Panama Canal: Logistics and Highlights

This is only the first of what will likely be three blog posts about our canal transit. Might be the most important 40 miles of our cruising life! (Note: many of these photos were taken by Julian.)

Vocabulary:

Handline: a small vessel that is secured into position in locks by means of lines thrown by hand and walked along by person before being fixed to a bollard on the lock wall. As opposed to the commercial ships, which are secured into final position by means of cables attached to specialized rail cars called mules.

Advisor: Experienced and trained canal personnel assigned to each handline in the role of an advisor (not a pilot who has control of the vessel). These individuals are most often employed by the canal in some other role and pick up advisor shifts on their days off as a way to make additional income. They do not spend the night on the boat, and it’s unusual to have the same advisor 2 days in a row.

*Alfredo, our advisor day 1, getting aboard*

Logistics:

We hired an agent (Erick Galvez of Centenario Consulting) to help with paperwork and scheduling. The ACP (canal authority) has ostensibly made this process easier to do on your own, with a dedicated website and the use of electronic funds transfers; just a couple of years ago, you physically were required to present yourself at the main offices in Colon with cash in order to be able to book your transit. Still, we chose to enlist the services of a professional and have zero regrets. For those interested: it cost us $2885 to transit. This does not include renting lines and fenders,. or the agent fee. Any pleasure vessel less than 65 feet will pay the same amount.

The day we were leaving the Bahamas, Erick emailed us a list of questions to answer, along with a request for certain documents and photos, all of which were to enable him to enter Calypso into the system as a “handline” vessel of less than 65 feet. Though a transit date cannot be booked until a vessel is physically in Panama, being pre-approved with our measurements meant the scheduling could happen within hours of arrival.

Among the documents we needed to sign and return to Erick was a checklist of items required by the ACP for a transit. The biggest of these were the need for 4, 100’ long, 3/4” diameter lines and 8 fenders, and then the “4 line handlers plus one captain.” Space is at a premium on our small boat, with an overnight on Lake Gatun almost a certainty. We’ve got bunks for 4 people total, really, so anyone coming to help us would have to be a good friend indeed. Luckily our kids were all able to fly in from the States to help out! The lines and fenders we rented through Erick.

*lines on the foredeck. Not much space!*

Our scheduled transit was confirmed the day before. We’d be picking up our advisor at 3 pm outside of the marina before heading into the first set of locks, accompanied by another sailboat - our friends on Vision, as luck would have it. After successfully navigating all three lock chambers, we’d be released into Lake Gatun where we’d tie to a large mooring for the night. The transit would resume the following morning, involving 25 miles of motoring across Lake Gatun and into the windy, storied Culebra (Gaillard) Cut before entering first the Pedro Miguel locks and then the Miraflores ones, before passing under the Bridge of the Americas and into the Pacific Ocean.

*Jeremy with Atlantic Bridge in the background*

Highlights

Having the kids aboard for this epic adventure was incredible. They flew in on Saturday and out very early Wednesday morning, giving us one day of exploration in Panama City on Tuesday. Knot-tying practice, line-handling responsibilities, hanging in the hot sun - they handled it all with grace and laughter. What fun memories we have.

*Heading to Gatun locks - see the red container ship in the distance!*

Rafting up with our friends on Vision to go through the locks went smoothly. Going through the first set of locks behind a large container ship (the Barrington Island) was weirdly un-turbulent - we’d all been expecting a roiling boiling mass of water buffeting us this was and that when the locks filled. Instead, it was uneventful. Thank goodness!

*Rafted boats, both of us flying our OCC flags*

The Gatun Locks, on the Atlantic side, consist of 3 pairs of chambers. Vessels enter one chamber, rise the 30 or so feet, move into the next chamber, rise the 30 or so feet, and enter the last chamber to rise the 30 or so feet to be released onto Lake Gatun. The last chamber has a double gate, a safety mechanism to keep the lake where it needs to be.

*In the first lock chamber. Note angle of blue line fixing us to the wall.*

*Lock gate closing behind us. We’ll rise 30 feet in this chamber.*

*Jan and Ina, our friends on Vision, after the first chamber. Water behind is 30 feet below.*

By the time we finished with the last chamber, it was dark. By the time Alfredo, our advisor, was picked up at the mooring ball, it was raining.

*On our way into Lake Gatun, mules lit up*

Waking up in the morning on the mooring ball, surrounded by huge tankers and container ships that had not been there the night before, was surreal.

*Sunrise on Lake Gatun. Photo courtesy Jan on Vision.*

Negotiating the narrow Culebra Cut, with its terraced construction, was possibly the most vivid reminder of the work that had been undertaken to create this canal. Not that the locks aren’t impressive (they are), but seeing the massive cuts on the hillside somehow brought it home to me.

*Waiting for a ship to clear Culebra Cut before we can start through*

*New range mark near old light range on the hillside*

*Entering Culebra Cut. The container ship has just cleared, headed for Lake Gatun*

We’d been expecting to go through the Pacific locks with Vision, but they had engine trouble so we wound up going solo, tucking into first Pedro Miguel and then Miraflores locks ahead of our “dance partner” (Jeremy’s term for the commercial ship we locked through with). This meant that we had amazing photos from the lock cameras, all sent to us from friends vicariously following our journey. We got screenshots sent to us from Vermont, Texas, Rhode Island, Virginia, Florida, and the Marshall Islands!

*Vision got permission to sail to make progress*

*Dance partner, day 2. Mules are in good evidence.*

*Pedro Miguel locks. You can see the pair of locks easily, with the left one empty as the ship moves on. Water level drop is evident!*

*We’re in one chamber, the car carrier and tourist ship in the parallel one*

*With our dance partner in the lock. See gates closing behind them.*

There was plenty of time in the lock to take photos as our dance partner got situated. That’s the Pacific Ocean behind our backs!