2012: Panama - Panama Canal: Full Transit

    Note: This is a revised 2012 post that I wanted to republish, as the experience was so amazing. Please keep in mind that the present in the post is 2012.

    At our friends 2012 Super Bowl Party, Sally asked if anyone wanted to go to Panama. Doug looked at me and said, "I've already been. You go." So I did.

    We booked a full transit of the 51-mile long Panama Canal, a voyage we made in the wonderful 300-foot long, 100-year-old Islamorada. 

The Islamorada, the 100-year-old, 300-foot-long boat in which we transited the Panama Canal.

    Our boat paid $1,200 to make the transit. Ships pay tens of thousands of dollars and usually have to wait a couple of days for their turn to come up. Reservations may be made, for a fee. If a boat is late, the fee is forfeited, but the canal company will try to work the boat in as soon as possible. The largest fee paid to date is $400,000 by a cruise ship.

Stairs down to Islamorada galley.

    Of course I had heard of the Panama Canal, but it had never piqued my interest. I had no clue of its significance to the entire world. Before going to Panama, I read David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas and watched the PBS American Experience documentary Panama Canal. En route to Panama on its wonderful Copa Airlines, I watched a documentary on the history of canals in general, with specifics about the Panama Canal and information on the new locks under construction. Scientists using toy boats and plastic containers made it all very comprehensible.

As the map indicates, there are 2 locks at Miraflores, 1 at Pedro Miguel, & 3 at Gatún. We visited the Emberá Drua Village (top right on map) 4 miles up Chagres River on a prior tour.

    A few days prior to transiting the Panama Canal, we visited Miraflores Visitors Center and watched ships go through the Miraflores Locks. 

Panama Canal administration building at Miraflores Locks.

Grounds of Visitors Center.

Memorial to George Washington Goethals, last chief engineer of the canal.

A level for each of the 3 locks on the canal: Gatún, Miraflores, Pedro Miguel.

Container ship arriving from the Caribbean at Miraflores Locks, the last before the Pacific.

Notice level of water behind gates on right, ready to lower a ship going toward the Pacific.

Ship approaching from the Pacific: water in the lock will rise.

    On another day, with our tour guide, we first took the Panama Canal Railway across from Panama City to Colón then drove back across. Even with our train and van crossings of the isthmus, my reading and watching documentaries, nothing could have prepared me for the enormity of the experience of transiting the Panama Canal. 

    Due to Panama's orientation and S shape, the sun rises over the Pacific and sets over the Caribbean. It reminded me of my first visit to Avila on California’s Central Coast, when I was standing on a cliff above the Pacific while the sun set behind me in what "should" have been east, not west. 
    Why must ships ascend and descend 85 feet to get between the two oceans? The Chagres River was damned to form Gatún Lake, which is 85 feet above sea level. To make a sea level canal would have required moving even more dirt out of the Culebra (“snake”) cut, which is still dredged 24/7. Also, the Pacific tidal variation of up to 18 feet can drastically change the current.
    So at 5:00 AM June 2, we boarded the Islamorada and set off on an incredible 11-hour voyage. 

Islamorada pilot house.

Ship's crew in the galley.

Our guide, JC, on left, and German-speaking guide on right.

    Transiting the canal requires pilots. Our first arrived at 5:30 AM.

Pilot arriving.

Pilot boarding our boat.

Everyone waves on the canal.

Our tour included 2 delicious meals plus cake for afternoon tea.

Bridge of the Americas across Panama Canal at Panama City on Pacific side.

Panama City.

Biomuseo, designed by Frank Gehry, under construction. 

Fishermen.

    At the docks, containers are offloaded for delivery or, if a ship is too heavy to transit the canal, for transport across the isthmus by rail.

Excess containers were offloaded from ships for transport to Colón by rail.

Cranes offloading containers from the Sevillia.

D'Artagnan, a dredger.

Panama Canal Police.

Ship approaching Miraflores Locks from the Pacific with tug as escort.

We approach Miraflores Locks.

    A ship was required to be with us in the locks—it would be far too expensive to allow a small boat by itself.

