M/Y Sweet Hope

30/09/2026

24/09/2026

The first two weeks have been full of new places, meeting people, and lots of learning. But it has been so much fun!

So far Sissi has slept in 5 different places with us: two different places in Espoo, a summer cottage in Kesälahti, the grandparents' place in Äetsä, and a ferry crossing to Sweden.

We also went to Rauma to meet our friends over there.

We got back on board Sweet Hope yesterday. Place number six for Sissi, and she has been just fine. She's already sniffing out every corner and making herself at home. 🐾

Can't wait to see what the next weeks bring. ⚓






Jenny Lindström-Hakola
Katja Voutilainen

09/09/2026

So here she is Sissi, the newest member of Sweet Hope's crew. She's a Dutch Shepherd from Jenny and she's 13 weeks old.
She's very smart, but at the same time just a big puppy.
Special thank you to katjav.
Now we all have a lot to learn. One day at a time.

05/09/2026

We arrived here in Öckerö yesterday, from Björkö. Before we went to Björkö we anchored out for one night. The reason was that we had to go and take a look if there was room for us in any of the harbours. So we took our RIB down and went for a ride because nobody answers the phone when you call.

Today we took our bicycles out and rode to Hönö Klåva. We visited the Fiskemuseum, which was full of history of these islands around us. It looked like there is a lot more going on at Hönö than here in Öckerö harbour. In Hönö Klåva harbour there were shops, restaurants and lots of people walking around, even though the day was really windy.

31/08/2026

We have been cruising Gothenburg's archipelago for over a week now. This is so different from the Finnish archipelago. Most of the islands are full of houses, and the islands have more hills than in the Finnish archipelago.
This week has been eye-opening, how different the archipelagos are, and we have been really enjoying every minute of it.
Right now we are in Klädesholmen, which is famous for its herring. You can probably buy Klädesholmen herring in every market, even in Finland.

27/08/2026

After leaving the Göta Canal we headed to Mariestad and stayed there for a few days, just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.

From Mariestad we set our course for Spiken, where the fishing marina had a spot waiting for us, but it turned out to be far too small. Maybe a 50-footer would have squeezed in, but not us. So we found an anchorage instead, lowered the Sea-Doo and rode over to see Spiken that way.

The next day we visited Läckö Castle. It was beautifully preserved, and our guide really knew her history. After the castle we headed into the Trollhätte Canal. More locks and bridges to work through, but much easier going than the Göta Canal, this one also carries cargo ships up to Lake Vänern, so everything is built on a bigger scale.

We spent two nights in Trollhättan, exploring the history of the town and visiting the Saab Museum, where all 120 models they built over the years are on display. Then we cast the lines again and turned towards Gothenburg, with one last stop at the final lock in Lilla Edet.

25/08/2026

Recap: Across Sweden through the Göta Canal

Mika on the helm, me on the ropes. No capstan, every line hauled by hand, all the way, and my palms went soft and raw from wet ropes.

You learn the rhythm fast. Lock opens, slowly in, ropes on, gates close behind us, water boils under the bow, ropes off, and the lock opens again. On to the next one.

An audience for all of it. Half of Sweden seemed to spend its summer leaning on the lock railings, watching us work. Hundreds of photos of Sweet Hope taken by people we'll never meet. She's in more strangers' holiday albums than ours by now.

1820 is cut into one of the lock walls. Chiselled by hand, two centuries before we tied up against it, and still doing exactly the job it was built to do. Some of the locks still work the old way. So do we.

In between: bronze hares watching us pass, cows grazing an arm's length off the rail, ice cream in the afternoon, allsång drifting over the water at Karlsborg. Evenings so still the red warehouse came up out of the water twice.

Then Vättern opened up, and it was blue all the way to the horizon again.

Sweet Hope

17/08/2026

Our clients wrote a story about their stay onboard Sweet Hope. Link below.

https://sweethopeyacht.com/a-week-in-the-stockholm-archipelago/

05/08/2026

Our first rainy day here at the Göta Kanal. We passed the highest point of the Göta Kanal, Forsvik, a couple of days ago. Now it's downhill all the way to Gothenburg.

In Forsvik we explored a museum with an exhibition of EPA cars in Sweden. For 100 years they have converted ordinary cars into EPA cars. EPA means you can drive the car from age 15, with a special driving license for it. You take an ordinary car, remove the back seats, and the car can then only go 30km/h. The exhibition was a real eye opener.

After leaving Forsvik we spent a night in Vassbacken. Before we got there we went through Lake Viken and some very narrow parts of the canal. We were lucky that no boats passed us, because there wouldn't have been any room to pass.

We only have a few harbours left here at the Göta Kanal. Then we'll be at Lake Vänern, and from there we take the Trollhättan Kanal to Gothenburg.

01/08/2026

Catching up after a couple of busy days.

We stayed in Motala for four days, waiting for the wind to calm down. We visited the Motor Museum, took the RIB out, and cruised over to see Vadstena Castle. The ride was a bit hardcore since Lake Vättern was in a foul mood that day, but fun all the same!

Yesterday we had the last Allsång på Karlsborg of the season. Best seats in canal, straight from our flybridge.

Today we explored Karlsborg Castle and its grounds.

Tomorrow we cast off again and head for Forsvik.