Balboa Panama Friday May 9-29

Canal Transits

We are seasoned line handlers for we have now been through the canal 3 times and all from the Pacific side or northerly direction as they say.  Our first transit was with friends on Lost Elvis. Their date was May 9^th so we arrived at Balboa Yacht Club on Thursday the 7^th.  We met the next day with Federico who was going to check us into the country and schedule our transit date.  We told him that we would like to go with him so that we did not have to have our passports out of our hands for so long.  We also wanted to get our two head sails repaired for the sun protection panel was not designed for the tropics and it was now in shreds.  Federico took us out to Vera Cruz to talk to a sail repair guy named Odilio.  We then rushed back to the boat and tried to take the sails down in the wind.  If you have never tried this let me explain that as you bring them down, you try to fold or flake the sail.  With the wind blowing it was very difficult to flake the sail and find space for it on the couch top of the boat.  We told Federico it would take us about an hour, but it was longer than that!  Anyway we sent the sails with Federico who would deliver them to Odilio, who would put a forest green edge on each of the sails. 

 We got the launch from our boat to Lost Elvis and were ready to go about 7:30 in the morning.  We started out by going over to our friend's boat about 7:20 am.  We had 6 people on the boat besides the adviser.  Thea and Randy own the boat Lost Elvis.  Randy's best friend, another pilot, Johnnie had flown in, and Thea had a friend Matt who lived here in Panama. A boat needs 4 line handlers, plus captain and a cook to make the crossing.  Our advisor was Osvaldo, who runs the dredge during the week and only does the piloting on the week end.  He was a great guy with very good English.  Since we were very close to the start of the canal we headed out about 8:30 toward the first lock.  We knew that there would be one power boat and a catamaran going with us. 

Our advisor contacted ahead and found that we would be able to be side tied with a tug named M L Walker.  That is simply the best way to go because the tug does all the work and you just go along for the ride.  The guys on the tug were great and Gustavo was the guy that I threw the bow line to.  You must have 4 150 foot lines that you rent for your passage; you also have tires that are covered in plastic bags attached to the sides of the boat.  Anyhow with the boat secure to the tug, we experienced the thrill of the water flooding into the lock.  First you are in a canyon and soon you are floating up to the level of the top of the lock.  The first set of locks is called the Miraflores and there are two there.  So as soon as the gates opened for the first lock, we backed up a little, the tug moved forward, and then we went next to it when it was secure on the next wall.  We did this twice at the Miraflores and then moved on to the Pedro Miguel lock.  Since the line handlers were not doing much, the main job was on the captain, for he had to deal with unusual currents when we took off, so that the boat went straight out of the lock, not an easy task. 

The Pedro Miguel lock is a single lock and again it was awesome to see the gates close and the water flow in to fill the lock up. Next you go out on a long run, you must be making good speed and Lost Elvis can go a lot faster than we can travel.  We were now in a jungle part that is called the Gaillard Cut and it continues until you get to Gatun Lake.  We had lunch about 1 when we were just coming out of the Gaillard Cut.  Hank was the chef and he fixed Chicken Cacciatore.  It was wonderful and the adviser really enjoyed the lunch.  We had been told that if they don't like the food they can get a launch to bring them lunch and you are charged for the trip. 

