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Published: March 31st 2019
This is the day!!
Breakfast at 6, on the bus at 6:30, on the boat at 6:45!
We were to have our luggage outside our door by 11:30 the night before to be picked up by the bellboy and loaded on the bus to be driven to Colon, where we'll exit the boat. Luckily, we left the knapsack to pick up after breakfast and noticed that our luggage (and that of other travelers on the same hall) had not been picked up!
Took the bus out to Flamenco Island and saw the sunrise over the Pacific. What, Susan, you have that wrong! No, the bay curved around so that the point we were on was actually facing East.
Boarded the Islamorada, a 100 year old boat that used to belong to Al Capone! From
http://www.canada.com/travel/Gangster+Capone+running+yacht+ferrying+tourists+Panama/9360023/story.html:
• The Isla Morada is actually older than the canal. Its wooden hull was crafted in a New England ship yard in 1912 when the vessel was christened Santana. The first ship passed through the canal in August 1914
• Capone bought the Santana in the 1920s during the prohibition era and changed its name to one of his favourite islands in
boat
Ours is the one you can see right to left.the Florida keys.
• The U.S. Government wouldn't permit Capone to sail Isla Morada to another island where he took up residence – Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. He involuntarily moved there in 1931 after being convicted of income tax evasion.
• His yacht was seized and drafted into the U.S. Navy where it served as an officer training vessel during World War ll.
• In the 1960s, it arrived in Panama City as a floating boutique hotel, thanks to the five luxury bedrooms Capone had crafted.
• The 101-year-old luxury yacht Isla Morada has been upgraded with new navigation equipment, improved safety features and the barrels of rum have been moved out of the bedrooms.
• Since then, the Isla Morada has transited the Panama Canal more than any other vessel afloat. The cruise is an eight-hour tutorial about one of the world's most challenging engineering feats.
Got underway in plenty of time and rode out and started up the canal. Picked up the pilot for the first half of the trip. Every vessel is required to have an official pilot of the Panama Canal Administration on board. Depending on the size of the vessel, some have 2 to 4 pilots and
guide
An employee of the Canal whose job is to accompany tours and provide lots of information, very good at it! 2-4 tug boats guiding them. Takes about 10-12 years of training and work to become a Panama Canal pilot. We were scheduled to enter the Miraflores locks along with a sail boat and yacht and the Andalucia Star, a reefer (refrigerated containers). We rode along, viewing the BioMuseo backed by the skyline of Panama City, then the container port.
One of our guides, JC (Juan Carlos) described the ocean to lake to ocean rise and fall as going from one shoulder up to the top of your head then down to your other shoulder. Can't go straight up so you go shoulder to chin to ear to top of head, across the top of your head then down to ear, down to chin, and down to shoulder and away. Gatun Lake is the top of your head.
The Andalucia Star entered the lock before us. On the exit at the Atlantic locks, we would enter first. The Andalucia was attached by wire cables to the 'mules', the little train-like cars that have been used since 1914 to control the positioning of the ships in the lock. As we were entering, we took turns touching the (somewhat slimy) side
of the Canal wall. At about 10 a.m., once we were all in, the gates behind us closed and the vaults in the concrete were opened and the water began coming in (underwater, no rush of pouring water, just bubbling) and we began rising. Once we were at the top, even with the water in the second lock, the gates were opened in front of us, we moved forward, and the process repeated. Then we sailed for awhile and entered the Pedro Miguel Locks. As we exited it, we were at the level of the Lake and ready to go for a few hours across Panama.
It was a beautiful day--sunny and bright, breezy (plus the speed of the boat), gorgeous sky. The mountains and islands were lovely as we sailed along (this was not a sailboat but I'm not sure what better word to use; 'drove' doesn't feel quite right!). We got to the other side about 3 and had to wait a bit for our turn. The pilot took us over near the newer lock, the Panamax lock, to see the huge container ship that was going through. Partly because of the larger size of the ships,
Lake
There's a panoramic version around here too. the new locks take a bit longer for the ships to get through. We also watched the cruise ship heading to the Atlantic 'disappear' from site. When the ship heading to the Pacific finished in the lock, it was our turn. This time, we and the sailboat (lost the fishing yacht somewhere) went in first and the Star followed us. Of course, now the goal was to go down to the level of the ocean so we entered at high water and each lock took us down 28 feet or so. Alex, the man who was working the tie-rope brought out a bag of chalk so we could write our names on the top of the Canal. That was cool. After the third drop, we headed out towards the Atlantic. Passed under the Atlantic Bridge, still under construction, and swung around into the Colon port.
