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Göta Canal: Boating high above sea level

June 29, 2025 · 10 min · 5K views · Göta Canal

What this video covers

The 109-year-old rescue vessel RS Christiania, hull number 10, built in 1895 and measuring 47 feet, transits the Göta kanal from Motala, Sweden, westward toward Gothenburg and then home to Asker in the Oslofjord.Watch The route crosses Vättern, Sweden's second-largest lake, which sits roughly 90 meters above sea level, then descends through a lock staircase at Forsvik — the oldest section of the canal, begun in 1810 — dropping approximately 3 meters per lock chamber across three chambers.1:29 Skipper Børe Petersen maneuvers the narrow, centuries-old canal sections with a malfunctioning controllable-pitch propeller: the mechanism that sets blade angle for ahead, astern, and power level has failed, leaving only the main engine and no bow thruster or stern thruster.4:16 The passage across Lake Vänern covers 63 nautical miles, arriving the following morning in fog that is beginning to lift.8:40 The transit demonstrates the demands of handling a large, single-screw historic vessel with degraded pitch control through tight canal passages and multiple locks.

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