 When we got to the end of Gatun Lake it was about 2:30pm.  We saw the power boat ahead of us and we were told that there would be another boat joining us to go through the Gatun locks.  The power boat would go ahead and then the three sailing boats would raft together to go through.  The large catamaran finally caught up with us, and we waited for another boat, named Goose, to join us.  We were told that this other boat had had to spend the night in the lake because they could not make it through in one day.  They charge you big time for this so we all patiently waited for this small boat to approach us.  Osvaldo had us wait by a red buoy while the cat came up and side tied to us.  This cat was Blue Moon and it had a delivery crew on board, no owner!  The guys were great and we got Lost Elvis and them safely side tied.  Now it was time for Goose to approach.  It appeared that goose was a much older boat with two young couples, a young driver and the advisor.  The boat was being propelled by an outboard motor (10 horse power) that was tied on to the back of the boat with a rope, did I mention that they all appeared to be hippies, strange hair cuts, harem pants on the girls and this darn out board motor that he was operating with a piece of PVC pipe as a control lever.  They came around to the catamaran and were going so fast that there was no way that they would be able to stop, they threw their lines but the cat guys, the pros, just let them go, when they realized that they were going too fast.  They came around again, but this time they were way too far away to throw any lines.  Each time they made a pass you could see the advisor, yelling at the driver.  After the third pass, which it was now, after 4pm, we were all ready to say, three strikes and you are out!  But the three advisors finally got the little boat to get their act together and we were all rafted together.  Now we had to get to the lock, for you don't raft up in the lock, you do it before the lock.  Anyway, it was the power of Lost Elvis that made the thing work, we got into the first of the Gatun Lock, they threw down the monkey fists to us, that is a line that you grab and tie to the end of your dock line.  Then they pull your line way up to the edge of the canal and anchor it to a bollard on the rim of the canal.  Our advisor explained to me, since I was on the bow, how it was my job to make sure that the boats were in the middle of the canal.  I would do this by releasing the line, or keeping it taut, thank god I had my sailing gloves on!  Our boat would have two lines, the bow of the cat would have a line, since the small boat was so short, and the small boat would have an aft line.  Who do you think fouled it up right away?  You guessed it, the hippie guy, did something with his line and we all started to turn side ways.  We got it corrected and then the gates closed, now this is a down lock, where the water is going to flow out until you are once again in a cavern. 

The water goes out slowly and it was a real job to keep the line with the right degree of tightness.  Finally when the water is out and the whistle blows, they instruct you to release the tension on the line, the guy on top takes the line off the bollard, and you haul the line in as fast as you can, then you hold the monkey fist line as the canal worker walks to the next lock. Randy had to power all three boats along and keep them straight, and I had to make sure the monkey fist line didn't get caught on the edge of the canal which it appeared to want to do.  Then we did it all over again.  The Gatun locks are a set of three, so by the time we were through the last lock it was about 5:30.  We drove out, released the other boat and headed over to the side to let Osvaldo off on his launch.  Randy was especially glad to have him off the boat, for he had a very dim view of drinking beer, and Randy does well with a beer or two.  We headed out to Shelter Bay Marina to put the boat in a slip and to enjoy some dinner together.  Matt who lives and works here was having his driver pick him up, so we were relieved that we would have a way to get back and would not have to be taking a bus back to the other side.  Colon is not a good town, and the driver was even worried about picking Matt up there.  It turned out that Shelter Bay Marina was very safe and that out trip back was great.  We were back on the boat by 11pm, happy to be home, but thoroughly exhausted by our experience.

 Now fast forward some two weeks, we had spent more time in Las Perles Islands, and were now back to get ready for our transit.  We had had the boat measured, our lines approved when we were there to help Lost Elvis.  When the boat is measured, you hold your breath so that it is not over 50 feet, for there is a sizable increase in price.  We had friends who helped with the measuring and took a few steps forward when holding the tape.  Our guy must have been prepared for that maneuver, because he did small increment measures and then added the total.  Our boat measured 49.8 feet!  Hank had purchased a spool of line and had cut it into 150 foot lengths.  It was 5/8 inch line and the requirement is 7/8 inch, but the admeasurer approved it any ways. 

 We went to the designated bank to pay our fee, $1500, with a visa card, Master Card is not accepted by the canal administration, but we were told that they needed cash for they were having trouble with the credit card system.  Well, we were not able to get that amount in one day, and we didn’t want to use up all our cash, so we decided to get some cash that day.  Betsy went back with Federico the next day and paid out the $1500, mostly in twenties.

