A life long dream fulfilled….Panama Canal

 I woke up this morning early due to the excitement of today’s activity…traversing the canal..

Behind is Colon and ahead is the Canal

Along side our ship were tug boats to make sure we stayed centered in the waterway

I was amazed at how clear the shoreline is

 The early morning haze of humidity in the mountains alongside the canal

Approaching the first lock. Gatineau Locks. We are small enough to fit ( just barely) into the original locks built.  The ship in front of us already in the lock is about as big as allowed.  Our resident historian said if we count the containers on a ship and they are ten across that is a pretty good approximation of if it will fit. Any more containers across and the ship needs to use the new locks. 

Approaching the lock

Alongside the “mule”.These replace the real life mules used .  Ropes are attached from our ship and the mules(at least 4 of them) travel along side the ship to make sure we stay firmly in the center. 

Inside the Gatun Lock. In the background you can see the water level in the lock. We will eventually raise our water level by 85 feet to cross Lake Gatun and then eventually drop 85 feet into the level of the Pacific Ocean.

Lake Gatun

Open sailing until we get to the next lock. I will mention that each ship captain is not alone in this journey.  A certified Pilot comes aboard the ship and will sail with our Captain until we a fully through the system.  Much like the Pilots that come aboard each port to help dock the ship, this Pilot has a minimum of 10 years of study before he is given the job. He must know every detail of the shore, the water, the underground reef, every little detail of the entire system. His job is to guide the captain safely through the locks.  After experiencing this, I can understand how important he is.  

A Princess cruise ship where my sewing friend Beverly is aboard with her traveling companion.  We waved to each other as we passed !

Lock number two. Pedro Miguel lock

Each lock seems to have its own personality but always has the “mules” to help maintain the ship’s position in the center of the canal.  There was only a foot or so clearance on each side for us.

After leaving the Pedro Miguel lock we entered the Culebra Cut.  It is an area where the mountains needed to be dug out for the canal.  This was the most difficult part of building the canal and is the most dangerous part to sail.  Underwater is like a canyon with wide top and steep underwater sides that narrow until its a very narrow bottom. Think of the letter V. During passage it is important for the ship to maintain its course clearly in the middle.

As we headed into the final lock, a picture from the lounge ( where we were sipping mimosas to celebrate the event) of the new lock. It is higher than the old locks and has the same three locks but they are much closer together and at the North end of the canal.  Our journey had lock, lake,lock,cut and lock. Today’s much larger ships are sent to the new lock.

Ships need to line up with the white stripes on the mountains to maintain safe turns.

My traveling buddy in his special shirt (thanks Val!)

One of our resident historians giving commentary along the way

Entering the final Lock: Miraflores Locks, a two chamber lock.

We are in the first chamber and will drop 56 feet into the second chamber

The tourist center at the final lock.  It was full of visitors watching us enter the lock. They cheered and wished us a Happy New Year! There were tourists from our Sister ship Viking Star who took pictures of Neptune in the lock. Thanks to Cheryl Eyler Hoisington on Viking Star for her picture

 

Leaving the Miraflores lock and heading underneath the final bridge To the Pacific Ocean!

 The pilot boarded our ship at 5:30 am and we officially began our trip through the Panama Canal.  The journey continued until after 3pm.  Each lock was and still is an incredible feat of engineering. The fact that this lock is over 100 years old and still functioning and doing the job it was intended for 24/7 is amazing.  There are gobs of facts about the building of the canal that I never learned or understood from my education.  I encourage you to look into the history of this canal further. Im not good at stats or numbers so what you get from me is the visual story.  Please find a book to really examine the intricacies of this project and realize that those who attempted this really did have the courage and conviction of their actions.  Thousands died, the French started it and failed, The US bailed the project out and benefited immensely and It continues under Panamanian control to benefit their country now and the world by allowing passage through in a relatively timely manner from one side of the world to another.  It was a great day and Im happy I got to experience this!

Next up : A Sea day of relaxing and watching for ocean life……