Part 4 – The Panama Canal

Panama crossing 1^st and 2^nd February

With Angus having arrived, we had also picked up another ARC sailor to give us our required quota of crew.  We arrived at the rendezvous point just outside Shelter Bay marina and waited for our “advisor” to arrive.  Each yacht in our nest would have an advisor on board, who would tell us what to do and when.  The advisors all work for the Panama Canal Authority, and working as an advisor on board a yacht is done outside their normal work hours.  It’s also a requirement if they are to become pilots.   (Working for the PCA certainly seems to be high up on everyone’s job list in Panama).  A short while later, we saw a pilot boat heading our way, we each took on board an advisor, and started making our way down the channel towards the first lock.

We’d all been reading up about the canal on Google, but Angus arrived on board with “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough.  He was now able to answer all our questions about the history (1870-1914) and structure of the canal, although he pointed out that despite having read three-quarters of this 700-page book, nobody had yet started any excavation!  The French had tried and failed miserably; the Americans came along and realised that yellow fever was killing all the workers, and once they eradicated it, construction (and completion) became a possibility.

We motored on towards the Gatun Locks, where three locks would lift us up to Gatun Lake.  The Chagres River, which I saw on my trip to the fort, had been dammed to create the enormous lake, provide a crossing across the isthmus, and also water to operate the locks.  There are parallel locks, used by ships up to Panamax size; the new, bigger set of locks allow the neoPanamax ships through.  As we approached the locks we made up our nest of three, with a catamaran in the middle, and one yacht to port, and Barracuda to starboard.  Most of the steering is done by the central yacht, with the others providing back-up power where necessary.  As we entered the lock, heaving lines came down to us, we attached our mooring lines, and we motored forward, with the line handlers on the dock walking forward with the lines.  As we approached our position in the lock, the line handlers pulled the mooring lines up to their level, secured them, and we then controlled the lines from the boat.  (Ships are controlled by small railway engines handling their lines, and possibly a tug on the stern as well).  We had one ship in the lock ahead of us, which can affect the flow of the water into the lock.  The water certainly comes in quickly, so it was vital to have turns round the cleat as you can have the weight of three boats on the line.  As we rose up it was necessary to take in the slack, taking care not to get hands anywhere between the line and the cleat.  First lock done, two more to go!  We were soon through the locks and out onto Gatun Lake. 

We would be spending the night tied to a buoy in the lake and completing our transit in the morning.  The evening was spent socialising on board the catamaran Remedy; three bedrooms (it would be rude to call them cabins), all with en-suite.  The kitchen had a microwave, coffee machine, freezer, etc, and there was air conditioning throughout.  The kitchen/diner was huge, and the lounge area next door even bigger.  You obviously need a large battery supply to run all of this, and then a decent generator, and lots of fuel…  (This catamaran was one of the smaller ones taking part in the ARC world cruise).  As one cat owner said to us “We’ve tacked a dozen times in three years of sailing.  If you’re going downwind most of the time, why not get a catamaran?”

All the yachts rolled very heavily at times during the night because of the passing ships, enough that one of the fender lines snapped.  We spotted it on the shore in the morning, and had time to retrieve it in the dinghy before the advisors arrived.  We were soon on our way across Gatun Lake, then leaving it via the Gamboa Reach.  We spent most of this, and all the way to the locks, very close to a very large container ship.  At times she would pull away from us, other times we would catch up and overtake as they slowed for a passing manoeuvre.  Ships can only pass each other on the straights, and there is also a 6 knot maximum closing speed if one of the ships has dangerous cargo.  We were motoring along the very edge of the channel, but were still within 30m of these monsters.  Then it was into the Culebra (formerly Gaillard) Cut; 32 years of digging had taken place here, with numerous landslides.  As we approached the first of the down locks, it was time to raft back up into our nest.

The line handlers on the land know their job well.  I spotted mine, as we motored into the lock, crossing the railway, walking over into a hut, and having a conversation as he paid out his line.  He then started gathering up the line as he speeded up to retake his position!  This time we had a huge three masted cruise ship in the locks with us.  We nearly had an incident as the aft port line on the other yacht was caught as the level in the lock dropped.  Luckily, a knife wasn’t needed, but it took four people to take the strain and free the line.  The nest was swinging about in the lock before it was brought back under control with the combined engines of all yachts and adjustment of all the lines.

After the Pedro Miguel locks it was a short motor across the Miraflores Lake before the final two Miraflores Locks.  There was a huge crowd watching us from the visitor centre.  They all thought we were waving at them, when we were actually waving to friends and family watching us via the webcam mounted on the same building.  Out of the locks, untie our nest, drop off the advisor, motor under the Bridge of the Americas, and we were officially in the Pacific!  There was then a short motor to the La Playita marina, located at the end of the breakwater off Panama City.  A few days here would allow us to reprovision; there was not going to be another good opportunity for Barracuda’s next legs to the Galapagos and then on to the Marquesas in French Polynesia.

The Pacific would bring an entirely new experience to many of the ARC skippers and crews – tides.  They had come from the Caribbean with zero tide, to a 6m tidal range!