Got on a bus and drove through Colon (grim at best, reminded me too much of the worst parts of Mumbai) to the Melia Panama Canal (
https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/panama/colon/melia-panama-canal/index.htm), a beautiful refurbished hotel on what was the American naval base where John McCain was born. We had had breakfast and lunch on the boat and now
were had buffet dinner at the hotel. Beautiful tile work throughout the hotel.
Colon has an interesting history--historical conditions that have ended up in its ruin, as described by our guide, Beny, who grew up in Colon:
• compared it to Detroit, depended on one source of income and when that left, went downhill. Colon established mid 1800s by private citizens of the U.S. Always been an us vs them. Was the best entertainment center of the Caribbean but not ‘included’ in the country. Some envy of the riches and prosperousness of Colon. But when we signed the treaty to build the Canal, everything came under the jurisdiction of the Americans (5 miles) and all municipal services were provided by the US. The city was Panamanian but everything was run by US. 1977, when the administration was turned over to the City, the municipal leaders had NO idea how to do any of these things. The central government in Panama City thought that Colon had pelenty of money (casinos, ports, duty-free (retail) zone) and could provide it all themselves. All the decisions remained in PC and they never put anything into the city, and it began to collapse.
Expanded Lock
and a Panamax container vessel going in 7-8 years ago, the UN Program for Economic Development made a study—studied the country district by district and they gave a color to the district based on the ethnic minority of the district. Found that those with the Hispanic majority were receiving up to 10 times more investment in social development. Hispanic majority: 1100 per person over ten years, same 10 years, for other districts: Afro Panamanians $200 per person and indigineous, only $90 per person. When the UN showed that to the country, then everyone raised their eyebows—we’re not racist, what is this. So, little by little, been trying to correct this. Getting $800 million in investment but won’t happen overnight.
• Beijing Olympics—a man from Colon won the long jump gold. Whole country stopped for the third jump.
Irving Saladinowon the gold. When he returned, arrived PC, Sports Institution were awarding him a decoration, the Manuel Amador Guerrera Order, and Saladino did something very interesting—he took it away, and gave it to Duran, the fighter (fought SugarRay Leonard) and Duran came and presented it to him. The whole crowd cheered. Afterwards, interviewed him and asked why Duran—I’d rather receive it champion to champion and he helped me when I needed
it and 4 times, I tried to get funding and they never gave me anything. That sent a really strong message. He led a huge campaign and became spokesman for Colon. C3 with hand: Colon and 3 is our ID number. Make that sign for people and they’ll know. No one felt that it began to Panama until my generation. That sense of belonging to the place began with my generation. Study on the nationalities of the Caribbean tied identity by the people to the development of an individual music tradition. In the 80s, Jamaican reggae was translated into Spanish and that developed that sense of belonging.
• Since the infrastructure was collapsing, the young people moved to PC (including Beny) so there is no leadership. Last mayor was extremely corrupt and is in jail. His son is also in jail. We have a new generation coming up embracing that concept of responsibility in the city. People from within the city trying to improve the lot of the people; the central government is investing. There is a lot of wealth and resources—the Canal, the port facilities, two gigantic turbo plants, the tax-free zone but, for all of those contracts, the money
goes straight to the central government; they need to send some of it back to Colon. I am hopeful that it will get better.
• Investment and building is inland a bit which is good because the seas are rising.
• Aspenwall was contracted to build the railway. The Chinese were being paid partly in opium and congress passed a law that no money from Congress should be used to buy drugs and they began hanging themselves from their ponytails. Began people from Jamaica, newly free, came to build the Canal. After 1869, when the railway was finished, there was a 10-year depression until the French arrived and began building the Canal, then came the best time for Colon.
• There was a big fire after which wooden property was replaced with concrete facilities just before the gold rush and Panamanians made money by offering services to them, continuing into the construction of the Canal by the Americans.
• Then WWII and a big influx of money from sailors on their week break. His grandfather had a liquor license: one table, four stools and a bottle of rum and people would pay to be there, on the sidewalk, drinking rum. Grandfather became an expert
in fixing roofs—in a city that gets 200” of rain, that’s important. After WWII, another depression and the government formed the tax-free zone but, again, one main source of economy: PC, Free Zone, or port—no chance for entrepreneurship, not just there to see. His high school class has maybe 5 out of 30 graduates who are independent, all live in PC.
• Colon tax-free zone is about 7000 acres of stores, for retailers to buy from one another. One big change, becoming more of a logistics company. Beginning to become a repackaging center rather than having it done in US.
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