The locks we’ve been through in Dirona have ranged from “full-service”, such as the Saimaa Canal in Finland, where you tie the boat off to a floating pontoon or mooring point and the lock is operated hydraulically by the lock keepers, to “full-manual”, such as the Crinan Canal in Scotland, where boaters operate the locks and sluices themselves and tend lines attached to a fixed point on shore. The Gota Canal is similar to Scotland’s Caledonian Canal, where the locks are operated hydraulically, but you need to tend lines attached to a fixed point on shore. A major difference is that in the Caledonian Canal the canal workers attach your lines to shore. In the Gota Canal, the canal workers don’t help with the lines so someone needs to go ashore to attach and tend them.

The Gota Canal locks all have small docks on either end to drop someone off to handle lines. But in all but the highest locks, Jennifer can get off inside the lock from the boat deck and James can toss the stern line up that we loop back down to the boat. Then Jennifer grabs a bow line and tends it as we rise in the lock. The process is not difficult, but does require good teamwork and communication. The canal is known as the “divorce ditch” due to the troubles some couples face in navigating the 58 locks.

Perhaps one of the most exciting is the Carl Johan flight of seven locks joined together at Berg. With a total rise of 61.7ft (18.8m), the flight is the longest in the Gota Canal. And directly beyond are two sets of double locks, for effectively eleven in a row. The area always draws a crowd, of boaters waiting to lock through and onlookers taking in the action. So you always have an audience if anything goes wrong. :)

On our fourth day in the Gota Canal, we passed through the Carl Johan flight plus another eight, and also three bridges and an aqueduct, then moored for the night on a lovely, secluded jetty at Ljungsbro. Locking through isn’t a physically tiring job, but it does require car and some concentration, and we were pretty tired at the end of the day. In total we passed through 15 locks with a combined rise of 130 ft (39.6m). If felt like we’d risen as far as we’d travelled, as we covered only 3 miles in 3.1 hours.

Below are trip highlights from August 6th, 2019. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

Sunrise Position: 58°29.19’N, 15°32.50’E Beautiful sunrise over Roxen Lake.

Locking Down Position: 58°29.19’N, 15°32.50’E A pair of boats locking down through the Carl Johan locks. The lock masters plan to bring two sets of boats down, then it will be our turn to take the trip up.

Waiting to Lock Through Position: 58°29.19’N, 15°32.50’E Waiting at the bottom of the Carl Johan locks for our turn.

Carl Johan Flight Position: 58°29.19’N, 15°32.53’E Entering the first of the seven joined locks in the Carl Johan flight, the largest flight in the Gota Canal. We’ll rise a total of 61.7ft (18.8m).

Entering Bottom Lock Position: 58°29.18’N, 15°32.48’E View from the lock gate of Dirona and another boat entering the bottom lock. Jennifer walked up from our berth and James will toss her the stern and bow lines once the boat is against the wall in the lock.

Partway Up Position: 58°29.18’N, 15°32.36’E Partway up the seven locks in the Carl Johan flight. The process was time-consuming, but not difficult. Jennifer walked the stern line between each lock and passed the end down to James to secure it, then ran the bow line through a ring to tend it on the way up.

Looking Down Flight Position: 58°29.17’N, 15°32.22’E Another group of boats locking up the Carl Johan flight behind us.

Oscar Locks Position: 58°29.16’N, 15°32.02’E Approaching the Oscar double lock in the other side of the basin at the top of the Carl Johan flight. A large pleasure craft basin is at the top of the Carl Johan flight and most boats stop there on the way up or down, as did the sailboat that locked through the flight with us. Since we’d already spent a night in the area, we decided to continue on.

Upper Oscar Lock Position: 58°29.15’N, 15°31.80’E Rising in the upper Oscar Lock. After this locking, we’ll have gone up another 15.7ft (4.8m).

Berg Locks Position: 58°29.14’N, 15°31.55’E The Berg double lock is immediately after the Oscar locks with a rise of 18ft (5.5m). Here we’re in the upper lock.

Brunnby Lock Position: 58°29.24’N, 15°30.94’E The Brunnby Lock is another double lock a short distance beyond the Berg Locks with a rise of 17.4ft (5.3m).

Heda Lock Position: 58°29.62’N, 15°31.04’E Approaching the Heda double Lock, our 15th and final set of locks for the day with a rise of 17.1ft (5.2m).

Ljungsbro Aqueduct Position: 58°30.12’N, 15°30.37’E Ljungsbro Aqueduct, the first of two aqueducts in the Gota Canal. This is the second aqueduct Dirona has passed through—the first was off Enkhuizen in The Netherlands.

Relaxing Position: 58°30.31’N, 15°30.00’E We stopped for the night at a wonderfully secluded small jetty to relax and enjoy the canal. Locking through isn’t a physically tiring job, but it does require car and some concentration, and we were pretty tired at the end of the day. In total we passed through 15 locks today with a combined rise of 130 ft (39.6m). If felt like we’d risen as far as we’d travelled, as we covered only 3 miles in 3.1 hours.

Wasa Lejon Position: 58°30.31’N, 15°30.00’E The day-cruise boat Wasa Lejon that we watched lock through yesterday passing us on its way to Berg.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.