The Göta Canal

Two days since the last post, we are still journeying through Sweden on the Göta Canal. I promised to record information about this canal, so here it is.

In the 15th century, the Bishop of Linköping wrote about the creating a waterway between Lake Vättern and Lake Vänern, after Denmark had introduced tariffs for foreign ships passing through the Øresund, the strait connecting the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. For 300 years, despite investigations, surveys and debates, nothing was done due to political conflict with the interests of land owners, the question of whether to connect lakes or built a fully artificial canal, and the lack of a strong advocate. Finally, in the early 19th century, a man had the leadership and technical skills to push through the idea and complete the project.

This man was Baltzar von Platen, who saw King Gustav IV Adolf's fascination with the Trollhätten Canal in 1801. At the beginning of 1808, von Platen presented his ideas about the Göta Canal to the king. The king authorized an ordinance that gave von Platen the task of calculating costs and time as well as staking out the canal route. He contacted Thomas Telford, a highly recognized Scottish engineer and builder of canals, aqueducts, bridges, roads, and harbors. In only a 20 day journey, von Platen and Telford completed measurements, leveling, route planning, including stipulating the location of locks and fully documented their work. 

The Göta Canal Company was established and funded by sale of shares and a government loan. Work began in 1810. Blasting, masonry and digging with tin-clad wooden shovels was don by 58,000 Swedish soldiers. The work day was long and grueling. It began at 5 a.m.; there was an hour for breakfast at 8 a.m.; work continued from 9 to noon; a midday break lasted from then to 1:30 p.m. when work continued until 4:30 followed by a half hour for the evening meal and and three hours of work. After 8:00 p.m., the soldiers were required to attend military church services, and then the tattoo signaled that they could sleep until 4 a.m. In the 22 years in took to complete the canal, a documented 84,000,000 hours of work was accomplished. 

The construction period was originally estimated at 10 years. After 5 years, however, only a quarter of the route had been excavated, and the costs already amounted to 50 percent more than had been calculated for completion. Baltzar von Platen was a clever negotiator, though, and he managed to get the necessary extensions and additional funding.

In 1822, with 18 locks completed, the western part of the Göta Canal was opened for traffic. The Västergötland section was inaugurated by King Charles XIV Johan at Sjötorp, the westernmost point. The royal ship Frigga traveled from there to Hajstorp, with the canal banks lined with thousands of spectators as well as bands. In 1832, the king arrived in Mem, the easternmost part of the canal, The royal yacht Esplendian was towed through the last lock and the entire canal was officially inaugurated. 

In addition to the canal itself, the Göta Canal Company built a support system, with a large workshop in Motala that turned into a manufacturing company that supplied the world with ships, steam boilers, hydraulic presses, locomotives, crankshafts and stainless steel products. In Sjötorp, a shipyard and dry dock were established. Its last steamship was manufactures in 1921, and the last newly built wooden ship was delivered to Russia in the early 1960s. The business now is focused on maintenance and service work associated with the canal facilities (which, we have noticed, are all extremely well-maintained). 

The canal system (the Trollhättan and the Göta) was crucial to shipping from its beginning until the 1930s, when the trucking industry took over. In the 1970's the canal became important again, not for transportation of goods but the tourist industry, which now attracts 4 million people each year. Because sailing ships had to be towed through the canal by draft animals until the 1920's, when steamships finally made the sailboats obsolete on the canal, their are wide paths on both sides of the canal in most places.

Passenger ships have traveled through the canal since its inauguration, and they still do, carrying tourists over the entire route or just sections. In addition, about 2,000 leisure boats travel on the Göta Canal every year. There is a hefty fee for boating on the canal, but it includes access to 21 guest marinas, each of which can be used for 5 nights, and, of course, passage through the locks. Adjacent to the many of the marinas, which are often in the countryside, are caravan parks, and the well-maintained facilities serve both boaters and campers. 

The former tow paths are now maintained for cyclists and walkers; there are 87 kilometers of car-free roads through meadowland, forests, and farmland, with small cafes, restaurants and historic sites along or near the route. These tourists are promised wonderful views of the boats on the canal and going through the locks. We have found that we are a tourist attraction! Only a handful of boats are similar in size to Mantra, and we have not encountered any other boats that are not Scandinavian, Dutch or German. Many people have lots of questions to ask us, particularly some of the 100 young lock keepers with summer jobs here. 

While the canal system was built and originally operated by the Göta Canal Company, it is now owned by the Swedish State and is a fine example of how well socialism can work.

