Panama Canal 08:56N 79:34W
Seaflute
Thu 13 Apr 2017 18:59
expected to have the opportunity to navigate my own vessel through it. When
our World rally started to become a reality, for me, one of the highlights
would surely be this transit.
As Lindy stated in her last blog, we had positioned ourselves in a small
marina nestled amongst the mangroves and Jungle just inside the main outer
breakwater protecting the Eastern entrance to the Canal. This marina had
been chosen as the best location to muster the Oyster yachts to begin the
formalities essential to gain permission to transit the canal. The Oyster
logistics team had appointed a local agent to facilitate the procedure which
proved on many counts to be a very worthwhile exercise.
The first stage of the process was for us to be officially measured and
inspected by the canal authorities. An official came on board and indeed
thoroughly measured Sea Flute from stem to stern, across her beam, air draft
(height to the top of the mast) and water draft (depth to the bottom of the
keel). He checked we had all the necessary communication equipment and that
it functioned satisfactorily, safety equipment and finally that we had the
minimum requirement for fenders and dock lines. The specification for dock
lines for each yacht is to have four lines of 22mm diameter and 38 metres
long. By normal standards these are monster size lines and would be used on
our size of yacht for no other purpose. This was one area where our agent
was able to negotiate with the canal authorities and get a concession that
as we were transiting in rafts of three yachts, we could share four lines
between the nests of three. We then had to wait for our Panama transit
permit, a Panama cruising certificate and an official transit date.
Whilst we were waiting for the necessary documents and confirmation of our
planned transit date of the fourteenth of March, I took the opportunity to
get some essential maintenance done and also to prepare for the Galapagos
islands which involved thorough cleaning of the hull, bow thruster and all
the through hull fittings. Part of the clearing in process for Galapagos
involves a diver from the Galapagos national parks authority inspecting
every part of the hull and if any barnacles or other living things are found
anywhere, we would be refused entry and sent back offshore to be cleaned at
our own expense. We had all heard horror stories of yachts being charged two
thousand dollars for this privilege, so I was keen to ensure we were squeaky
clean!
Our documents all arrived on schedule and the day finally arrived for our
transit. We had been briefed thoroughly on the process and procedure.
Although I checked and double checked everything twice over, I must confess
to being quite apprehensive as we slipped our lines in Shelter bay. We had
been rostered to transit in the first group and Sea Flute was to be the
centre yacht in the nest of three, which was a mixed blessing. On one hand
we didn't need to handle the large dock lines that would be securing the
yachts to the lock walls, but on the other hand, we would be the control
vessel in terms of steerage and propulsion. In essence once the yachts were
rafted together the outer two would centre their helms and have their
engines in neutral, unless I called on them for extra propulsion or to use
them for power differential from one side of the raft to the other to turn
the raft quickly. I effectively was driving a three engined tri-maran!
At eleven am, as instructed, we motored from Shelter Bay towards a holding
area known as the Flats. A radio call to Cristobal Control to inform them of
our movement and to ask permission to cross the main channel, was greeted
with a friendly welcome and permission for our crossing. A short twenty
minute motor delivered us to the Flats where we anchored and began the wait
for our pilot to arrive and an official transit time to be granted. After
several hours wait, a radio call informed us our pilot would arrive at
fourteen hundred hours. I was quite keen to get through the first flight of
locks to Gatun lake in the daylight and was getting concerned we may already
be too late for this.
However when our pilot Roy was dropped off on time, he told us to be ready
to weigh anchor right away and we were immediately motoring into the channel
and proceeding to the beginning of the Gatun locks that would take us up to
the lake of the same name.
At this stage I feel I should go in to the history of the Canal, its
inception and a detailed description of its construction, which even by
today's standards is a marvel of civil engineering. I could write five
chapters and still not do any justice to the full story, so instead; I
implore you to read the full history of the canal which is both fascinating
and inspirational.
Some bullet points to whet your appetite are as follows:
In 1879 canal construction commenced by Ferdinand De Lessops the designer
and builder of the Suez canal. The inspiration for a canal across the
Isthmus was the great success of the Panamanian railroad constructed in 1850
at a cost of $8,000,000. Despite the horrendous human cost of 10,000 lives,
within six years it was generating profits of $7,000,000 a year, making the
Panamanian Railroad Company the most valuable stock on Wall Street.
The initial budget for the canal construction was 1,200,000,000 francs. This
was three times the cost of the Suez canal and confidence was high that the
construction would be complete by the target date of 1888.
The French engineer and his company hadn't reckoned on the challenge of
tropical diseases and the harsh geographic and climatic conditions they
would encounter. Tragically Ferdinand even lost his own wife and daughter to
yellow fever. By 1889 the project was only half completed and the loss of
20,000 lives, 1,450,000,000 francs ($285m) they were forced to abandon the
project and the company subsequently filed for bankruptcy.
In 1894 a second French company Nouvelle du Canal de Panama emerged from the
ashes and recommenced the construction of a slightly more modern design of
lock type canal to handle the heavy floods of the Chagres River.
