Panama Canal

It's Day 13 today, which meant it was time to cross the Americas, courtesy of the Panama Canal.  The day started off early - very early in fact, as the engines were started about 0400hrs local time.  The local pilots were boarded and we shifted from our anchorage and started to move towards the approach channel.

By 5am, it was still dark although the first glimmers of dawn could be seen in the distant skyline as some overnight thunderstorms gradually fizzled out. As the daylight came, we moved cautiously up the channel closer towards the first set of locks at Miraflores. On the way, we passed under the Bridge of Americas - a 1960s construction which once carried the Pan American highway, but now relegated to local trunk road status.

We reached the Miraflores locks shortly after 6am. This was a set of two locks which lifts ships up approximately 15 metres. As we enter the locks, electric railway engines on the quayside known locally as 'mules' guide the ship into the lock using tensioned tow lines which are attached to both the bow and stern. Once in position, the lock gates behind the ship are closed and water is allowed to enter the lock from further upstream, thus raising the level of the ship. Once the water levels have equalised, the lock gates in front are opened, the mules guides the ship into the next lock, and the process is repeated once again.

After the Miraflores locks, the ship sails in a widened canal section for another half mile or so, before entering the Pedro Miguel lock.  This is just a single canal lock, but it raises the ship another few metres,  sufficient to allow it to cross the relatively low-lying terrain of the isthmus.  We note that all of the canal traffic at this point is in one direction only, and we don't pass a single ship travelling in the opposite direction.  The reason soon becomes clear as our guide for the day, explains on the ship's PA. The canal authority regulates the flow of ships each way so that ships travelling in opposite directions are timed to pass only in the larger central section of the canal, known as Gatun Lake.  This clever piece of scheduling is designed to reduce the wash erosion on banks of the narrower sections of the canal.

After Pedro Miguel, it's into the Culebra Cut, one of the most challenging sections to construct. This narrow section of the canal was carved through rock and limestone, and extends for over 12 kilometres. Steep banks surround each side of the canal, and we pass under another bridge - the Centennial Bridge. This relatively recent structure was built in 2003 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Panama gaining its independence from Colombia.

Eventually, the cutting opens out into Gatun Lake and the appearance of the canal changes considerably.  Rather than navigating a narrow man-made channel, we are now cruising through more natural looking waters surrounded by indigenous jungle on either side.  In reality though, the lake is itself partially artificial, having been significantly enlarged as part of the canal construction programme during the last century to provide enough depth and clearance to passing ships.

It's also worth mentioning the massive construction works which are currently on-going adjacent to the current canal route. This is part of a huge expansion project to provide increased capacity, due to open in 2014. New, larger locks are being built at either ends with existing navigation channels being deepened and widened.

After navigating Gatun Lake, we reach the Gatun Locks - a set of three concurrent locks which lowers us a full 26 metres back down to sea level. Once the 'descent' has been completed, it's an impressive sight looking backwards watching the line up of large cargo vessels taking their place in the queue.

So now we're in the Caribbean Sea and heading east towards Cartagena, Colombia, where we are due to dock around 0800hrs tomorrow morning. A morning tour of the old town has been pre-booked, and we'll post a full report tomorrow.