…and we were out of the Göta Canal. Twenty locks lower down we were on the banks of lake Vänern, Sweden’s largest lake, covering an area of 5648
square kilometres.
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| guest harbour in Vadstena |
But let’s start from the beginning. In Motala we arrived on the shores of lake Vättern, Sweden’s second largest lake, which at its deepest is 128m deep.
We didn’t want to rush across without stopping at Vadstena (‘house on the water’ in Swedish), where the guest harbour is in the moat of a huge 16th century castle. It is an impressive backdrop indeed. Unfortunately the walls were so massive that we were unable to listen to a rock concert happening that same evening…of course we could have bought tickets to listen inside the inner courtyard.
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| sunken canal walls in Lake Viken |
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| through the narrows |
In Karslborg, on the western shore of lake Vättern, and just one last lock up we passed Torsvik, the highest point of the canal with 92m above the water level. It was also the place of a major foundry for the canal and lock structures. There we entered the most remote and strange looking small lake called Viken. Not only was it strewn with rocks, but also the canal walls across it had collapsed with time, and all that remained were partly sunken, partly just visible bits of it, which required very careful pilotage. In one place, even a shortcut was blasted out of the rock, and there it was too narrow for two boats to pass, so that you had to give sound signals to announce your coming.
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| one of the many remote controlled railway bridges |
The last stretch of the Göta Canal was a long and quite ‘uneventful’ stretch of canal with 20 locks going down towards lake Vänern.
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| it would be easier like this... |
Compared with the hard work of going up, coming down in the locks is quite relaxing. No gushing, ripping water coming into the lock, but the water level smoothly coming down. It took us a day and a half to come down.
Today we are moored in Mariestad, a nice little town on lake Vänern, known for its good beer and an impressive cathedral building dating from the 16th century. Once we have crossed Lake Vänern we still have the Trollhätte Canal to navigate before we arrive in Göteborg.