Panama Part II: The Panama Canal and Panama City

While we were in the San Blas Islands, we decided we wanted to see Panama City before we left so, with Greig and Caroline, we made reservations at an Air B&B in Panama City for April 4th to 10th, just after the Easter holidays. Just before we left the San Blas, we saw a post on facebook asking for line handlers for a boat going through the Panama Canal on Easter Monday. We had really wanted to experience going through the canal on a boat (not our own) and the really big PLUS for this opportunity was that it was on Fatty Goodlander's boat, Ganesh. They really only needed one person, but said they would take a couple. Each boat needs four line handlers in addition to the skipper. Greg PM'd Carolyn Goodlander in response and we got the slot! We were SOOO excited! We not only got to go through the Canal but were doing it with Fatty and Carolyn. Greig and Caroline wanted the Canal experience too and Fatty had a friend who needed help on their boat (a catamaran with a couple and 3 little girls) so they went as line handlers on their boat, as did Melissa and Dan because the other line handler they had lined up backed out at the last minute. So we all got to make the Canal transit. Not only that, but the timing coincided perfectly with our planned trip to Panama City and we would get there by boat instead of having to take the bus. WIN-WIN-WIN!

  

We all went to Colon on Easter Sunday to board the boats. Greg and I were welcomed aboard Ganesh, the Goodlander’s boat and shown our bunk and got familiar with the boat. I told Fatty that I realized I was actually an extra person and if I could help in any way I would but I would be sure to stay out of the way and I could be the “ship’s photographer” if he wanted. He jumped at that idea because he said he needed lots of action shots and especially shots of him and Carolyn together for the articles he will be writing. He had me use his camera but I managed to get some with mine also. His took priority though.

We met Harry, a young English traveler who had no experience on boats but was another line handler and Sandy, a friend of Fatty and Carolyn’s, who would also be line handling. We had to wait for the Canal control people to tell us when our time to enter the lock was. We thought it would be early (as in 4:00 a.m.) the next morning but we got the afternoon shift so our Canal Advisor (sort of like the river boat pilots) came on board mid-afternoon and told us what to expect. We would enter the first lock at 1600 and would side-tie to a tug. Sometimes you raft with two other cruising boats and you might be in the middle, in which case, you have very little to do once you tie on. Or you may be on one side and have to catch the monkey fist that the guys on shore throw to you so you can tie on and they guide the boat into position in the lock. We “just” had to tie onto the tug on our port side. The line handlers rigged lines at the bow and stern. The advisor wanted spring lines but Ganesh has no mid-ship cleat so Fatty had the line handlers tie lines to the base of the shroud. This proved to be a problem when we tied on to the tug as the tug did not adjust lines from their side and trying to adjust the spring lines with both tied to the shroud, was a disaster. We made it through unscathed but with much stress and anxious moments. After that, Greg found some blocks which he attached at mid-ship and we ran the lines through these and back to a winch so they could easily be adjusted. You also have to be careful of the prop wash from the tugs or ships as this can throw you off course quite easily. The first 3 locks going from East to West, or Caribbean to Pacific, are upward locks. The canal was built across Panama right through the Continental Divide. So the center is higher than either side. We had to go up to the center, then down to the Pacific. As we got a late afternoon start, we couldn’t get through in one day, so we spent the night in Gatun Lake tied to a huge buoy. There are many stumps and “anchor catchers” in the bottom of the lake left from when they built the canal and it is not wise to anchor there. Carolyn fixed a great dinner and we all enjoyed some more Fatty stories. Early the next morning, we motored the 10 miles to begin the locks going down to the Pacific. Fatty put Greg on the helm for part of the way and he regaled us with more of his stories. This time we had to tie up to a tug on the starboard side and Harry had a bit of trouble getting the stern line over to the tug. We came quite close to the wall on the port side but averted a disaster just in time. We made it through the rest of the locks just fine, the last two going alone in the middle of the lock with a HUGE car carrier behind us. It certainly felt like we were going to be run over by that ship. We got to experience a port side tie and a starboard side tie to tugs and then a center tie, meaning our line handlers got the monkey fists thrown from shore and tied them to our lines so the shore crew could pull our lines over and tie them to bollards on shore . Then our crew would loosen or slacken the lines as needed as the water level went down in the lock. When we reached the Pacific side, Fatty let us off at the Balboa yacht club and we met up with Greig and Caroline and got a taxi to our hotel.

Carolyn and Fatty Goodlander on board Ganesh

The tug, Tito I heading to the Canal, which we later tied up to.

One of the "smaller" cargo ships exiting the canal on the Caribbean side.

Our first advisor, Roy

Sandy prepares the bowlines 

The new Atlantic bridge being built on the Caribbean (eastern) side of the Canal in Colon.

Tito I tied to the Canal wall, waiting for us to tie on to them

Greg prepares the spring lines

Coming up to the Gatun locks

Tito I tied on and waiting for us in the next lock

The tug crew was more helpful in the second set of locks

The large ship ahead of us in the locks

Fatty stayed calm and steered us through all the locks unscathed. 

