The lock keeper arrived just before 8am to start us on our journey up the canal. Two motor boats had arrived on Friday afternoon and lay outside in the wavy outer harbour. They were jealous that we’d managed to get here in time to be raised to the calmer upper harbour. As they had to do the lock we had already done yesterday, we decided to head off before them and go along to the next lock by ourselves. The scenery along this Östgötaland section of the canal is beautiful.




It was sunny, with almost no wind and we went gliding along peacefully, looking at the pretty red farmhouses on the hills with their backdrop of high cliffs and dark woods. The local cows were ambling and grazing along the bank and looked up as we went by. It was quite pastoral and serene. Shortly we arrived at Tegelbruket Lock where we waited for the other boats to appear.




There was a lock keeper already here waiting. They are often young, cheerful and enthusiastic people and we chatted to him for the 10 minutes or so that it took for the others to arrive. Apparently the first lock had not gone well as the big motor boat was a brand new purchase and the owner had not only never passed through a lock before, he had no idea of how the twin engines on his boat worked and he could not manoeuvre it into the lock properly. I can tell you that this made me nervous. I was also worried because he had no fenders out on the side of his boat facing us. If “Fiona” swung out for any reason, the bow anchor we have up front would rip a hole in his new boat.




The company that runs the locks prefers that we go through in convoys (thus the fact that I spent the first bit of the trip singing that awful “Convoy” song from the old Kris Kristoffoson movie - much to Lars-Göran’s disgust). So we will always be in a lock with other boats from now onwards. There was a tense moment when I attached the fore rope to the pier and looked back at Lars-Göran to see him talking to the lock keeper rather than winching the rope taunt. While he was talking, “Fiona” was swinging, threatening to smack into the unfendered boat next to us. Fortunately I caught his attention and he swiftly rectified the problem so that my heart could start beating again. By the time we got to the next lock, I noticed that they had also put fenders out on that side of the boat.




This lock was safely passed and we all moved along the short distance to the town of Söderköping. Today’s total trip has only been a few nautical miles, but we have decided to stop here as we both want a closer look at this pretty town. The view in from the canal is very enticing.




It’s rather a funny feeling to see the houses from above like this. The other reason we wanted to stay was that we saw a large sailing boat go by on the river next to the canal (Storån) and we were curious about how deep this was and how far the river extended. But first there was Söderköping’s lock to negotiate.




Despite the large audience of onlookers we attracted, the lock went smoothly and I feel like I have the hang of it now, which is just as well as the next leg up to the town of Norsholm had 12 locks! It was a cool but sunny late morning when we tied up to the pier at the guest harbour. Fortunately at this time of the year it is very quiet here, so we can tie up alongside the pier right by the amenities and in the middle of town.




We plugged in the heating for Bruce and Sheila and are now prepared to spend a couple of days looking around and being real tourists in this historic town. There are also two ice cream parlours that Lars-Göran is keen to sample and I’ve seen many, many dogs passing by the boat, so it seems like there is something for everyone in the family. And that is what vacations are all about.