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Pilane Sculpture Park, set in a farmer’s field in the middle of the Swedish island of Tjorn, was voted among the top ten in Europe by the British newspaper The Guardian. The clear star at Pilane is Anna by Jaume Plensa. The huge head of a woman is visible from sea—we could see it from…

Construction of Carlsten Fortress began in 1658 to protect the town of Marstrand, an important ice-free Swedish shipping port. Denmark besieged and overpowered the fortress twice, in 1677 and 1719, but both times it was returned to Sweden following negotiations and treaties. The fort was also used as a prison and eventually was decommissioned in…

Donso, a small Swedish island about 13 miles west of Gothenburg, has a long history in the shipping industry, particularly the tanker business. Sten A. Olsson, the founder of the Stena business group, was born there and a dozen shipping companies currently are located at or owned by people living on Donso. The biennial Donso…

Gothenburg’s Maritiman is the largest floating ship museum in the world, comprising 20 historical craft ranging from small tubgoats to the 144 ft (44m) Danish diesel electric submarine Nordkaparen and the 398ft (121m) HMS Smaland, a Swedish Halland-class destroyer. On our sixth and final day in the city, we completed a few boat chores in…

Soon after Gothenburg was founded in 1621, Sweden built Alvsborg Fortress at the mouth of the Gota Alv river to protect the newly-founded city and Sweden’s only access to the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Closer to the city, the fortress Skansen Kronan was built to help protect Gothenburg from Danish attack. And within…

Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and has been an important ice-free port since its founding in 1621. Today the city of nearly a half-million is the largest port in the Nordic countries, supports two universities, is the world-wide headquarters of the car manufacturer Volvo and the bearing and seal producer SKF, and is…

Construction of Bohus Fortress, ten miles upriver from Gothenburg, began in 1308 by King Hakon V Magnusson of Norway to defend Norway’s southernmost border. Bohus was considered one of the biggest and strongest in the Nordic region—it survived 14 sieges and was never captured. After passing through the flight of locks at Trollhattan, we continued…

We knew there was a lot to see and do in and around Trollhattan, but despite allocating four nights, we ended up staying an extra two. From a fabulous berth in the park setting of intimate Spikon Gasthamn, we viewed the Trollhattan Falls and the Gota Alv river, visited the Saab Museum, made a day…

From Spikon Gasthamn in downtown Trollhattan we made a ridiculously short 2nm run to a small marina at the top of the Trollhattan locks that was the basin at the topmost flight of the 1844 locks. We figured it would be fun to spend a night in the area and enjoy the boat traffic in…

We’re always up for an opportunity to take in a world-class sporting event, even if it’s a sport that is new to us. So when we heard that a FIM Motocross World Championship contest was being held about twenty miles from Trollhattan in Uddevalla, Sweden, we just had to attend. Last year’s racing drew 30,000…