Friday 13th September 2013 Panama Canal

What a day.  We arrived at the Panama Canal early today.  The officials boarded about 6 am to check that our ship was capable of accessing and passing through the canals. Seems that size weight and cargo are judged.  We are classed as 'precious cargo' so have priority queuing.  Hundreds of ships waiting to enter the canal but have to wait their turn and until their payment has cleared before being allowed in.  

It is one if the only places in the world where the captain of the ship relinquishes control of the ship to another person. The Panama pilot boarded once the ship was cleared for entry and the pilot was then in control of the ship for the whole 8 hour trip.  The cost of our passing through the canal was $150,000. 

The ship was secured to the canal wall by ropes and the 100 year process of doing this is still in operation.  2 men row a very small rowboat out to the ship and one man throws a rope onto the ship to which our large ropes are attached and dragged to the shore for securing.  Small train like machines called mules ( animal mules did this job years ago) drag the ship into the locks. Gates front and back are closed, and the lock is flooded through huge  tunnels the size of underground railway tunnels  from water in lakes, high in the mountains.  The gates are open when the lock reaches the water level of the next lock and the ship moves through. The process starts all over again for 3 locks at each end of the ,canal. The opposite happens at the other end of the canal when the lock lowers the ship down to the lower level.  The ship is raised to 65 feet going through the 3 locks before travelling on its own steam through a huge lake to the other end of the canal where the opposite process happens to lower the ship. The length of the the canal is 50 miles, 80k.

It was very hot and I dont know how anyone could work in that heat all day. We started off at the front of the boat about 7 am to watch the locks open but by 8.30 it was too hot for me. I enjoyed the view from our air- conditioned cabin and ventured outside to take photos. Once we're constantly warned of the heat and to take care.  One lady collapsed on the front deck before 9 am. 

I was so pleased that some of our family and friends were able to access the Panama web site and watch our ship go through the canal.

Tomorrow we are in port at Cartagena, Colombia.