Our Panama Canal Journey

The whole waterway of the Panama Canal is 82 km long 85 feet above sea level at Lake Gatun. The locks and cut-throughs were built in 1904-1914but the original idea was first proposed in 1513. 25,000 people died building it. Operating since 1914 more than 13,000 ships cross it every year. At the peak, 40 ships have passed through per day but it has now been restricted to 22 per day due to the low level of the lake. Much more information is available on the construction. For more information see https://pancanal.com/en/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal.

Our Passage

We anchored outside Shelter Bay the night before as our uplift time for the pilot was 0400. The Panama Canal control centre gave all the boats an update at 2100 the day before and our uplift was changed to 0430.

0330 we were up and awake, still anchored but we could see the activity of two boats, one a yacht and one a large launch both close to us and both motoring. The canal advisor arrived on time at 0430 and told us to up anchor immediately and head towards the tanker that we could see already in the channel and motoring towards the locks. We asked about following the yacht in front which had picked up his pilot first but he said no just pass him and go ahead.

As we were motoring at 8kts towards the tanker, and passing the other yacht we discovered that the motor boat had decided not to come because he wanted to be in the lock by himself and not rafted to other yachts which would cost him another whole fee. We also discovered that we would be the lead boat of the two yachts as we were bigger. I had asked the advisor if it was because he was older/ more experienced but he said no it was the advisor on the biggest boat that was the leader. Our advisor Edwin was great, calm, knowledgeable, chatty, and a really nice guy.

Approaching the Locks at 0430

Locks Going Up

Below is a collection of photos to give you an idea of the Gatun Lake environment and traffic. A Park surrounds the Lake and you can only go on the lake by boat for the day if you want to look around. When you are crossing the canal there is no time to stop. We were hoping for an overnight trip to just take it all in but no such luck. There is constant work going on at the Pacific end of the lake and the big cut through which is impressive. But there is a lot of old building materials, drilling parts, and general construction rubbish just dumped on the sides of the southern end of the lake.

Line handlers on the yachts must pay attention to keep the yachts in the centre of the lock the lines must be constantly taken in or eased depending on the way you are going. As we were rafted with another boat we only had to manage the lines on the Starboard side. Geordie and Craig assisted by Graeme managed this easily while Barb drove us through under instruction from Edwin our advisor. Hew was in charge of catering, we had been informed it was very important to feed our advisor. He did appreciate a large macaroni cheese for lunch along with afgans and slices of banana cake along the way.

The boat tied alongside was a bit of a problem from struggling to come alongside, even when we were stationary, to wanting to drive and unhelpfully turning their wheel against the direction Barb and our advisor were trying to go! We were very glad to cast off from them when we cleared the final loch into the Pacific.

Going up in the locks to Lake Gatun the small boats follow the big boats, at the other end going down the small boats go first. The gates of the locks can be taken off for maintenance and they float.

Gatun Lake

Some of the locks recycle water but not all so you need to wait for the ship going down when you are going up as the water passes from one side to the other.

Going Down to the Pacific

Canal cameras monitor all the locks and you can bring the pictures up on the internet. -Eleuthera far left at the front of the lock, yacht beside us, and tug behind. The tanker was still coming into the lock.

In the Pacific

More than 12 hours after we had started we dropped the Canal Advisor off and Anchored at Isla Flamenco for the night.

The trip through the canal is awe-inspiring and an amazing experience that takes some time to assimilate. The work in the construction and continued running and maintenance of the whole area and the great bridges are truly awe-inspiring.

This blog has had photos contributed by all the crew. We hope you enjoy the read.

Next Blog: https://kiwiflyingfish.com/2024/05/panama-to-galapagos-passage/