 Hank stayed behind to get the tires from another boat and the double tires from a guy on the dock.  After our three passages, we highly recommend double tires instead of the usual singles.  We had heard that you might have to buy the tires but a boat that had just made the transit was more than happy to give theirs away. 

 Our line handlers would be Kathy and John from Mystic Moon and John and Shawn from Active Transport.  They would line handle for us and we would pay for the taxi to get them back over to the Pacific side.  Everyone arrive early the morning of May 29^th and our advisor came along just about 8AM.  Our Advisor was Roben, his real name was Enrique Robinson, but we were told that they use the first 5 letters on your last name, so he was officially Roben.  Not Robin, because there was already another Robin.   The transit went very smoothly, we were tied to a working tug for the first two locks.  The captain of the tug even took some of our fenders and tied them to the rails of his boat because he was so high and his top rail was just about at our life lines.  The Miraflores Locks is where the museum and observation deck is located.  We waved to the crowd as we entered the lock for we knew that this is where the first web cam was located.  We had called family to tell them to be watching for us. Unfortunately the tug was only going through the Miraflores locks, so we would be center tied at the Pedro Miguel locks.  That was not too hard, the most difficult part was that on the port side of the boat, Shawn and Betsy’s side, one of the canal personnel was a woman, who had a weak throwing arm.  She threw Betsy the monkey fist and it landed well short of any where near the boat.  So we tied the bow and aft line to the one monkey fist that Shawn had caught.  That worked and we were set for the up locking, being centered tied to the chamber.  Betsy and Kathy worked together on one side and the guys covered the rest.  We were perfectly in the middle most of the way. 

Our passage through the Cut was calm; we passed a couple of freighters but not many.  Betsy was trying to take video of the trip, but was in the galley so she missed the two that were close.  We got to Gatun Lake just as it started to rain.  That that is sort of a problem with Equinox because she has a complete top cover in the cockpit, there were no side curtains at that time. So rain has a tendency to come in right where our advisor was sitting.  Betsy and Shawn put up a rather “Mickey Mouse cover” but by the time it was up they were both thoroughly drenched.  Luckily the rain did not last long and Equinox was traveling a good 7.2 knots.  We didn’t want to miss our Gatun Lock time.  In fact we got there a head of time, so they had us tie up to a canal wall way before you enter the lock.  This would not have been too bad, but we were so far forward that our bow line was rubbing on the rough concrete.  Now remember these were our own lines, not rented ones and Hank quickly realized that this could really cut our line up.  So he directed Shawn to pull harder on the aft line and we would back up enough that the bow line was over the protected rub rail.  Good job Hank!

 When we moved into the lock a huge freighter squeezed in behind us.  Our advisor commented that we wanted to make sure the bow lines were kept taut so that we did not slip back to the freighter.  As it was it appeared that the freighter was ready to kiss Equinox. Down locking is a lot easier that up locking and we were going down 43 feet each time.  John and Betsy on the bow easily let the line slowly pay out over the cleat.  Shawn and John in the cockpit had their line around the wenches and they also slowly let the line pay out.  Soon we had completed one, hauled back in our lines, traveled down to the last lock and reattached the lines to the bollards.  By now we could see the Caribbean up head. 

 As we motored out of that last lock,  Hank and Betsy realized another must do thing could be crossed off the list.  Coming to the canal and transiting it had been a dream from the very beginning of this adventure.  We were even game to turn around on Monday and take a taxi back over Panama City to help the motor trawler, Mystic Moon do their transit.  We were so glad we had experience before we did our passage, and now Kathy and John had the experience on our boat to help them.

 We motored to the flats where a pilot launch came along side to pick up Roben.  We were so happy to have such a great guy to be part of our transit.  He was a very proficient advisor and a very calming influence. 

 Now it was time to head to Shelter Bay Marina, toast our passage with Champagne and to have one of the marina’s famous hamburgers.