What goes up must come down, so Madrone headed back into the locks of the Trollhattan Canal to descend back to her natural state – sea level.  A calm motor down the canal and Gota River gave plenty of time to enjoy the bucolic surroundings.

Bridge lift at the Dalbo bridge in Vanersborg at the south end of Lake Vanern. The cantilevered design made it the coolest lifting bridge we went through along the Trollhatten Canal
Here the boat behind us has motored through and the bridge has started to go back down

The final hurdle for the return to sea is Hisingbron, a lift bridge across the river in central Gothenburg.  Road traffic across the bridge is heavy so it only lifts a few times per day, and never during morning or afternoon rush hour. 

The canal was much busier on our way back to Gothenburg. We locked through with 5 other sailboats, rafting 2 deep along the lock walls
The friendly German boat that we partnered up with and locked through together

Instead of pushing through for a late evening opening, we stopped for the night at a small public dock in the shadow of Bohus Fortress.  Originally built in 1308 by Norway (who controlled this part of Sweden back then), the fortress is famous for never having been taken, even withstanding a siege by 15,000 Danes and Norwegians.

Madrone tied up for the night at the dock near Bohus Fortress
Stretching our legs along the walls of the fortress after a day onboard Madrone transiting the Trollhatten Canal
Bohus Fortress