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Day 1 - We lock up at Gatun locks
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Stanley - taxi driver, agent, tour guide - helps us with all our needs |
We head for the first locks at 7pm |
Handlines are attached to the boat |
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We move forward into position behind the ship |
The turbulence is intense as many millions of gallons of water rushes into
the chamber |
After locking up to Gatun lake, we spend the night on the bouy and awake to
a beautiful sunrise |
Day 2 - We cross Gatun Lake
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Gregory takes a turn at the wheel as our pilot/advisor checks out the ship
traffic |
Lots of ships move through the canal |
Narrow spots are being widened. THOR drills holes and dynamites the
bottom |
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As long as everyone stays in their lane, things aren't too close |
A tug is pulled along by the ship. In narrow spots, all ships have a
tug "just in case" |
More dredging |
The new Centenario Bridge with, of course, another ship |
We pass under the bridge and head for Pedro Miguel lock |
We'll be the first southbound traffic today |
But have to wait for a few northbout ships |
Our advisor talks to the ships and lockmaster by radio |
We drift, relax and check out the sights while waiting our turn |
We lock down at Pedro Miguel lock
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Gail is in the rigging taking pictures |
The lock doors are open and the ship is coming out |
Our turn to head in |
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Tied up safely - center chamber - as the water goes out |
No ships are in the lock with us so the locomotives get a break |
Doors open, lines cast off and we head for Miraflores locks |
We lock down at Miraflores lock
We are going to go center chamber. They will throw 4 thin lines
with heavy/hard "monkey fists" on the end to us. We will attach our heavy
mooring lines and they will pull them back up. If all goes well, we will
be tied in the middle of the lock away from the walls
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Miraflores locks. They throw the handlines AT us |
One canal linehandler is "missing" so we scramble to compensate... |
...and send up our two lines on one handline. He gets to scramble now |
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Lines are safely on and he heads off to have a word with the guy that is
"missing" |
The lock doors start closing behind us |
Yes, those are inflatable pool toys protecting from damage to our solar
panels when the lines are thrown. |
Once the water is down, we move forward to the second chamber... |
while the canal linehandlers walk our lines forward... |
...past the lock control tower and into the final lock |
We're down now and head into the Pacific |
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We have a "monkey fist"
as a trophy. When their line broke, we were left holding the short
end. Picture to follow. |
We celebrate
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Gail gets the champagne out before we clear the lock gates |
Denise is already thinking about tomorrow's transit on their boat |
Another successful transit. 2 down and one to go. The team is
experienced now |
We're happy, relieved, exhausted...
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...and not thinking about the thousands of miles to Los Angeles |
Sea Witch clears the Bridge of Americas and is officially in the Pacific
Ocean |
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