We were up at 5:00 am to watch all the action! Picked up several Canal Pilots and over 30 Line Hands that were in charge of the ropes. We were in line and ready to proceed at 7:00 am. We headed toward the locks. It cost our ship $325,000 to transit the canal! We had a local lady on the bridge who gave us information as we proceeded thru the canal. It was a long, hot day standing on the decks but we didn’t miss a minute of the trip! It was very interesting seeing the construction for the new locks and the widening that is going on. The “mules” that help the ships stay centered in the locks were fun to watch and the drivers were great to visit with as they waited for our ship to go up or down in the lock.
Each set of locks would take us up or down about 27 feet. There were anywhere from 1 lock to 3 locks in a row. We had 2 groups of locks to transit up 85 feet to reach the Gatun Lake. There is only one way traffic thru the locks during the day for the big ships and thru the Gaillard Cut – the cut thru the Continental Divide. Once we arrived in the Lake there was two way traffic and it was fun to watch the other ships pass us going to the Pacific Ocean.
We waited in the Lake until the one way traffic changed directions and we could proceed. We entered the last set of locks at 1:30 (so any of you that were watching for us on the PanCanal webcam missed us! Sorry!) We got out of the last lock about 3:30 pm and anchored in Limon Bay and waited for a fuel barge to come and refuel us! It took over 6 hours to take on our fuel. Sometime during the night we headed off for the San Blas Islands.
Sunrise waiting for our turn to pass thru the Canal.
Bridge of the Americas.
Big arrow showing pilots which side of the lock to enter.
Our Captains with the local pilot (in blue).
Row boat transfers ropes between our ship and the "Mules".
New construction for the new locks.
Tight squeeze....we have less than 2 feet on each side.
Centennial Bridge
Continental Divide Cut widening to make room for two way traffic.
Centennial Bridge
New canal work and targets to guide the ships.
New canal work.
BIG TRUCKS! You lose the scale from our distance!
White PVC pipes are where they have drilled to place explosives to blast the rock for the new canal.
Dredge
Crocodile!
Targets that guide the ships while they are transiting.
Crane on a barge that can pick up the lock gates - 700 Tons!
This is a "Mule" driver.
Limon Bay ships waiting to make the passing.
Great photos & explanations. WoW! There's a lot going on there, fascinating! Makes you want to know more!
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