The medieval castle Lacko Slott is a dramatic sight at the south end of Lake Vanern, Sweden. Construction of the castle began in the 13th century as a bishop’s fort and it became a royal castle under King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. The fortification was expanded and renovated over the next four centuries and now is a national monument that is open to the public, with an adjacent marina. And since 1997, the Lacko Slott Opera has staged a summer performance in the courtyard.

Below are trip highlights from Aug 18th, 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.

Stangudden Light Position: 58°47.76’N, 13°15.66’E A flash of red from Stangudden Light as we pass along the east coast of the island of Luron in the Luro Archipelago.

Lacko Slott Position: 58°41.21’N, 13°14.48’E The medieval castle Lacko Slott is a dramatic sight at the south end of Lake Vanern.

Wilhelm Tham Position: 58°40.74’N, 13°13.38’E The Gota Canal cruise ship Wilhelm Tham was moored at Lacko Slott when we arrived. Unfortunately the entry channel to the Lacko Slott marina is between the ship and the green spar buoys, a gap considerably narrower than Dirona.

Tight Squeeze Position: 58°40.66’N, 13°13.32’E There was no way to pass the Wilhelm Tham inside the channel. With sufficient space between the first channel edge marker and the rocks, we squeezed tight up against the channel marker and passed the first mark on the outside. On the second channel mark, there was just barely room between it and the Wilhelm Tham so we passed with only inches on either side.

Bird Position: 58°40.61’N, 13°13.12’E A small bird flew in through the open salon door while we were landing at Lacko Slott. Fortunately we managed to encourage it back outside before Spitfire turned it into dinner.

Phone Holder Position: 58°40.61’N, 13°13.12’E While in the Stockholm Archipelago, we used heavy-duty velcro to mount an old cell phone on the dash running the Navionics chart-plotter app. This worked well visually, but we didn’t find the location behind the steering wheel very convenient if we needed to interact with the phone. And, we didn’t feel it was sufficiently secure when pounding through waves. One of the items we brought back from Seattle with us was an phone mount for cars, so that we could mount the phone above the dash. This phone mount is designed to be attached by suction cup, but again we didn’t think that would be sufficiently secure. So here James is installing it by running small screws into the tender dash through the collar around the base.

Tender Charts Position: 58°40.61’N, 13°13.12’E Our new phone mount in place on the tender dash with the phone installed. The mount works great and the new position is easier to read and the touchscreen is easily accessible.

Inner Courtyard Position: 58°40.51’N, 13°13.18’E The inner courtyard at Lacko Slott. Construction of the castle began in the 13th century as a bishop’s fort and it became a royal castle under King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. The fortification was expanded and renovated over the next four centuries and now is a national monument that is open to the public. Since 1997, the Lacko Slott Opera has staged a summer performance in the courtyard.

Kungssalen Position: 58°40.51’N, 13°13.17’E Kungssalen, the great dining hall of Lacko Slott. The raised boxes at the end of the room where for musicians so that their music could be heard, but the players wouldn’t be seen.

Small Castle Garden Position: 58°40.47’N, 13°13.15’E Vine-covered trellis walkway through the walled garden along the east side of Lacko Slott.

Terrace Position: 58°40.35’N, 13°13.01’E Enjoying a glass of wine on the terrace outside the restaurant Hvita Hjorten on the Lacko Slott grounds.

Dirona Position: 58°40.66’N, 13°13.06’E View to Dirona moored below Lacko Slott.

Sigrid Storrada Position: 58°40.55’N, 13°13.12’E The 78-ft (24m) Sigrid Storrada, launched in 1995, is a full-scale model of the Norwegian Viking ship from the 900s.

Hvita Hjorten Position: 58°40.35’N, 13°12.99’E An excellent dinner at Hvita Hjorten (The White Hart) at Lacko Slott. The restaurant specializes in fresh, local produce, particularly from the Small Castle Garden and Lake Vanern.

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.