Unfortunately this second venture soon failed due to lack of funding and the
company were forced to sell the equipment and all rights and ownership to
the United States Government. The US negotiated with the Panamanian
government for permission to complete the canal on the basis the US would
take all profits for ninety nine years and at that time the ownership would
revert to Panama. This was granted and the completion of the project took
another ten years and more than $400m. The canal was finally opened to
traffic on the 15th of August 1914.
When we were about half a kilometre from the Gatun locks, the pilots on the
various yachts began to coordinate the fleet to raft up in their selected
trios. The process involved the centre yacht which was us, to move as slowly
as possible whilst still carrying enough speed to maintain steerage, the
other two yachts moved alongside and secured themselves with bow, stern
lines and forward and aft springs (lines fixed to prevent fore and aft
movement). The rafting up process it's fair to say didn't exactly go like
clockwork. It wasn't helped by the fact that the pilots on board the three
vessels probably didn't fully appreciate the fact that Oyster yachts are
very heavy and powerful yachts for their size, once we skippers had twigged
this and moderated their instruction, the whole situation became much
calmer.
We were eventually rafted as a secure "trimaran" and began our steady
procession to the lock. The first lines were thrown from a low dock on the
port side. A monkeys fist (weighted ball attached to a light heaving line)
was thrown for a bow and stern line. Our briefing had told us not to attempt
to catch these as they are quire hefty. Also the throwers were very accurate
and would place these lines pretty much at our feet. The reality was quite
different and resulted in lines being thrown onto adjacent yachts or falling
short into the water. Once the light lines were retrieved, we needed to
quickly attach our heavy dock lines to them and the dock-side line handlers
would haul across the heavy dock lines and fix them to appropriate bollards.
Once the lines were attached it is the responsibility of the line handlers
on the yachts to shorten or feed out the lines as the locks rise or fall.
This process was repeated for the starboard lines and then as we reached our
designated position in the lock, the yachts were stopped with power applied
astern, the lines were all locked off and the command was given to "lock up"
or down depending on where you were in the process.
There are three locks up to Gatun lake and we emerged from the last just as
light was beginning to fade. By the time we had reached the overnight
anchorage, the sun was setting. The launch arrived to take our pilot off for
the night but not before he had informed us he would be back on board at
0730 the following morning and that he was very fond of bacon and eggs for
breakfast.
Gatun lake is huge and the result of the dam being built across the river
Chagres over one hundred years ago. The process involved flooding a large
number of towns and villages but also a huge expanse of forest. The trees
are still visible sticking up above the surface of the lake after all this
time. Because of the number of trees under the water and the danger of
tangling up our anchor, the advice is not to drop anchor at this stage but
to attach ourselves to one of the very heavy duty ship buoys. This we did,
along with all of our convoy and were soon settled for the night to prepare
supper and watch the sun go down. We had been strongly advised not to swim
in the lake, even though it was very tempting after a long hot stressful
day, on account of the number of Caymen that inhabit the lake. Needless to
say nobody swam.
The following morning our pilot Roy arrived on schedule and after a hearty
breakfast announced we were ready to go. We quickly regained the main
channel and began the thirty eight miles across Gatun lake.
The scenery across the lake was stunning with a myriad of islands and islets
all covered in beautiful forest. The yellow blossom of the Guayacan trees,
making the whole area look like a giant botanical garden. In stark contrast
around each bend we would encounter the behemoths that are the Panamax cargo
vessels. These ships had been designed to be the absolute maximum size to
transit the canal which is 116 feet wide by 900 feet long. These ships look
colossal as they passed by us tiny sailing yachts. The new canal locks that
have just become operational, have bred a new generation of "super cargo"
ships called Neo Panamax. The new maximum beam is 140 feet and the maximum
length 1200 feet long. We passed several of these during our transit and the
sight of them really beggars belief.
After five hours of motoring we reached the infamous Gaillard Cut, a run of
seven and a half miles which was literally hewn from solid rock. Here the
Canal becomes very narrow passing through what is in essence a narrow gorge.
For large vessels this is purely "one way traffic". We even had to hold on
several occasions to allow Panamax ships to pass through from the opposite
direction. On the basis they are paying up to one million dollars each to
transit the canal, I was not too unhappy to wait for them. Eight miles later
and we were rafting up again ready for the approach into the Manuel Pedro
Locks. This time we knew what to expect and the whole process went a lot
more smoothly three locks up and then a short motor to the Mirafiori locks
to begin the long descent towards the Pacific! As we entered the locks, we
got our first tantalising glimpse of the Panama City skyline, although we
didn't get too much time to contemplate the view, as the action became quite
busy for the next few hours as we descended the flight of locks back down to
sea level. As the last lock gate opened, the feeling of elation at having
transited and arriving in the Pacific Ocean was slightly mixed with a
feeling of apprehension at the realisation that there was really no turning
back now!
