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Several years ('02) ago I had the opportunity to traverse the Panama Canal on a 40-foot catamaran. That voyage was written up and published in the Courseboard. If you didn't get to read that let me know and I will send it to you. In February of this year ('06) we (Trina, Carol Dean, Henry Roesner, and I, all of who contributed to this writing) signed up for a passage through the canal on the Pacific Explorer and then up the coast to Costa Rica. There was a difference for me this time. Instead of a passage on a 40-foot sailboat we would do it on a 185'x35' steel cruise ship holding 77 passengers. What would be the difference? We flew from Miami to Panama City and then went by bus to Colon on the Caribbean side of the canal. Once there we boarded our ship the Pacific Explorer. You could see the "flats" where sailboats were anchored waiting their turn to go through. These boats may have to wait several weeks. During that time they basically have only the Colon Yacht Club to visit. Colon city is grim. It would be like anchoring at the far end of Fairlee Creek and only having Great Oak to visit. And, the local language is Spanish. Off to the left was the Panama Canal Yacht Club (where I stayed prior to my jumping ship in 2002 to get the catamaran through the canal-that is another story). That same evening we set sail for the San Blas Islands. There, with the Kuna Indians, the ladies had a chance to buy "molas". Later we headed to Portobelo (a truly beautiful harbor), and thence, to the holding area for large ships awaiting passage through the canal. The canal holding area is somewhat difficult to describe. "Big" just does not do it. Looking across it is almost like standing at Bowleys Bar and looking to the Eastern Shore. Between you and the shore are about 12 large anchored ships. To get to this area you have to go through a breakwater. Outside there are perhaps 20 other vessels waiting their turns. The breakwater itself is about 1 mile wide. There is a smaller entrance to the east through which we passed years ago. The port itself is big with many cranes similar to those in the Baltimore Harbor. Many ships are tied up loading and unloading cargo. The Pacific Explorer was supposed to pick up a pilot at 4:30 PM so we waited around, sipping whatever. Along came a container ship traveling east, slightly larger that we, measuring 965 feet long by 106 feet wide. This is the largest vessel they can handle in the 1000'x110' locks. Last time on the catamaran I looked directly up at something like this (slightly smaller) but 50 feet away. You all have seen the ships in the Chesapeake Bay Channel. Try passing them aft by 50' and you'll know what it's like. The pilot finally boarded about 5:30 PM. It was getting dark and as we approached the locks you could see bright lights flooding the area. We followed another ship to fill the lock. The French started to build a canal in the Panama area but they were not going to use locks. That effort failed because of, among other things, health problems like yellow fever. US engineers used the locks not because of the difference in heights between the Pacific and The Caribbean Oceans since there is none. It was the tides that made the lock construction mandatory. In the Caribbean the tide is about 18 inches while that of the Pacific is about 18 feet! From the east you go up 85 feet to get to Lake Gatun via the Gatun Locks. Going west you go down 85' using the Pedro Miguel lock and the Miraflores Locks. Fresh water enters the area by the Rio Chagres that gathers rain from the tropical forest runoff. It is this water that is used to fill the locks that get you through. Back to our passage through the locks. At dusk the entire compliment of passengers went forward as we approached the entrance. The locks themselves were bathed in light so that all was entirely visible. From each side of the gates a rowboat approached with a telegraph line that was handed to one of the six (6) line handlers who had previously boarded our vessel. Carol's observation about these guys is "An amazing possibly dangerous job in the canal is performed by two men in a rowboat in the filling lock who make sure the cables from the mules are correctly in place. They sure look tiny and vulnerable way down there at the ship's water line". They pulled in the bight of a large steel cable that they attached to a bitt on each side of us. The bitter end was attached to a "mule". The mule is an engine on wheels that holds the ship centered in the canal with the cable. As the ship goes from lock to lock it follows along but does not pull the ship. This ship had a bow and stern mule only. On large ships there will be a forward spring line also with its mule. Two large differences can be seen. On the sailboat a line was thrown to us. We then attached our lines to it and they attached it to the mule. The point being we had to maintain the boat in the center of the lock. This was no mean feat when the water came in. It was nice to watch this exhausting job being done by machines. The second item is that on the Pacific Explorer we were standing on the bridge four (4) stories above the water in direct eyesight with the top of the lock. Last time we were at least 35 feet below the top of that slimy, green monster. With the bow secured we all ran to the stern to see the operation repeated, plus the closing of the lock gate. After supervising this we all went forward again to watch the water come in to raise us 28 feet in preparation for the next lock. When the water came in nothing happened except the ship rose gently. (The last time it was a nightmare with the boat next to us loosing its port bowline. Then when the water came in, the boat was thrown back and forth like bronco riding in the rodeo). Forward the ship went to the next lock. I don't know whether or not it was exhaustion from all this work bringing the ship thus far or boredom or hunger but, we all went to the" dining room" for dinner that was at 7:30 PM. A buffet on the sun deck was a little more than hardtack, i.e., pinchoes (beef kabobs), chicken kabobs, lobster tails, seafood salad, and so on. After dinner we went back to the bow. At 8:30 we were going through the third and last lock. Gatun Lago appeared completely black as we entered. Dark it would be until we began to descend at the Pedro Miguel Lock in about four (4) hours). A universal disappointment prevailed aboard the Pacific Explorer. There was little the ship could do to get an earlier time for crossing. The rest of our canal transit was made during the night hours. Here's Henry's take on the rest of the transit. "Woke up about midnight just as we were entering the Pedro Miguel Locks and decided to topsides in my pj's to get the full benefit of this trip. I can sleep anytime but doubt I'll ever go through the Panama Canal again. The ship enters the Pedro Miguel locks with the help of the mules. It is then lowered 31' to the level of the Lago Miraflores. The water from this lake fills the lock by gravity from the bottom. In 8 minutes we were level with water in front of us. We were lowered gently and there was no strain on the cables from the mules to the ship. The ship and mules moved out at the same speed through the lock whose doors are operated also by gravity and helped by a 25 hp electric motor. The ship released the cables that were then retracted by the mules. Under its own power the ship moved to the Miraflores Locks. Unfortunately you couldn't see the famous "cut" that was passed. It cost so many lives by yellow fever while being dug. Here, the same operation took place in as in the previous lock except the ship is lowered 54' this time to match the level of the Bay of Panama on the Pacific side. Passing under the American Bridge marked the end of our transit. Shortly after completion the pilot and the line handlers were picked up by launches and our captain was back at the controls. In the Bay of Panama I saw power and sailboats waiting their turn for the return trip eastbound through the locks back to the Caribbean. And so to sleep where the wind wasn't blowing and the boat wasn't rocking." Henry had been through the canal before, in 1954 on a heavy cruiser. It might have been a little different. So what was the difference in the two passages? There were many but the one that stands out in my mind is "involvement". I don't mean to downgrade the passage by large ship, it was great. Do it if possible. But, in a 40' sailboat you are directly involved in its handling from the pleasure of doing a good job to the sheer panic of someone fouling up. Not many, however, get the chance of the smaller vessel. The rest of the trip was sprinkled by visits to many beautiful beaches in both Panama and Costa Rica. While all this was superb it lacked the charm of the Chesapeake Bay, it's many coves and the drink at the stern of your boat at sunset. Viva la Chesapeake! Dick and Trina Gelfond |
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