Our 2026 season started from Tuborg Havn, just north of Copenhagen, where we spent the winter. I just counted, and since leaving Tuborg Havn in April we have visited over thirty different harbors and anchorages. And that’s not even counting the Göta Canal, where we spent five weeks exploring the harbors and places along the canal.
What a memorable season it has been so far, and it’s not over yet! There are still a few more weeks to go before we head back to Tuborg Havn for the winter. That harbor is like our second home. All our liveaboard friends are there, and there is always a warm welcome waiting for us.
Ascension Day in Tallinn
Over the Ascension Day weekend in mid-May, we joined a club cruise to Tallinn, Estonia, with our yacht club and other yacht clubs from Espoonlahti. It was a long weekend with like-minded people, exploring the historic city of Tallinn once again. It is always fun to meet new people and old friends, and to share thoughts on boats and harbors.
A week in the Stockholm archipelago
During the summer we had one week-long charter with six guests. Our guests have so far all been very nice, and so were these. They spent a week with us in the Stockholm archipelago, exploring different places and enjoying sunsets, long walks, history, swimming and good food. They even wrote a story about their stay with us, and it sounds like they had a very good time.
A dream journey: the Göta Canal
In July we made one of our dream journeys, one we had talked about many times. We took Sweet Hope through the Göta Canal. The Göta Canal is a historic, all-encompassing experience: 58 locks, 50 bridges and 190 kilometers long.
We knew Sweet Hope would be a very tight fit in the locks, and she really was. The maximum beam allowed on the Göta Canal is seven meters. Sweet Hope is 6.2 meters wide, and our fenders are not small. We probably had something like 20–30 centimeters of free space on each side when entering a lock.
We were always the only yacht in the lock. During the weeks we spent on the canal, the lock keepers reminded us many times that Sweet Hope was the biggest yacht to go through the canal that season.
The bridges were another story. Some bridges lifted up, some rolled sideways, others rolled backwards. Sometimes there was a good high edge, and sometimes the edge was so low that our fenders wouldn’t stay down at all, even though we hung them as low as you can possibly think of. If the canal turned straight after a bridge, it was always a tough one.
Sweet Hope’s draft is 2.1 meters, so the only place we could drive her was right in the middle of the canal. Anywhere else, she would risk running aground. There are also commercial passenger vessels going up and down the canal. Some of them had their beacon on, some didn’t.
These vessels have their own beacon system and app where others can see where they are, but if the beacon isn’t on, there is no way of knowing where they are. They didn’t even have AIS we could look at. Luckily, the lock keepers were very good at telling us if we would meet any bigger vessels between the locks.
Going up, by hand
For us, going up was the hard part. The lock keepers were very adamant that we couldn’t have the engine running, even though we were the only yacht in the lock. That meant I had to hold Sweet Hope in place by hand the whole time while the water was pouring into the lock.
I tell you, it was a hard job! The lock keepers did help us with the lines, because it was just Mika and me on board, and that helped us a lot. After doing the seven Carl Johan locks at Berg in one go (you have to, there is no resting place in the middle), my arms felt like they were dropping off my shoulders. That was a very hard day for me, but fun at the same time.
No matter which part of the canal you’re in, there are always people around watching and ready to help if needed.
We also met friends from Finland on two different occasions while going through the Göta Canal. They were heading back to Finland, and we were going all the way to Gothenburg. As I said earlier, it is always fun to meet friends wherever you are with your yacht.
I would say going through the Göta Canal was a once-in-a-lifetime thing to do with Sweet Hope. It was fun, the scenery was absolutely stunning, and we learned a lot about how Sweet Hope behaves in close and tight canal environments. But it is one of those things you do once: been there, done that, got the trophy.
On to Trollhätte and Gothenburg
After the Göta Canal, we spent some time in Mariestad, just relaxing and enjoying the town. From there we headed towards the Trollhätte Canal, another canal with bridges and locks before you reach Gothenburg.
The Trollhätte Canal was a lot easier for us than the Göta Canal because it is bigger. Even cargo ships go through it to Lake Vänern. One thing to remember: the locks on the Trollhätte Canal have only one side you can lean on. The other side is usually sharp-edged rock that you really don’t want to hit.
Once we arrived in Gothenburg, we had a couple of days to prepare for our friends from Finland, who stayed with us for a weekend. Lots of laughter, good food, conversations, good wine and beer, and a RIB ride exploring Gothenburg from the sea. A weekend of good times with friends.
The Gothenburg archipelago
Since leaving Gothenburg, we have been exploring the Gothenburg archipelago. It is so different from the Finnish archipelago: much more rugged, yet beautiful in its own way. The archipelago here is also livelier than in Finland.
There seem to be ferry connections to most of the islands, and where there isn’t a ferry, a bridge has been built instead. We have visited Myggenäs, Marstrand, Klädesholmen, Björkö and Öckerö.
Here in Öckerö we have stayed quite a long time, and we even have our car here, so it has been easy to explore the surroundings. The reason we have the car here is our puppy.
One has to remember that a puppy must be at least 15 weeks old and vaccinated against rabies before she can be brought to Sweden. Our puppy stayed with Katja (@_katjav_ on Instagram) until she was 12 weeks old. That’s when we went to pick her up. By the time she was old enough to travel, she already weighed over 10 kilos, so she couldn’t fly with us in the cabin. We didn’t want her to travel as cargo, so we brought her from Finland to Sweden by car instead.
Looking back
Looking back, this season has been full of happenings, some good and some not so good. But one thing they all have in common is that they have once again made us stronger as a couple. We have visited over 30 harbors and anchorages this season.
The biggest change has been Sissi, our little Dutch Shepherd puppy from Kennel AikaPaha, who has been with us for six weeks now. She has been life-changing, but in a good way, and she is slowly becoming a proper little yacht dog.
We can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for us, because it’s not over yet. There are still a few harbors to visit before we head towards Tuborg Havn for yet another fun winter season.
