March 29 – Panama Canal

Today we went through the Panama Canal.  It is an artificial 77 km waterway that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a major conduit for North American trade. Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to 26 m above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 34 m wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger ships capable of handling more cargo.

This is a very busy maritime highway. Traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2012, for a total of 333.7 million tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal during its history.

We entered the canal system around six in the morning and entered the Caribbean Sea late in the afternoon. Due to the way the canal is located we actually ended up in the Caribbean west of the enter point on the west coast of Panama. It was a spectacular trip, one that we will remember for a long time.

We started our trip at the entrance to Balboa Harbour.  On the horizon you can see the impressive skyline of Panama City.  Because it was early in the morning and the mist had not yet burned off the skyline was really seen in silhouette.  You can tell that Panama is a very rich country. It probably has something to do with its tax free status.  

After about two kilometers we entered the Miraflores locks which allowed us to enter the artificial Miraflores Lake. The parallel locks can handle two ships independently. This set of locks raised the Infinity to a height of sixteen meters above sea level.  When a ship enters the locks it secured by ropes that are attached to eight locomotives that stabilize and tow the boat.  The ropes are delivered to the ship by a crew of men in row boats. 

The crowds on the boat's viewing decks were huge. In most places they were packed three or four people deep.  We decided to spend most of our time on our balcony.  

On the shore there was a three story building with viewing areas where people went to view the boats.  It was full of vacationers who waved and shouted “hola” to us.  People all along the shore were very friendly waving and greeting us, this included about ten inmates in a small prison about twenty kilometers north of Panama City.

Next we entered the Pedro Miguel Lock were the boat was raised another ten meters. From there we passed underneath the Centennial Bridge which marks the continental divide.

The shoreline is vary lush and green that you would associated with a tropical rainforest.  Other than the occasional depot there are no homes or cottages along the canal.

It seems we are racing a couple of ships through the locks,  One is Holland America's Zaamdam and the otther is a LPG cargo boat.  It has in very big letters on the captains deck "NO SMOKING".

Next we arrived at Gatum Lake.  This is an artificial lake formed by the building of the Gatun Dam. It allows vessels to advance fifteen kilometers across the isthmus. Gatum Lake is the summit of the canal system.  There were several large vessels queued up to enter the next set of locks.

Finally we went through the Gatum locks.  This is a three stage lock where the boats are lowered to the sea level.  You then pass the city of Colon Panama and a huge container harbor known as Limon Harbour. From here you pass a breakwater and enter the Caribbean Sea.  This was the farthest west that Columbus traveled in 1502.

Once we passed the breakwater at Colon, the water got very rough.  It wasn’t as bad as the time we entered the Pacific from the Beagle Channel but it still was bumpy.  There must have been some sea sickness as the dining room had many empty chairs.

The evening’s entertainment was an Irish flutist named Gary Arbuthnot.  It was a good show with lots of Celtic music.

There was no blog for yesterday because basically nothing of note happened.