Travalog Eight

Panama and
Approach to the Canal

Panama Canal Transit

On June 5th VIVA arrived in Balboa, Panama, in anticipation of our long awaited Canal Transit. On the short trip over from Taboga Island, we counted over 50 large ships at anchor, waiting for their paperwork and subsequent Transit. There was a lot of excitement on our part as we approached Balboa Yacht Club, because we had heard so many different stories of what awaited us. As most of you know by now, The Panama Canal, after 86 years of American control and operation, was returned to Panamanian jurisdiction. This was all set about 25 years ago under then President Carter, and everybody is still out to school on what the long-term ramifications will be. Supposedly, there should not be any impact militarily or with U.S shipping traffic; however, over 134 million dollars is generated annually from Canal operations, which of course will fall into the local government coffers. The real losers are all the locals who made their living from the free-spending Americans, both military and civilian Canal workers. With the departure of over 70,000 military and their families, the Canal Zone is a virtual ghost town. Thanks Jimmy!

Upon arrival in Balboa, the only show in town for yachts awaiting transit, is the Balboa YC, since the nearest anchorage is over 3½ miles away with no dinghy landing. The clubhouse burnt down last year under mysterious circumstances, but the moorings are still available at $20.00 per day. You may not tie up to the Club dock, except for fueling, but they do offer a shoreboat service. The Club's mooring area is almost under the spectacular Bridge of the Americas, and the amount of shipping traffic is truly incredible. A constant parade of ships and private yachts 24 hours a day, all within a few hundred feet of our mooring.

The weather was quite hot, interspersed with the almost daily rain showers. Everyone is quite receptive and hospitable, but you are completely on your own as far as the Transit paperwork is concerned. The easiest way to initiate your paperwork and Canal permit, is to hire one of the many cab drivers for $10.00 and hour to run you to all of the different offices and banks. After stops at Immigration, two banks (all fees are paid at the banks), Admeasurement Office to initiate your Canal Transit Permit, and the Navigation Office to buy your Panama Cruising Permit.

Since Jan 2000, a new fee system was initiated. You are no longer required to get an admeasurement like the large ships. There is now a flat rate of $500.00 for a boat under 50 ft, $750.00 over 50 ft, etc. In addition, you must pay an $850.00 deposit in case you damage the Canal or cause any undo delays or problems! After two days of running around with the intermittent rain and hot sticky weather, we finally had our official Canal Transit Permit #6000248!

After completing all the necessary paperwork, we did have some time to explore Panama City and the Canal Zone. Downtown Panama City is quite modern with many high rise office buildings and condos. We were luck enough to make contact with a young Panamanian couple, Jorge & Lorena Angelini, whom we had met in L.A. Jorge is a graphic designer, and had recently returned home to Panama and worked for the largest advertising agency in town. They treated us to a wonderful tour of the city and a great dinner at one of their favorite local restaurants, one that we would never have found on our own.

Panama City is a great place to provision. With so many years of American influence, there was an abundance of good markets and no less than three PRICE/COSTCOS for all the bulk goods. Once again, Pam had the monumental job of deciding what and how much "stuff" we needed, and where to stow it all. A few days after our arrival, we were joined by our friends Mike and Sandy McKean, who had flown down to assist us with the Canal Transit and a tour of the San Blas Islands. Of course they arrived on the hottest, most humid day of our stay there. It was nice to have the extra pairs of hands to help schlep all the provisions. Finally, after a hectic week of paperwork, provisioning and some sightseeing, our actual Transit day arrived.

To appreciate the adventure, I must first explain a little about the actual transiting process. The actual distance across the Isthmus of Panama is about 50 miles. Most of the distance is covered by the large Gatun Lake, which was formed by damming up the Chagres River. The height of the lake is over 85 feet above sea level, and it is therefore necessary to get the ships up to lake level from Balboa with two series of locks, and then lower them at the other end in Colon. These locks are about 1000 ft long and 100 ft wide and all private yachts make the passage in the locks with a large ship. Ship's lines are controlled in the locks by Canal Authority personnel, through the use of little electric locomotives, called "mules" which keep the ship centered in the lock, and which move the ship in and out. They are then pushed or towed by tugboats.
As private yachts, our Transits are made by Handline Lockage; in other words, we have to control all of our mooring lines by hand. You are required to have four 125 ft lines at least ¾" diameter, and four linehandlers on board to take up and ease out the lines as the boat rises or descends in the lock. As part of our Transit fee, we are assigned an Advisor, whose job is to direct all the linehandling and boat movements. These guys are usually young Panamanians, who are training to be tugboat captains and eventually Canal Pilots on the large ships.

