04 April 2012; Panama Canal.

As usual it was a bright and early start with my telephone ringing at 03.30 with the wakeup call. When I arrived on the bridge it was a very nice morning, overcast, but no wind and with lots of ships around. The majority at the anchorage but also with ships approaching, ships coming out of the Panama Canal and traffic and in out of the container port of Manzanillo next to the Panama Canal entrance. It kept us all on the bridge happily occupied trying to figure out the best way of getting through it all. The air was full of conversations with varying degrees of understandable English spoken. Chinese English, Panamanian English and a very Greek voice that sounded as if its owner had been eating gravel for breakfast and had then washed it down with a least a litre of Scotch. As requested we entered the breakwater at 0500 hrs only to find our way blocked by a enormous dredger. We could not miss it, as it was lit up like a Christmas tree but Cristobal signal Station only advised to keep clear of it after I had already done so. We had been made aware of its existence by a rather heated exchange over the VHF between the Skipper of the Dredge and the Panama Canal Control about sitting on one side of the Canal fairway or on the other. When we entered the breakwaters it had just moved to the West, so we sailed by on the East side and then we drifted while the whole clearance routine took place. Boarding Officer, Fumigation Officer (disappointed again as we did not have Yellow Fever, nor cockroaches nor rats on board) Panama Canal Technician, Ships Agent, narrator and then finally the Pilot. 

With him on board we could slowly move towards the first locks while downstairs the necessary stamps were set on the necessary paperwork and no doubt a check was made with the Bank so see if we had paid our $ 199,437,47 for the crossing. We were scheduled for the first locks at 06.15 but it was nearly 063.30 before we went inside, as ahead of us were two Panamax Car Carriers which took a long long time to get in and out of the Locks. The wider the ships, the slower the water flows in and out and the longer it takes to move them. From then on it went nice and smooth. We had the option to wait at anchor for an hour and to go fast through the canal; or go slow and omit anchoring. I have learned my lesson here in the past, you always try to keep going as it might even give you the chance to get earlier in the locks somewhere and overtake a slow boat while doing so. So with the “warp speed” of seven knots we trundled through the Gatun Lake while the weather was getting better and better. We did have drizzle while in the Gatun Locks, but by the time we arrived at the Miraflores Locks the sun had come out and it was getting very warm. By this time we were running ahead of schedule and in the end we were out of the Canal 90 minutes early. That meant that we were well and good in open waters again by 1600 hrs. My day ended two hours later, after some dedicated email deleting and paper shuffling. Tonight we will have an hour back and I am sure that I will enjoy that in bed.

The Statendam in the Miraflores Locks. Next to us one of the big car carriers. (Photo: courtesy of Chief Engineer Bonnie Galama. As our ECR does not have any windows, the only way he can keep an eye on what I am doing in the Canal is scrutinize the Web Cams. With a transit, the CE is downstairs all the time in the same way that I am upstairs all the time.)

Today, for some reason, we were surrounded by car carriers. Ahead of us were two and behind us was another so by the time we were out of the Canal it was a whole parade of boxy-boats with only one having balcony’s to show the difference. We estimated that if the car carriers were full, there must have been around 15,000 cars through the Canal at this time. However looking at the draft marks and at their route (all heading for China and Japan) there was good reason to believe that they were empty and running in ballast.

Tonight we will sail along the South Coast of Panama and then tomorrow afternoon we will do some sightseeing in Golfo Dulce. That is part of Costa Rica, where we will first stop at Golfito to embark the local authorities. They will clear the ship for this scenic cruising and at the same time for Tomorrow. They will do that while we sail through the Bay and we will disembark them on the way out. The weather looks very good again, little or no wind, the question is just will it rain or not as the rainy season is starting.