We've done the Panama Canal!
08:56.365N 079:33.471W
We got to the Flats off
We stayed rafted up with the other two yachts for
more than two hours until leaving the third Gatun lock at around
Elvir left us once we got through the final lock and
were anchored in the
It seems incredible that there is so much (fresh) water up here, and in the midst of dense jungle. From time to time, HUGE container ships or car carriers passed us on their way north.
At one stage we were travelling at speed along a straight stretch of water before we got to the first of the final locks, when a dredger began hooting at us. We assumed this meant ‘slow down’ or even ‘stop’, so we did the latter. Ten seconds later an enormous explosion took place under the water about 200 yards ahead of us, sending a spray of water 30 feet into the air. We were glad we had decided to stop. [Note to Max's mum - he's fine!]. There's just a lot of work going on widening the Canal
We finally entered the Pedro Miguel lock at 12.30pm, rafted up with a smaller catamaran which made life much easier than with the ‘three-abreast’ formation of the previous night. Going ‘down-hill’ was anyway much easier than going ‘up-hill’ - the water drained out of the locks much more gently than it had come in. After a short trip along the canal, still connected to our new American friends on the 35 foot Fountaine Pajot Mahe catamaran, we went through the two Miraflore locks.
Once through the last of the locks, we motored under
the Bridge of the
But before we set
off, one final provisioning trip was required to a big supermarket for our
fresh meat, and a visit to the huge
We are leaving in an hour .....Galapagos, here we
come! |