On Friday, 2/4, we set our alarms for 3:30 a.m. in order to untie from the dock by 4:00. The night before, Juan had delivered four, 1" x 150' handlines and six large boat fenders, which would soon be put to use. We left our slip and anchored near buoy number 6 on the NE edge of the Panama Canal approach, as instructed, and waited for our assigned Canal Advisor. Just after 5:00, a boat approached through the darkness, pulled up along Traveler and Hector made the leap from his bow to our deck.
Hector explained our assignment for the day had been changed through the night from boat 25-C to 23-C to 21-C. We would be going through the canal "nested" with Living Free, a catamaran that had been on the same finger dock as us for the past several days, also awaiting transit.
Nesting involves securing two boats side-by-side in order to travel together. Our two vessels were secured with lines that traveled bow to bow and stern to stern, as well as a pair of spring lines that ran from Living Free's starboard midship to Traveler's port bow and stern.
Our nested position assignment in each lock was "center chamber." Center chamber required handlines to be deployed to the walls of the chamber from Traveler's starboard bow and stern and Living Free's port bow and stern. The handlines are necessary to center the nested vessels in the chamber. When uplocking, the lines are taken in as the water level rises. When downlocking, the lines are slowly eased in order to keep centered. This action must be constantly coordinated between all four corners of the nest.
The process of getting the handlines to the wall is perhaps the most rousing, stressful, potentially damaging and dangerous event in the entire transit. Each canal line handler at the top of the side walls carries a length of thin, worn messenger line that features a monkey's fist at the flying end. A monkey's fist is a type of woven knot that adds weight to the end of a line to assist with trajectory. We are told that the canal line monkey's fist is wrapped around a lead ball. We believe it.
As we entered the first chamber, we were keen to the potential plight of the monkey's fist. It's reputation is legendary. From 60 feet above, much like an Olympic hammer thrower, the line handler winds up and lets the monkey's fist fly. Accuracy does not appear to be a priority. We had been advised to pad and cover our solar panels and hatches for this moment. We're glad we did. One monkey's fist intended for Traveler's bow sailed over Traveler and landed on Living Free's foredeck, coincidentally delivering the sound of a flying lead ball slamming down upon fiberglass. One throw intended for Traveler's stern, missed entirely and splashed behind both boats.
After the inevitable scrambling about the deck for the elusive monkey's fist, the retrieval line is quickly tied to the handline, which is then pulled up the wall and looped over a large bollard. At this point, each boat line handler wraps the line partially around a cleat for friction and takes in line or eases out line as the water level rises or falls.
Traveling from the Pacific to the Atlantic, boats are lifted a total of 85 feet through three lock chambers to reach the Gatun lake water level. After motoring across the 33 km lake, boats are lowered via a series of three more lock chambers to the Atlantic sea level. We entered the first of the Pacific Miraflores locks around 8:30 a.m. and exited the last of the Atlantic Gatun locks around 6:30 p.m. We were fortunate to transit in one full day. Often boats spend the night moored on Gatun Lake, resulting in a two-day transit.
A sincere thank you goes to Bill Jirsa who flew to Panama from Homer, Alaska to help fill one of the line handler positions for us. We are excited to be through the canal and looking forward to our next stop. Fortunately, Bill will be able to stay long enough to enjoy a few days with us in the San Blas Islands.
But before we leave the Panama Canal in our wake, here are a few facts that some readers may find interesting...
+The French initiated the Panama Canal project in 1881, but the effort fell unsuccessful, largely due to finances, equipment, health and safety challenges.
+The U.S. took on the Panama Canal project in 1904 and completed the entire canal in 1914.
+During French construction, approximately 20,000 lives were lost, many due to illnesses that were later determined to be mosquito-borne. Approximately 5,000 additional lives were lost during U.S. construction.
+During the first year, 1,000 ships passed through the canal. Currently, nearly 15,000 ships pass through annually.
+A single passage for the largest cargo ships can cost $450,000. According to our canal advisor, a cruise ship, charged in part by the number of beds on board, can pay a single toll of over $1 million.
I hope you enjoy the San Blas Islands. I visited them about 20 years ago, and they were truly the most fascinating places I have ever seen. Do people still throw apples to some of the men and boys in outrigger canoes? They’re probably much more modernized now, but I assume the women and girls still make and sell molas, hanging them on clotheslines for display. I bought one and had it sewn to the front of a sweatshirt.