therefore, I am 3/8 Swedish. My middle name is also Lundin! So I guess that makes Sweden my Mother Country?
My Swedish cousin Carina welcomed us into Goteborg. She would become my tour guide, opera date and good friend.
Cousin Carina Dietmann and Richard Mattus
Richard located some tax free diesel on a nearby offshore island and a highly recommended generator mechanic on Ockero, another island. In Swedish, an O with 2 circles above it is pronounced Uurrgh, kind of like retching. So Ockero, with 2 circled Os, is pronounced Uurrgh-Ker-Uurrgh.
Their alphabet and typewriters have 4 more letters than we English have. And it is fun to hear how they sing the syllables up and down, rather than speaking in a monotone. Almost everyone here speaks excellent English, and they enjoy speaking it.
The pronunciation of the letters J and Y are reversed in Swedish, so it comes out like, "My Yob is to rake the Jard." Don't believe me? Just ask a Swede to say, "Yellow Jello"!
Off to Ockero
After fueling up with 3,300 liters of diesel in Styrso, the savings in taxes allowed me promise Richard, "Free Beers for Life". Then we pulled into Ockero and met Tomas Petersson, the Swedish magician of generators. He was too busy to come to us, so we took the boat to him!
It took Tomas only 20 minutes to diagnose the generator problem as a faulty sea water temperature monitor that was shutting down the engine. Richard went back on a ferry to meet his daughters on the mainland, and Tomas went back to his office to check on the availability of the replacement part.
When Tomas reported the next morning that it would take 3 days to get the part, I thought, "Why not go back to Gotenborg". This became possible when Tomas said that he could take the part to Goteborg over the weekend and install it there.
While not having single handed No Regrets before, I pre-plotted the course, pre-rigged the dock lines and repeated my mantra, "I was born to do this!"
Soloing back into Goteborg
When Tomas came to the boat on Saturday, his fix was perfect, and the generator has been happy ever since. After the repair, Tomas offered to show me where he and his father were born, the schools, the church, his hood... it was a snapshot of growing up in Goteborg in the 70's and 80's. Tomas was like a little puppy dog, wanting to show me everything, and it was hard to disengage from him and say goodbye. The Swedes are very friendly and welcoming!
Thomas, the Swedish Magician, and my friend!
Being back in Goteborg gave me more time to sightsee;
Carina showing off the city's sights
And to add kayaks to the Proper Yacht!
2 kayaks join the crew. They have yet to name themselves!
Gullholmen
Richard invited me to sail with him thru the islands north of Goteborg. This Archipelago has bare granite rock natural harbors and many quaint harbors, villages and summer homes. A natural harbor has no wooden docks... Rather you tie up to and fender off of the rocks themselves.
Sailing on Richard's 35' sailboat
There is a ongoing rivalry between Goteborg, the second largest city in Sweden, with Stockholm, the Capital on the east coast. It's a West Coast vs. East Coast thing when it comes to their cruising islands. Both are Spectacular!
Typical summer homes. There are no tide changes in the Baltic Sea
The islands in the Stockholm Archipelago have more trees and bugs, while the islands off Goteborg are more barren and are glacier formed from pink Nordic granite.
Approaching our lunch stop
Richard's family had just bought one of the 2 cafes in Gullholmen, and we stopped there for a great fish soup lunch. They are understandably proud of the cafe where his sister, a nephew and both of Richard's daughters will work this summer.
Gullholmen... Swedish eye candy!
Up the Gota River
I met Hans Paffrath, a German/Swedish shipbuilder on the dock by the Opera House. He agreed to think about joining the boat for the passage thru the Gota Canal (Since the O in Gota has 2 circles above it, it is pronounced, "Guurrgh-ta")
He excitedly called a couple of days later and said he had found our pilot and they would come over that night. Stephan Fougberg came onboard that evening along with Hans and their ladies. Meeting new crew is a lot like a blind date, and after interviewing each other and inspecting the boat, we agreed to give it a go. The bromance was successful, and all of us enjoyed the 2 week voyage. We were also glad that there were 3 of us to help with the locks, docks and lines!
The three amigos!
After leaving Goteborg, we motored about 30 miles up the Gota River where the 1st lock at Trollhattan greeted us.
The 1st of 65 locks!
Our 1st stop was at Vanersborg on Lake Vanern, where we learned from a neighboring sailboat that we were too early in the year for all of the locks up ahead to be maned. So we would need to join a convoy of other boats to go through the "Gota Canal" section. When I signed up on-line, the earliest convoy going east was 5 days away. This change of plan allowed us to explore 4 extra harbors on the Lake.
We stopped at Amal, Mariestad and Sjotorp, but the 2 standouts were Lacko Slott and anchoring in a deserted cove.
Tied up next to Lacko Slott, a castle from the 1600's
Stephan on the guided castle tour
A ceiling with flying angels
And our other favorite stop was anchoring No Regrets for the first time, and being alone in a deserted cove, where we all skinny dipped. I still need to mark the depths on the chain and solve a chain stacking problem, but it was sure nice to have a 100 meter all chain rode with a 60 kg Ultra anchor on the end. I lived at anchor in Mexico for over a year, and now I made sure that No Regrets' ground tackle would let me sleep nights!
The Gota Canal
Technically, the Gota Canal is only the eastern 2/3 of the journey across Sweden. The locks and bridges from Goteborg to Sjotorp are not included in the $600 Gota Canal fee, but they most definitely are a part of the overall passage!
The start of the "Gota" Canal
This canal was built 200 years ago!
There were 10 boats in our convoy. Only 8 finished!
We waited for the many bridges almost as long as for the locks to open!
This railroad bridge took an hour to find a clear track!
Narrow and tight... The Canal's nickname is "Divorce Ditch"
Some locks were better than others!
The interior of Sweden is very rural and pastoral
Hay, sheep and horses
Red or yellow houses. The red color comes from the copper in the paint
Some of the locks are still hand operated
Escalating down the 7 locks in a row at Berg
One of the many mini golf courses along the way
Rosemarie, Hans' girlfriend joined us about half way thru the Canal, and it was fun to watch as Hans become younger, lighter and happier. They were like puppies playing together.
Hans and Rosemarie
Rosemarie's 115 pounds trying to fend off 75,000 pounds of boat
The Swedes love the sun! It must originate from their long winters with only 3 hours of sun each day? Every time that the sun shone thru, Stephen would take off his clothes and present himself to Her rays. It was like watching a flower blossom!
Stephen, the Swedish Walrus, is shirtless, while I'm wearing 4 layers and gloves!
Near the end of the Canal at Soderkoping, Stephen and Rosemarie left on the train to go back to Goteborg. But before our goodbyes, we celebrated the completion of the Gota Canal voyage by overeating ice cream in an 150 year old Ice Cream Parlor.
Thank you Team Gota!!!
Back to the Baltic Sea
It had taken us 10 days to travel the 210 miles thru the middle of Sweden. In spite of being weary from sailing for 10 days in a row, with the "Gota" portion averaging 8 to 9 tedious hours a day, Hans and I still had 2 days left until we reached Stockholm.
After spending that night in Mem, we followed a meandering route thru the rocks and into Trosa. We had a delightful dinner and tour of the little town, and then enjoyed the most amazing sunset which lasted until almost midnight.
Hallelujah!
And then we sailed into Stockholm the next day!
