PANAMA CANAL TOUR

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THE PANAMA CANAL



When I started my trip this year, I wondered where I would dive, and what I would see. I started in Costa Rica…now where to??? Right on down the map was Panama. On the water so I can go diving. And I haven’t seen the Panama Canal, that I knew was a massive engineering feat. I knew it was a waterway that used locks like those in Seattle but far bigger and grander. I knew it connected the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. I knew it was a shortcut so boats didn’t have to go around the tip of South America. That was about the extent of my knowledge.

I don’t intend to give much statistical information. I did look up a few facts…the Canal is 48 miles long. It is considered one of the 7 wonders of the world. It takes 15 hours to travel the length of the Canal and half of that is waiting time. I learned it was the most expensive engineering activity the U.S. ever completed. And the French started the project. A Spaniard first imagined it. No one owns it. The Panamanian government gets only a portion of the income it generates.

I am going to just write about what the trip on the Canal meant to me.

First of all, my dad was an amazing mechanic. And he would have loved to take this trip. He understood locks and immense iron watertight doors, thick concrete walls…meters thick. He understood dams and man-made lakes and heights that I cannot comprehend. And perhaps he would have had a better understanding of the price in lives that was paid to create this marvel. So my dad was with me on this day on the water.

I was astonished by the cost for ships using the shortcut. Especially as we were tied to two private yachts for stabilization as we were raised up 60 feet for passage through the first locks on the Panama City side. How much were they paying for the whole transit (in 2013 ships less than 50 feet paid $800)? Ships pay by 20 foot lengths. I think the current record set in 2016 is held by MOL Benefactor, a 10,000 TEU (Twenty foot Equivalent Unit) Cargo Ship. It cost her $829,000 to transit the new locks. I think the lowest transit was in 1928 when Richard Halliburton swam the length of the Canal paying a toll of $0.36.

I imagined I would pay the price necessary to travel the whole Canal…thank goodness better minds prevailed. I would have been bored to death (remember “…half the time is waiting.”) We transited the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks. That was enough excitement for my day.

So a bus picked me up at my hotel. We then went to the waterfront and boarded a tourist boat. We slowly motored to the Canal. We were allotted our place in the line of boats booked for passage today. I loved the walkways, the structures that men and women manned to work the machines that allowed ships to pass through the man-made Canal. The animals and birds in the waterway were a plus…pelicans, caimans and iguanas. The tourists themselves were an interesting spectacle. I was interested that there were young women crewing on both the boats that were tied to us, as we went through the first set of locks. It was amazing that those huge steel doors that swing shut so water could be pumped into the lock had no weather stripping. They were machined to hold water due to the pressure exerted by the water…Really amazing! The speed with which the water filled the cavernous space where we waited made my jaw drop.

Some of my fellow tourists had information I would have enjoyed hearing, but the guide talked incessantly. It was a little wearying. Still I liked to hear some of his stories.



We did wait. It was good that we had a complimentary breakfast. Also drinks to keep us hydrated. There was plenty of covered seating, useful because of the sun, and later windy squalls of light rain. I chatted with Regno from Sri Lanka during breakfast. And lunched at a table across from Pavritna from India. I visited on the return trip from the locks to the harbor with a lovely lady and her two college age, traveling daughters from Texas. There are just so many interesting people who cross my path. I am so glad I had the opportunity to see this mechanical marvel with my own eyes. And I think I will l check out a couple of books from my local library, maybe even a couple of films about the building of the Panama Canal when I get home.

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Photos

ON THE GANGPLANK
Our boat is the behind the Calypso, ready to go.

DOORS CLOSING
You can see how high the first lock is going to raise our boat by seeing the others perched atop the doors.

THE ICEBERG
One of two private yachts entering the locks with us. A very expensive yacht with a lot of luxury amenities.

CLOSE-UP OF THE LOCKS
You can see the channel where the doors close and the holes where the water is pumped into the lock.

MUDDY WATER
We were all impressed with this fancy yacht.

ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDINGS
There are two channels, side by side. One goes each direction. They are currently being widened.

DREDGING IS CONSTANT
The banks are unstable and dirt is constantly being drained into the Canal.

PANAMA CITY SKYLINE
Beautiful to behold and difficult to get a good photo while moving.

WILDLIFE
A Caiman waits.