08 April 2013, Panama Canal Transit.

At 2 am in the morning Flamingo Signal Station announced that the pilot boarding time would be 04.30 and that meant heaving up the anchor at 03.30. Flamingo signal is the control tower on the Pacific side that deals with all the Canal Traffic. On the Atlantic side it is called Cristobal Signal Station. Normally it does not take that long but here at Fuerte Amador we are anchoring in almost solid grey sea mud that clings to the chain as a tight fitting glove. So we have to heave the chain in very slowly and spray the mud off with the regular anchor wash (four nozzles) but also with two extra fire hoses handled by the sailors. If we do not do that then we have a few tons of mud going into the chain locker, eventually not leaving enough room for the chain itself. 

Once the anchor was up we slowly moved into the Panama Canal anchorage area, which is also the waiting area for the pilot and the authorities. The authorities were no issue this time, as they had cleared the ship yesterday both for Fuerte Amador and the Panama Canal Transit. The pilot arrived nicely on time and we lined up in the convoy as North 13, heading for the first locks at 06.40. That was nice and early, just during sunrise. It has the great advantage that the guests can see the Miraflores Locks and the Pedro Miguel Locks in the early morning, when it is not so hot and humid yet. We were wedged in between a bulk carrier called the Formosa 16, ahead of us and a car carrier the Sunbelt Spirit behind us.

The Sunbelt Spirit in the Panama Canal. A car carrier is a floating garage and has roughly the same dimensions. A ramp at the stern and in the side give access to the car decks. This one can probably take about 3000 cars.

It was interesting to watch that ship coming to towards the lock gates. We were approaching nice and slow, while she came charging in. That had to do with the fact that these ships have different engines. Ours are made to maneuver in and out of port, but theirs are configured to have optimum efficiency on the long ocean crossings.

As a result their dead-slow ahead speed is 5 or 6 knots while ours is less than a knot if needed. Thus they approach with their slowest speed of 5-6 knots and when coming very close, the pilot uses a tugboat (made fast in the centre aft) to put the brakes on. At bit disconcerting to see but a safe operation to carry out. So when we moved from lock to lock, the Sunbelt Spirit came charging around the stern each time, lined up next to us only to fall behind us again when in the locks. Once through the Miguel Locks we sailed through the canal with 8 to 10 knots bringing us toward the final locks at noon time.

Because Formosa 16 kept up a nice pace we could follow and started to go ahead of the schedule. Something I had been hoping for so I would be able to arrive a bit earlier in Cartagena. The Caribbean Sea is a very wobbly affair at the moment and if I can arrive a bit earlier and leave a bit earlier, it will help with our journey through the Caribbean. It all worked out and although it was a very windy happening we managed to keep the schedule up and by 1500 hrs. we were in the Pacific.

Apart from the wind, it has been a most perfect transit, with dry weather, mainly overcast skies, good views and a lot of interesting ships around. Apart from the sights of the Canal itself of course. The new locks are really coming along and the locks walls are starting to rise higher and higher. A lot of work is also going on, on the sides of the locks, to make sure that the soil that separates the old canal from the new approaches is sufficiently strong to deal with the surge caused by the ships coming by. So tonight we are crossing the Colombian Basin that curve in the bend where Panama comes up from the South American continent. There is an influx of wind from the North East which is blowing quite strongly. We will be under its influence for most of the night until we come under the Columbian coast. Not bad weather, just bumpy. That should bring us to the pilot station of Cartagena at 07:30 and if the Island Princess is on time we will follow her in, as she is scheduled for 07:00 hrs. That will bring us all to the dock at about the same time. It is going to be busy with tour busses.