The canal itself is 190 km from Sjötorp to Mem, with 58 locks. On the banks of the canal, there are 10,000 trees. Motoring at a maximum of 5 knots (except when on the lakes) is a slow and mostly pleasant way to travel across the country and view the countryside at a leisurely pace. The land through which the canal traverses is sparsely populated. There are some small villages and a few small cities. (Motala, for example, has 30,000 inhabitants.)

Cute house along the canal

Another home by the canal

Lily pads on the side of the canal

The tranquil canal on a sunny day

A long, tree-lined stretch passing through farmland

Yesterday morning (Saturday, July 4), we cast off from the dock at Vassbacken, a tiny, rural hamlet, at 9 a.m. and arrived at 10:30 a.m. at the waiting dock for the Forsvik Lock to join several other boats in line. The wait was 4 hours! Some other boaters whom Peter had chatted with offered us lunch composed of a couscous salad with an assortment of vegetables and fruit (including barbecued chicken for Peter). It was a welcome alternative to my usual meal offerings.

The lock keeper advised us to share the lock with a smaller power boat. There was just enough room for both of us across the width of the lock. Forsvik is the oldest lock on the canal, constructed in 1813, and has the greatest fall height, 3.5 meters. What we did not know was the lock walls narrow toward the bottom, so there was not enough width in the lock for both of us. We lost a tiny bit of paint on a small part of the hull!

Otherwise, our locking experiences have been mostly routine. There have been some small errors and minor bumps, but we seem to have got the hang of it all. 

At 4 p.m., having motored across the small Lake Botten Sjön, we passed by Karlsborg and onto Latke Vättern and set our sails, starting on a port tack and then jibing to starboard, averaging over 6 knots. We tried to anchor by a trio of islands about 5 nautical miles southwest of Motala, but the bottom was comprised of small, roundish boulders and the anchor would not hold. So we went into the marina in the city, docking at 7:30 p.m. 

There is a motor museum by the marina which was closed, but we enjoyed walking along the wharf, through the small Stadsparken (city park), and past the Motala Kyrka. We went to a pleasant restaurant by the park with excellent food and then walked past the marina and east along the tow path to the gravesite of Baltzer von Platen and some of his family members as well as the canal's head of mechanical engineering. von Platen died in 1829, three years before the completion of the canal. He had requested a simple funeral, but King Charles XIV Johan insisted on something more elaborate, and his casket was lowered into the ground with an 800 gun salute.

Stadsparken

Church in Motala

Göta Canal Company headquarters

Baltzar von Platen gravesite

We wanted to be first in line for the bridges and canals after Motala, but a couple boats were already off the docks when we cast off at 8:50 a.m. This meant that we waited for 40 minutes for the first bridge. After that, progress was steady under cloudy skies. We had on long pants and 1-3 layers throughout the day, but the Swedes thought 59°F with a cool breeze was great for shorts and t-shirts (and some of the men were shirtless) until it started to rain lightly just as we reached the east side of Lake Boren. We were planning to Lake Roxen today, but we changed our plan in the locks near Ljungsbro, the lightning and thunder and pounding rain developed. We stopped for the day in Berg, at the marina just before the flight of 7 locks that lead to the lake. We are actually on the waiting dock for the locks because our size, so we are off by ourselves

After a while, the skies cleared and sunshine appeared for the first time today. We took a look at the upcoming locks and walked to the facilities. We decided to have a round of putt-putt golf at the nicest course we have ever seen. There were no themed structures; rather, the holes included natural granite as obstacles and were bordered by an abundance of sweet-smelling and colorful flowers. It was like golfing in a garden. Of course, Peter won, but only by 5 points.

The flight of 7 locks at Berg

Peter teeing off

The ice cream shop beckoned us after our game. Then we visited the outdoor lock gate exhibition, which consists of 5 decommissioned lock gates. It was fascinating to see the construction techniques and the understand better how the sluices which control the water work. Even though we have already passed through many gates, it was not obvious that the gates are not flat but have a slight curvature. 

Originally, all the canal gates were made of cast iron and pine wood. The iron lasted at least 200 years and the wood 30 to 40. One of the 5 gates on display was from the second half of the 20th century. Made of steel, this type of gate was designed by engineers to last longer than the traditional gates. They only withstood the water pressure and the mechanical work for less than 40 years, and it was decided the traditional gates were best.

Closer view of a sluice 

Two lock gates of cast iron and pine wood with sluices

Now it is late again and time for bed.