Panama Canal Day 6

Panama Canal Day! It was only 80 kilometers, but what a day!

Despite having a short amount of sleep, I was up at 6:45 AM! Our ship is sized exactly the largest that it could be to get through the canal. Clearance on either side is just 2 feet. Before we headed through, crew came aboard to assist with the transit. In fact the captain’s job is also taken over.

At the bow, prime viewing spots were already taken by early birds. But I finally discovered a decent one and camped out there for transit of the first locks. The locks on the Pacific Ocean side are called the Gatun Locks, named for the townsite where it was built.

At first was hard to figure out what all the equipment was for and how it was actually working. But then I literally got down on my hands and knees and shot blind through a hole near my feet.

There are 3 locks at Gatun. The first one lifts the ship 27 feet, the second also 27 feet, and the final one is 31 foot lift for a total of 85 feet. The water that raises and lowers the ships comes by gravity from Gatun Lake.

Throughout the day, the humidity and heat were oppressive. As I travelled around the ship, my camera lens would cool in the air conditioned places then fog up as soon as I went outside. I frequently replenished my fluids as I knew how easily I could get heat stroke.

The narrowest part of the Canal is the Culebra Cut, excavated through rock and limestone through the Continental Divide. The land on either side of us was cut like steps or terraces.

To return to sea level at the Pacific Ocean, it was necessary to go down the 85 feet again. This was accomplished through another 3 locks. The first descent was through the Pedro Miguel Lock, which took almost an hour to clear. Then after a brief time on the Miraflores Lake, we entered the final locks, the double Miraflores Lock.

We then reached Panama City, with a skyline dominated by many skyscrapers. After passing underneath the Bridge of the Americas we arrived at the Bay of Panama and the Pacific Ocean in 9 hours.

After being on my feet for much of the day, I came back to put them up for a much needed rest and also to cool off in the comfort of my new room. We shot the sunset at 5:59 PM, then grabbed supper in the buffet rather than go to a formal dining room. There was a mediocre ventriloquist in the Stardust Theater and I left early.

When I got back to the room, there was a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries on the table. I was delighted and sampled one while waiting for Dawn to return. When she did, she read the card of explanation. They had been delivered to our room in error - I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears! We had a good laugh about it (Dawn laughed harder I’m sure!) She went to the guest services to explain what had happened and they told her to enjoy them. So we did indeed, but wondered who was missing their delicious treat.

Tonight we change time zones and get an extra hour of sleep – yeah!