There are three methods of lockage for yachts under 125 ft, when transiting the Canal. One is Center Chamber, the most desirable, where you are tied with four moorings lines to the walls of the lock. If there is a lot of private yacht traffic, you might be assigned to "nest" with one or two other boats; not too desirable as you are at the mercy of someone else's linehandling. Second, is being tied along side of a Canal Authority tugboat and third, is tied to the sidewall. The most precarious and stressful situation is "up locking" as there is tremendous turbulence caused by the filling of the lock chambers, and a lot of prop wash from the ship and tugs a they depart the lock. The entire filling process takes less than fifteen minutes! Once the lock is filled, the gate opens, the ship is pushed or towed out, and we proceed under our own power to the next set of locks. After completing all the "up locking" on the Pacific side, there is a long motoring trip across Gatun Lake to the Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side. Vessels must motor at a sustained speed of 4 knots. Otherwise they must make arrangements to be towed through the Canal, a very costly venture. The trick is to get across the lake fast enough, so that you can "down lock" the same day. Otherwise, you must anchor for the night in Gatun Lake and finish in the morning.

Since we had four sailboats travelling together for a few weeks previous to our arrival in Balboa, we decided to schedule our Transits on consecutive days, so that we could share linehandlers. It is really helpful to make a Transit on another sailboat as linehandler before taking your own boat through, as it gives you an idea of what to expect with your own boat.

The first to go through were Bob and Connie Nixon on CHARIS. Since they hadn't been on a previous Transit, the adrenaline was running pretty high; however, they had a beautiful day, and a perfect same-day passage with no mishaps. We were able to take a taxi up to the Miraflores Locks to see them transiting the first of the locks. The next day, it was the Lorentzens on SECOND KISS. Mike McKean and I went along with them as linehandlers. Another smooth Transit.

Finally, on Thursday, June 5th, it was our turn. The day broke with a heavy cloud cover and a sure promise of rain. We were directed to be ready to pick up our advisor at 6:00 AM, but we had learned on the two previous days, that they never showed up until after 7:00. We had all of our rental tires lashed in place to act as fenders, and our four linehandlers poised for action. Our advisor, Orlando arrived at 7:15 and we were off for the 3½-mile trip to the Miraflores Locks. Our companion ship, a large container vessel entered the lock ahead of us, and we motored in behind. In order to secure the four 125 lines to the walls of the locks, it is first necessary for a Canal worker to throw down a "monkey fist" (a round weighted ball) with a thin line attached. Our line handlers then tie it to our heavier 125-ft lines so they may be hauled up the side of the locks and secured on a cleat. Of course as we entered the first lock, it started to rain! Fortunately, we had left our big awning up, which was great for Orlando and El Capitan! As soon as we were secured, the mammoth steel lock gates closed behind us. They look like something out of a Jules Verne movie with all the riveted steel plates. These are the original gates from 1914!

The valves are then opened on numerous 4-foot diameter wells in the lock floor, admitting the fresh water from conduits into the chamber, and in just minutes, we start to rise up the lock wall. The trick is to keep tension on all four mooring lines as the boat ascends to keep it straight and centered in the lock. We had heard some horror stories of yachts that either broke lines or failed to tend them properly, and ended up sideways bouncing around the lock walls. We made it through the first lock without mishap, but of course then the rain really started in earnest. The next series of locks at Pedro Miguel also went smoothly, and we then settled down for the five-hour, 24-mile motoring trip across Gatun Lake. It is incredible that most of the equipment, locks, machinery, etc. are all original. The entire mechanism of the locks, gates, valves and even the little "mules" are run by electricity, which is generated by the hydroelectric dams at each end of the Canal. All of the fresh water for the operation of the locks comes from rainwater which continually fills the Gatun and Miraflores Lakes. We learned that it takes 52,000,000 gallons of fresh lake water to transport one ship through the Canal. Luckily, they have a lot of rain in Panama!

One of our biggest concerns was getting through the Canal in one day. It continued to rain all day, and we weren't looking forward to an anchoring/slumber party on VIVA with seven people on board. Fortunately, we kept the throttle wide open, and just made it to the Gatun Locks, slipping in front of a huge container ship with nine minutes to spare! As it was, we were forced to "down lock" tied on the sidewall; but going down was such a smooth operation, we didn't have a problem keeping the boat away from the wall. So, at 5:30PM, on June 15th, VIVA passed out of Gatun Locks into the Caribbean Sea, for the first time in 13 years!

After exiting the final locks, we motored the short distance to Panama Canal YC in Colon, which has definitely seen its better days, where we were greeted by the crews of CHARIS and SECOND KISS with chilled bottles of champagne! Colon is definitely not a place to spend any time other than for a little provisioning. Colon was a shantytown built for the both the Panama Railroad, and Canal workers; and has gone downhill ever since. After a quick refueling and a short trip to the market the next morning, it was off for the San Blas Islands.

In looking back, we were very surprised and pleased with the entire Panama adventure. The beautiful scenery and friendly people were quite unexpected, and the entire country could become a great tourist attraction. There are already plans afoot to build a huge cruise ship terminal in Balboa, and there are already some smaller excursion boats loaded with tourists, that are making the one-day trip through the Canal. After completing our Transit, we had the chance to read David McCoullough's "Path Between the Seas", which chronicles the incredible history and construction of the Canal, from 1870 with the ill-fated French project, to its completion in 1914. This was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!

I know you will all be shocked to receive two travelogs on such short notice, but we figured you need some after-summer reading material! Next edition, the San Blas Islands and Cartagena, Colombia. Drop us a line when you have a chance. We always appreciate news from the homefront.

As ever, Steve & Pam
S/v VIVA