Tug guiding Resolve, the ship that will join us in the locks. 

We were tied to a tug, which was tied to the wall of the locks, while waiting for the Resolve. 

Tug guiding Resolve into 1st chamber of locks with us.

    We had observers in the water...

Crocodile.

...and on land.

Pelican.

Egret.

With the Resolve in place, the gates close behind us in the 1st chamber.

Mules hold Resolve in place in front of us.

    A charming aspect of the canal is the mulas, whose name derives from the actual mules that used to pull barges through canals—think Erie Canal. Although the mule engines on tracks appear to pull ships through the locks, the ships are under their own power. The mules, via winched cables and lines, hold the ship centered and brake it. In the new locks, ships will be guided by tugs, not mules. 

Mulas hold ships centered & brake them if necessary.

Mula tracks descend from each side of building.

Gate to 2nd chamber.

In the 2nd chamber behind the Resolve.

Gates closing behind us in 2nd chamber.

Still closing.

We watch visitors on deck at Miraflores Visitors Center who watch us.

Our boat on right; white ship is in parallel lock.

Tugs escorting ship in parallel chamber.

Ship in the chamber parallel to ours. Visitors Center behind to right.

Waiting for the action? On a mule.

    We left Miraflores Locks 1-1/4 hours after entering.

 Rowboats—at water line on each side of tug—attach ropes from mules & tugs to ships' cables.

Waiting tugboats.

Work on new locks.

    At about 9:30, 4 hours into our transit, we arrived at Pedro Miguel Locks, which have 1 chamber. Miraflores has 2 and Gatún 3.

Arrived at 1-chamber Pedro Miguel Locks.

Gates closing behind us. 

Still closing.

Water rising.

Maintenance—repainting.

    We left Pedro Miguel Locks 1/2 hour after arriving, now at 85 feet above sea level.

Our boat on left as we exit Pedro Miguel Locks behind the Resolve.

Panama Canal Railway hauling containers between Panama City & Colón.

Our tug leaves us.

Canal workers on Resolve.

Tugboat escort at back of Resolve as the ship leaves us behind. Hasta luego!

Centennial Bridge.

    I thought of my dad while transiting the Panama Canal. A civil engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers in World War II, he then worked for Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel Company (PDM), which fabricated the steel for and constructed bridges, stadiums, elevated water tanks, and the St Louis Arch. My parents had planned a trip to transit the canal but had to cancel due to health issues. He would have absolutely loved the experience.

Work on hillsides to prevent erosion & slides.

    We began going through the narrow, 8-3/4-mile long Culebra (Snake), aka Gaillard, Cut about 15 minutes after leaving Pedro Miguel Locks. Culebra is the name of the mountains the Cut—an engineering feat that tested men and machines from 1881 to 1913—passes through. Here the Culebra Mountains form the Continental Divide, rising to 210 feet above sea level. The cut is a remarkable 170 feet lower, at 40 feet above sea level.

Dredge.

    The Canal, especially Culebra Cut, must be constantly dredged.

The Rialto M. Christensen dredger built in 1977 by a Japanese firm.

Ship approaching from Caribbean side in 8-3/4-mile-long Culebra Cut.

Pelicans.

The Cut is very narrow.

Passing ship with tug escort.

The channel is close to shore.

    The Canal is absolutely dependent on the rain forests. Each ship passing through the locks requires 52 billion gallons of water, which is then released into the oceans. Operating 24/7, the Canal accommodates 35 to 45 boats daily, or 15,000 per year. 

    There have been two efforts to protect water usage. First, in the 1970s, the rain forests surrounding the canal were made national parks. Watershed management replaced water control. That led to restrictions on agriculture, which led to villages permitted to remain in the rain forest—such as the Emberá Drua, whose village we visited—being forced to seek new livelihoods. Second, the new locks will have basins that capture 60% of the water as the locks are emptied. That water is then reused to fill the locks for the next ship. These larger locks, designed for the larger post-Panamax ships, will hold 65% more water than the original locks but use 7% less water per transit.

The canal depends on the rain forest for the 52 billion gallons of water required for each of the 35-45 ships that transit daily.