We had booked a berth in a small Marina called La Playita which was not far
beyond the Bridge of the Americas, an iconic suspension bridge across the
Canal considered to be the "official" transition into the Pacific. I had
visited the marina on a recce from Shelter bay and was satisfied that it was
indeed very sheltered with a very high breakwater surrounding the pontoons.
At the time of our arrival, despite it being very windy, I had no concerns
given my prior knowledge. What I hadn't factored, was the five metre tidal
range at this point in the Pacific and that the tide was now high. The
shelter I had witnessed previously now did not exist and so once again we
had an "interesting" berthing experience.
I had volunteered to assist as a line handler for the second Oyster Group to
transit, so no sooner than Sea Flute was securely berthed, I had to jump on
a coach and head back to Shelter bay. The following morning I began the
process all over again! I helped my friend Rob Parkinson on his lovely
Oyster 575 Tianelle. On this occasion we were an outside vessel so I handled
the stern dock line. I had a lot more time to look around and appreciate the
scenery.
Two days later I was back in La Playita and with Lindy, Tom and Rachael,
began preparing Sea Flute for our departure to Galapagos. Tom and Rach took
the opportunity to have a night off the boat to see Panama City and thanks
to Last Minute.com managed to book the Penthouse suite in a swanky hotel for
$80! I think a little retail therapy and a visit to a hair salon made up for
it though.
On the morning of our departure I had booked a slot on the marina fuel dock
for 09.30. We also had a diver booked for 08.00 to give us a "certificate"
witnessing our hull to be clean which we could present to the Galapagos Park
authorities, despite the fact they will send a diver down anyway!!
Par for the course in this part of the world the diver was late. We just got
clear in time and made the call to the fuel dock to inform them we were a
little late but on our way. "don't worry" they said, "we don't have any fuel
at the moment and the lorry delivering it has broken down". "when might it
be repaired?" I enquired, "no idea" came the reply. A few phone calls later,
we were booked onto the fuel dock at Flamenca, a neighbouring marina and
they confirmed they definitely had fuel!
We had planned to stop for a couple of nights in the Las Perlas Islands, a
short thirty mile sail, so the later than planned departure wasn't the end
of the world, but would mean that we would be anchoring in the dark once
again!
The sail to Las Perlas was the most amazing stretch of water we have
experienced so far in terms of marine life. Fish were jumping all round us
the whole way. We passed two pods of whales and had silver rays
summersaulting out of the water. We spent two nights on beautiful anchorages
on two of the islands and spent our days beachcombing on pristine white sand
beaches without another sole in sight. We had researched a possible tender
safari up a river into the rainforest. The advice was to enter at one
quarter uptide when there "should" be enough water over a sand bar to enable
entry. Anyone who has ever entered a tidal river with a sand bar in breaking
surf will know that it's not for the faint hearted. We had three runs at it,
timing each for a lull in the waves, but failed each time to see a safe
channel to commit a full speed run at. On the last occasion we ran aground
and span beam on to a breaking wave that almost swamped the dingy. Hifer, as
she's now affectionately known, managed to keep moving as we retreated to
smoother water and began to bail frantically to empty the now half full
tender. On the basis that discretion is the better part of valour, we gave
this up and thanked goodness we hadn't fared worse.
On our last day before departure we ventured ashore at a small fishing
village called Gaitor. You knew immediately on approach this was definitely
a very fishy place by the volume of pelicans flying and swimming around.
There were literally thousands of them. As we ran our tender up the beach
and began to haul it a safe distance above the surf, a gang of local
children gathered to lend us a hand. Judging by their hard stares and
inquisitive expressions, they don't see too many gringos on their beach.
Lindy was soon hand in hand with two of the smaller children and like Mary
Poppins led a gaggle of barefooted kids up the beach towards their small
town. The further we walked the more children appeared. In no small part due
to the fact Lindy had bought them all sweets and fizzy drinks at the first
shop we came to. The town itself was very poor but clean and orderly and
certainly the people we met were very pleased to see us there. Lindy has a
smattering of Spanish but I have none and have never more regretted not
learning the language.
The passage to the Galapagos was uneventful and was certainly the most
relaxed nine hundred mile passage I have ever experienced. We motored more
than I had hoped, but were on a deadline to arrive in Santa Cruz to meet
Jack on a flight from the UK.
On the last day of our passage we crossed the equator. For any sailor this
is always a landmark occasion but for the first time crossers known in
maritime circles as Pollywogs, it's even more special. As Thomas is a
Shellback (having crossed the equator previously) he took on the mantle of
Neptune and insisted due homage was paid with the necessary sacrifices. As
Tom read out numerous incantations to Neptune, my sacrifice was a shaven
head whilst Lindy and Rachael got away with a dousing in sea water. Lindy
said how very much she enjoyed this and can't wait to do it all again next
time! We didn't know at this stage that we were to cross the equator twice
more in the next week during our cruise of the Islands.
Lindy is currently compiling our blog on our time in the Galapagos which has
been truly amazing and will hopefully be published before we set off on our
next voyage.
All the very best
Skipper Peds.