Fatty takes a break while we wait for the locks to fill.

Roy checks on everything as we untie from Tito I and go through the last locks for the first day. It is beginning to get dark and the Canal lights are coming on. 

Greg and Carolyn tie us to a buoy in Lake Gatun for the night.

Roy, Carolyn and Fatty celebrate a safe passage.

Roy leaves us for the night.

Greg untying us from the buoy in Lake Gatun the next morning

The Canal was lined with many trees including the purple-flowered Jacarandas.

I never found out the name of the yellow flowering trees, but our advisor told us that this tree blooms when the rainy season is about to start and again when it is about to end so they use it as their weather gauge. 

Carolyn preparing one of our great meals onboard Ganesh

We passed and were passed by this Cargo ship several times during our Canal transit.

A Smithsonian research station along the Canal

Fatty let Greg take the helm for a while as we crossed Gatun Lake

The steep sides of the canal are terraced to prevent erosion.

Range markers on shore at the sides of the Canal

A dredge working in the Canal

A cargo ship ahead of us in the Canal. It carries 1800 shipping containers!

Tour boats take people through parts of the Canal.

Coming up tp the Centennial bridge in the Culebra Cut.

Sandy has the monkey fist tied onto our line and keeps tension on it so it doesn't get in the water and foul on the prop.

Carolyn has tied the monkey's fist onto our line so the canal workers can pull it over to the shore to tie us on.

The Miraflores visitor's center seen from the Canal

The Canal maintenance crew painting the rails right up until the gates opened for us.

The canal worker taking our line and bringing it forward to tie on near the lock gates

Preparing to exit the last lock of the Canal

The bridge of the Americas on the West (Pacific) side of the Canal

Three cheers for Ivan for getting us through the locks

Our second pilot, Ivan steps off Ganesh onto the crew boat after we exit the last lock

Our crew for the Panama Canal transit: Harry, Carolyn Goodlander, me, Fatty, Greg, and Sandy.

A final photo as we said good-bye to Carolyn and Fatty and Ganesh

We stayed at a B&B for one night until our Airbnb apartment was available. The apartment was great. It was in the old part, Casco Viejo, of Panama City. There were many restaurants and tourist attractions in easy walking distance and the restaurant/bar across the street played great soft jazz every afternoon which we enjoyed while sitting on our balcony for our happy hour.

View from our little balcony

We did our own walking tour of the old city over a couple of days and had some great meals nearby. We also went back to the Canal and took a tour at the Miraflores locks to learn the history of the Canal which was very informative.

Plaza Bolivar

Iglesia San Francisco de Asis

A statue of Mary which is on a rolling base which is used to process around the town on certain holy days

Skyline of Panama City

Plaza de Francia (French Plaza) at the tip of Casco Viejo (the old city) is dedicated to the 20,000 workers who died building the Panama Canal. The rooster on the obelisk is France's national symbol. The French began the Canal in1881 but gave up the seemingly impossible task in 1889 due to financial losses and the loss of lives caused by malaria, yellow fever and the extreme temperatures. The US completed the Canal in 1914.

The National Institute of Culture building has many beautiful murals depicting important events of history and culture. 

Ruins of the church and convent of Santo Domingo

An old altar in the little museum

Silver tabernacle

The Flat arch of the ruins is an architectural oddity that withstood the fire which destroyed the church and other ravages of time much to the consternation of modern architects.

A beautiful hotel with moldings and window casements that vary by floor

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Mary at the Plaza de la Indepencia was being spruced up for the Pope's visit next year so we couldn't go in.

Iglesia La Merced where we attended Mass on Sunday. Built in 1680.

Small chapel attached to the church

The main altar of La Merced

Ornate door knocker on the church door

Altar in the chapel

This building, as was typical of many buildings, had different design elements and mouldings on each level. All were examples of such beautiful craftmanship. Each level is in close-up below.

Of course, we found a rum bar!

The Golden Altar of the Church of San Jose is actually carved of wood and overlaid with gold flake. It was originally inside of an old church in Panama Vieja. The old city was ransacked and burned by the pirate, Henry Morgan. Legend has it that the Jesuits priests in the Order of St. Augustine painted the altar black when Morgan raided the city and thus saved the altar from the pirates. They later moved the altar to its present location.

Another beautiful building in the old city.

Visiting the Panama Canal museum and the Miraflores locks from the land side

To get back to Colon, we took the train which runs from PC to Colon every morning at 0800. It runs along the canal most of the way. It was scenic and quite comfortable. Then it was back to the crowded and long bus ride from Colon back to the boat in Linton Bay.

We had to leave Panama by April 21 as our visas would expire. So we watched for a weather window and loaded up on provisions. We had to get our Zarpe at the Customs office in Linton Bay and then had to go to Portobella to check out with immigration. We all had to go to immigration because they take your photo and do the fingerprint scan when you check out. We finally got it all done and left for the Bay Islands of Honduras on April 13, a Friday. Not the luckiest day to start a passage, but that's what the weather gods gave us. It would be a 5 to 6 day passage!! Another new milestone for us.