In the middle of February we joined a lovely boat called Breakaway on their transit through the Panama Canal. Every boat needs four line handlers, two at the front and two at the back just in case you go through the locks alone, you must have four lines to the shore to keep the vessel centered in each lock. We were very well looked after by Yves and Marta who have the most beautiful home afloat where they have lived for 35 years. We learned some tricks from them and were spoiled by mouth watering treats. It was such an honor to share this journey with them. They are wonderful people, from South Africa and the Belgian Congo and we look forward to our friendship over the years to come.
On our journey through the Canal we had two amazing advisors. The advisors are meant to keep a close eye on the goings on of the approach, rafting up with other boats, the entrance to the canal and maneuvers in the locks. They tell the person helming how fast to approach and how to safely maneuver. What we didn’t realize until we had time to chat with them properly is that being an advisor isn’t an official position in the organization and these guys do this extra job on their days off. In return you feed them and take care of them during their visit onboard, but basically they do it because they love the Canal and they like meeting people and sharing a part of the journey. Most of the advisors are very proud to work for the Panama Canal.
We learned from our advisors that there are 9000 people working for the organization doing everything from scheduling to dredging. Most have tidbits of information to share. They are proud to tell you for example the Canal has not had a day off in 100 years. They told us about the increasing crocodile population because the American management tried to keep the numbers under control and the new management doesn’t. One of our advisors told us about the dredging they do to ensure the Canal is deep enough, especially near the Cut. We even witnessed an explosion as they did their work. Also, there is Smithsonian research center on Lake Gatun but otherwise there are no establishments and tourism is kept to a minimum except if you know the right people.
In order to become an advisor they have to do a few weeks of training, pass a test and then do a bunch of practical experience. Very often you get an additional advisor in training aboard. We also learned that Panama recently celebrated their 100 year anniversary. At the turn of the century Panama took over the leadership of the Canal from the Americans. We were sad to hear that the 9000 strong staff did not not get the huge party the rest of the world would have expected would have expected them to have.
The Panama Canal is incredible-you can even see it from space! And at the time it was built it was a huge undertaking not to mention a tremendous achievement. In an earlier blog post we mentioned the layout of the Canal and how it all works, but actually it is a very different thing that happens in your mind when you actually transit. For us sailors it is a rite of passage and an exciting and nerve wracking endeavor. You sign off responsibility and any mistakes or damage are solely yours. We all spend a lot of time looking after our homes afloat and the boats become real members of the family and even though there are moments when you have no control and the worst could happen and still you take the chance.
Our Panama Canal Transit was pretty typical in that we left in the afternoon and anchored in “the Flats” just outside the approach to wait for our advisor. We left for the first set of locks, “The Gatun Locks” at four in the afternoon. We were a raft of three sailing vessels and shared the locks with a cargo ship. Everyone rents long, floating lines and extra fenders, meant to protect your boat and the others. In our case, we rafted up once and released after completing all three locks. On the ascent the bigger cargo ship goes first and gets secured before the raft of sailing vessels enters. We pulled in slack from the long lines attached to the side walls and all went smoothly as we gained 40 feet for each of the three locks. There are staff walking the walls ashore to lead the raft through. They throw a smaller line down and they pull it back up after the line handler attaches the bigger line you have onboard. You have to catch the monkey fist knot on the end of the line and quickly tie a bowline so they can pull the line up to the wall and secure it. Our line handlers were a Swiss couple, David and Celine who were neighbors in the marina at Shelter Bay. They were incredible, lovely to have aboard and great at seeing where they were needed and going there and doing the right thing, plus they are fun people and all the smiling really helped morale aboard. As they fill the lock with water it makes the most incredible whirlpools and it is quite exciting to experience the craftsmanship up close. We were happy and relieved that it went smoothly and we enjoyed the sunset in the locks. It was late and dark as we tied up to a buoy in the middle of the lake which marked the end of our first day.
We slept moored to huge buoys in Gatun Lake and we enjoyed a meal and the company of our neighbors and had a long discussions about marketing rum. Please don’t tell anyone but we had a quick swim in the morning in the lake, and there was no sign of the crocodiles known for the area. We spent most of day two motoring across the lake which is beautiful and lush and we would have loved to spend more time there. This is the first time we had Itchy Foot in fresh water. On the trip across the lake we swapped stories and enjoyed hearing the advisors tell us about the Canal. We moored in a waiting area near the three locks on the Pacific side. We were sharing the locks with four other boats, two big motor boats were tied up directly to the wall of the Canal, and each had a sailboat tied to it and of course a giant car carrier following us. In the Gatun Locks we rafted once and travelled through the locks as a unit, but on the Pacific side we tied onto another boat three times, once for each lock.
The locks on the Pacific side are more turbulent due to tide (the Pacific side has tidal difference and the Atlantic didn’t), salt and fresh water mixing (the Pacific is much saltier) and the wall of displaced water from the approaching cargo ship as they are behind the smaller boats on the way down. In these turbulent conditions we were nervous as we had to tie onto another boat which was in turn secured to the wall of the Canal. In our case it was a boat full of tourists and they were so excited for us. It was fun because they were from Wisconsin and when I told them that my dad is too, they started handing over Wisconsin souvenirs. The process of tying up has to be quite quick and there is a lot of pressure to get it right. Nerves ran high as we tied on each time, especially the last lock as the tourist boat failed to get secured and were sideways as we approached. It was nerve wracking and our advisors complimented us on handling the situation, saying we had mere seconds to get it right.
We were rewarded by entering the Pacific with our Itchy Foot. There might have been some dancing and jumping cheering from the tourist boat and lots of photos! Thanks for the screen shots from the web cam of the lock! Teo was proud to be the first to helm on this side and we were all jubilant as we motored under the Bridge of the Americas. There was much celebration as this feels like a huge success!
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