Feb. 27, 2016 we awoke to over 40 ships waiting their turn to transit the Panama Canal, at anchor in the Puerto Amador/Panama City harbor. We were also anchored, taking in the imposing skyline of Panama City. This would be our first tender experience - having to take a "tender" (life boat) to get to shore. These boats are winched down from the ship, they open a "door" and you hop onboard. The tender holds 150 people, rather squishy - we opted for the rooftop deck - much better for views of the city! I booked our tour for the day months ago, figured that seeing the locks up close & visiting the new & not yet opened lock was the way to go, "Panama Canal - Today's Lock System & the Future". We were not disappointed!
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| Panama City |
We were taken by bus across Panama from the Pacific side to the new lock "Agua Clara" near the Atlantic, via a good four lane toll hiway. The new locks, one at each end of the canal were to open in 2014, now projected for June this year. The existing locks are 110 ft. wide, 1000 ft. long and will accommodate ships 106 ft. wide & 965 ft. long. (Our ship is 105.6 ft. wide & 964.3 ft long) - Panamax size, built just to fit! The new lock will be 180 ft wide & 1400 ft long and will utilize water saving basins to conserve water (currently the water gets flushed out to sea). We were able to observe the new lock from an observation deck & we actually drove over the new canal. The tour then proceeded to the Gatun Lock visitor centre for our "up close" view of ships transiting.
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| new Agua Clara lock |
Some history: The construction of the canal was started in 1880 by the French, it was taken over by the Americans in 1904 and the first ship to transit was in 1914. The channel was dug (a very difficult task), the concrete lock chambers constructed and the Chagres River was dammed to create Gatun Lake, (at the time the world's largest man-made lake, flooding over 30 settlements) - this lake provides the water used by the locks. Their are 2 sets of locks on the Pacific side - Miraflores, 2 lock chambers & Pedro Miguel, 1 lock chamber - together they raise ships 85 ft from the Pacific to the level of Gatun Lake. At the Atlantic side are the Gatun Locks, 3 chambers which lower the ships 85 ft. back down to sea level. The original lock chambers & gates continue to be used, filled & emptied by gravity, raising or lowering the ships 27-31 ft. per chamber. Still considered an engineering marvel!
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| aerial views of the canal, taken from a presentaion |
We spent time at Gatun, watching 2 huge container ships passing by us, less than 20 ft away - being lowered 28 ft per chamber.These container ships were huge - 13 sea cans across & 6-7 high above deck. Electric locomotives, called mules are attached to the ships & control their passage - the ship uses it's own power, the mules keep them in place. As the ship is raised or lowered the mule travels up or down along the track, keeping alongside the ship. 35-40 ships pass through the canal daily, there are 2 lanes in the existing locks which can be utilized in either direction, depending on demand. The toll varies, an average being $55,000 US, our ship paid $257,000US!
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| a mule |
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| a wild coati |
Once our tour returned us to Puerto Amador we had to wait in a very long line for our turn at the tender, so we decided to enjoy the wait with a pitcher of sangria! Here we picked up 2 bottles of Panamanian dark rum - $9 for 1 L.
Feb. 28, canal transit day - up at 5:30 to claim our viewing spot, standing on deck 11. Still dark! The canal pilot boarded at 6:00, we passed under the Bridge of the Americas after 7:00.
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| passing Panama City |
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| Bridge of the Americas |
The entire canal is 50 miles long and takes approximately 8-9 hours to transit! We watched as we went thru Miraflores locks & Pedro Miguel, the biggest rise - 31 ft.
By then it was 10:00 & time for breakfast. We were still able to follow our progress through the windows & via the ongoing commentary from the bridge. During the passage through Gatun Lake we sat on our balcony & enjoyed the view, islands that used to be hilltops, frigate birds, vultures & one lone crocodile.
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| from our balcony |
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| looking straight down, pretty small clearance! |
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| view from the bridge on the movie screen |
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| dredging machine |
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| Gatun Lake |
Back to deck 11 viewing for Gatun Locks, passing the dam over the Chagres River & being lowered 85 ft thru the 3 chambers. Strange to see a one-way vehicle bridge over the canal tucked behind the last lock, traffic waits for a lull in the ship transits & the bridge swings out & they can cross.
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| entering Gatun locks |
We left the last lock around 5:30 & passed the Breakwater of Cristobal after 6:00.
It was a "Bucket List" experience, much enjoyed - we have transited the Canal & have the T-shirts to prove it!
Later that night we took in another production show, Piano Man, a good way to end a great day!
The final chapter in our cruise adventure....... soon.
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