After a busy, but fun, couple of weeks along the Gota Canal, we took it easy for a few days to enjoy some lake cruising on Lake Vanern and catch up on a few boat projects before heading through the Trollhatte Canal and back to sea level. 2,180 sq mi (5,650 sq km) Lake Vanern is the largest lake in Sweden and the third largest in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia, so we had plenty of anchorages to choose from.
Below are trip highlights from August 15th through 20th, 2019 on Lake Vanern, Sweden. 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.
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Sjotorp
Position: 58°50.23’N, 13°58.57’E
A last look to the Gota Canal entry at Sjotorp as we head west to spend a few days cruising Lake Vanern.
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Osteron
Position: 58°52.49’N, 13°53.67’E
The morning sun lighting up our anchorage off the north end of the island of Osteron in Lake Vanern.
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Yacht Controller
Position: 58°52.61’N, 13°53.20’E
Investigating the possibility that overheating might be causing our Yacht Controller remote to cut-out while in the Gota Canal locks. We couldn’t find any evidence of heat issues though.
Our latest theory is that the remote control used by the lock keepers to control the locks is using the same frequency and interfering with the communication between the Yacht Controller remote and the base station. It seems to only happen when the lock keepers are nearby and using their remote. We haven’t had any communications instability since leaving the area where the lock keepers are using their remotes. |
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Illegible Component Name
Position: 58°52.60’N, 13°53.21’E
Our Yacht Controller remote has served us well over the years, so we have no big complaints. But it’s annoying when a manufacture grinds off the component identification, preventing service.
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Djur Lighthouse
Position: 58°52.76’N, 13°29.04’E
Djur Lighthouse at the north end of the island of Djuro, the largest island in the Djuro Archipelago.
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Spitfire
Position: 58°51.18’N, 13°27.42’E
Spitfire performing his traditional locker inspection whenever one is opened.
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Handlebar Tape
Position: 58°51.18’N, 13°27.41’E
Replacing the tape on our handlebars.
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Oil Change
Position: 58°51.18’N, 13°27.40’E
Time to change the main engine oil after 250 hours of running. The last change was at 10,423 hours in May of this year and we’re now at 10,647 hours.
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Hydraulics Zincs
Position: 58°51.18’N, 13°27.40’E
We change the hydraulic system zincs ever 6 months, but they’ve hardly needed it recently. We used to replace them every two months, and they really needed replacement. Our suspicion is the variation is caused by zinc quality differences.
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Djuro National Park
Position: 58°51.18’N, 13°27.42’E
View from the sheltered anchorage at Djuro National Park in Lake Vanern. The Djuro Archipelago includes over thirty islands and islets in the middle of Lake Vanern and is the most remote and isolated archipelago in Sweden.
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L Bratt Lighthouse
Position: 58°49.10’N, 13°15.96’E
Light on the north end of the island L Bratt along the eastern shore of the Luro Archipelago.
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Luro Archipelago
Position: 58°48.69’N, 13°14.92’E
The view south from our anchorage in the Luro Archipelago. With a total area of (600 hectares) and comprising roughly 250 islands, Luro is the largest lake archipelago in Europe.
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Pleasure Craft
Position: 58°48.69’N, 13°14.90’E
An unusual pleasure craft, looking like a tent mounted on a picnic boat, heading south through the Luro Archipelago. The boat is German-flagged, so presumably it crossed the Baltic. You’d want some pretty calm weather with that freeboard.
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Dirona
Position: 58°40.66’N, 13°13.06’E
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.
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Narrow
Position: 58°42.05’N, 13°12.23’E
Passing through a narrow section along the north side of the island of Kallandso as we depart Lacko Slott heading west.
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Dishwasher Spring
Position: 58°43.03’N, 13°10.30’E
Earlier this year, one of the dishwasher door springs broke. We temporarily replaced it with a less strong spring and picked up two new ones in Seattle. Here James is replacing both springs—we’ll keep the non-broken original as a spare.
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Fire Extinguishers
Position: 58°43.03’N, 13°10.32’E
Inspecting, pressure-checking, weighing, and labelling all four portable boat fire extinguishers. A portable luggage scale worked well to weigh the tanks.
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Sunset
Position: 58°43.03’N, 13°10.31’E
Sunset from the anchorage in the islets north of the island of Kallandso. We’d investigated a few other possibilities before settling on this one.
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Naven Lighthouse
Position: 58°42.59’N, 13°6.81’E
The lighthouse on the island of Naven was established in 1799.
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Dirona
Position: 58°34.78’N, 12°53.35’E
Anchored for the night off Hindens Rev, a terminal moraine marking the maximum advance of a glacier created about 11,000 years ago.
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Hindens Rev
Position: 58°35.15’N, 12°51.21’E
Looking along the terminal moraine Hindens Rev in Lake Vanern from the tender. A few hikers are visible at the tip. The 3-mile (5km) long peninsula is at most 328ft (100m) wide, and much narrower in most areas.
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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. |
Hi,
Have a look here:
https://www.lakevanern.se/en/boat-trips-2/
Torbjorn
Thanks for yet another contribution Torborn. You’ve made our trip better over the years.
Please let me know if there are short boat rides on Lake Vanern? We don’t have time for a long ride. If so, please send times and prices for August 15th.
Sorry, we don’t know. We took our own boat there.
Jennifer