Panama Canal!
Nusquama Sailing Blog
Fri 9 Feb 2024 17:35
Our nest of boats to go through together was Sofa So Good and a non-Arc boat called Grateful. We rafted up together just before the first lock which was Gatun. We had been told that we would be the middle of the raft, but this was changed at the last minute and we were the Port hand boat, receiving the monkey fists which are bowled at us by men on the side of the locks. Our job as line-handlers was to receive the monkey fist line and tie it onto our heavy lines at the stern and bow.
There are 3 locks going up at Gatun and then 1 down lock at Pedro Miguel and then 2 more down locks at Miraflores. Between the locks is the Gatun Lake, which takes about 5 hours to cross. It felt very historic to be going through this amazing Canal - completed in August 1914 at the loss of approximately 35,000 lives.