Renacer (to be reborn) Prison where Noriega was imprisioned as of 12/11/2011.  

    We pulled into the port at Gamboa for those doing only a partial canal transit to debark.

 JC, our guide, at Gamboa, end of partial transit.

Gamboa.

Gamboa.

    From Gamboa, we completed the Culebra Cut and began the 3-hour crossing of Lake Gatún.

Lake Gatún: 21 miles long, 164 square miles, formed by damming the Chagres River.

    It rained while we crossed Gatún Lake. I had the deck to myself as everone else went down to the galley. I was already drenched with sweat from the humidity, so why not enjoy a cool shower?

Green kilometer buoys mark channel from Pacific to Atlantic.

Red kilometer buoys mark channel from Atlantic to Pacific.

Gatún Lake.

Ships anchored, probably awaiting pilots.

Brazilian family. Father & daughter were singing & clapping—so happy!

Me. I LOVED every minute of this fascinating voyage.

    About halfway across Gatún Lake, a new pilot for our boat arrived.

Boat with new pilot arriving.

Arriving pilot cross to our boat.

Departing pilot.

Departing pilot. Adios! Gracias!

Approaching Gatún Locks.

    At Gatún Locks we were lowered via 3 chambers 85 feet back to sea level.

Mules on parade.

Tying up to await ship to join us in lock.

Sally & me.

The Brits wore ribbons celebrating the Queen's Jubilee.

Our lock mate approaches from Gatún Lake.

Gatún Locks Lighthouse.

Storm misses us.

Lock mate pulling in behind us.

The Torm Cecilie tied to mules.

Gates to 1st chamber close 1 hour after we entered the locks to wait for our ship partner.

Double gates close behind us.

Torm Cecilie with us in 1st chamber as water descends...

Mules hold ships in place in the locks.

...and descends. We are in the east chamber, the gates behind us.

Ropes from mules to Torm Cecilie.

Ropes from mules to ship.

    Larger ships have no more than 2 feet of clearance on each side of the lock. 

Not much room to spare between ship & lock walls.

Gate between 1st & 2nd chambers.

Gates opening to 2nd chamber.

Still opening.

Into the 2nd chamber of Gatún Locks.

Canal HQ at Gatún Locks.

Torm Cecilie with mules on both sides.

Not sure what this vehicle is but it's labeled OHIO, where I often visited family while growing up in Pennsylvania.

Our tie-up in 2nd chamber.

Water lowers in 2nd chamber...

...and lowers...

...and lowers...

...and lowers. Ladder on side of lock.

Gates opening...

...and opening...

and opening...

Into the 3rd chamber.

Final set of gates northbound on Gatún Lake.

Cranes at Port of Colón in distance. Another ship to left in parallel lock.

Going down...

...and down...

...and down...

...and down...

Ship in parallel lock.

Still going down.

Gates open.

Swing bridge for cars is under the archway to right of yellow stripes. We drove across it 2 days prior on our way to Fort San Lorenzo.

Containers on a ship behind Gatún Locks gate loom above us—an unnerving experience—as we cross the canal on the swing bridge. 

Picture from our van as we cross over Gatún Locks.

Back at sea level & heading out of Gatún Locks toward the Caribbean.

Ship heading for Panama City.

Adios, Torm Cecilie.

Adios el Canal de Panamá!

Adios, el Pilota.

Port of Colón.

Washington Hotel, said to be the oldest hotel in Colón.

Ships waiting their turn to enter the canal.

Colón.

Colón.

Container unloading, Port of Colón.

    We had to wait to debark in Colón as the dockworkers were on strike and "could not find a gangplank."

'

Striking dockworkers.

We eventually went to another dock, where a gangplank was found.

Ready to debark at another dock.

     There are webcams at various points along the canal. Sally's daughter in Texas spotted our boat going through Miraflores Locks and texted us a screenshot. Doug found the ship that was in Gatún Locks with us. While experiencing the results of a 19th and 20th century feat performed by men, many of whom lost their life, and machine, we were visible around the world via 21st century technology. It felt like we'd gone backward and forward in time during a voyage through one amazing day.