PANAMA CANAL - Bucklist ✅

A Panama Canal transit has long been on my bucket list and what an amazing experience it was, beginning with a 6:00 am wake-up to view the approach to the canal from the Atlantic Ocean side.

Great Grandpa John Newell Evans made the transit in 1864 at the age of 18 years. When he arrived at the port of Colon the jungle reached to the shores of the ocean. Nine years earlier a rail line had been constructed to cross the Isthmus of Panama. Many rail construction workers lost their lives to tropical diseases, snake bites, crocodiles and utter heat exhaustion. Fifty years later and countless more deaths a canal system was opened to pass ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is, to this day, an engineering marvel beyond description.

New bridge under construction at Colon, where the first of our family arrived from Wales in 1864.

My camera could not capture the vast scope of vessels in waiting to clear the canal. On the approach we were amazed at the huge bridge under construction connecting the land mass on the Atlantic side. As our ship approached Colon, I counted 25 freighters waiting for passage and that was only on the starboard side; many more waited on the port side. Inside the protective reef more vessels waited a turn and at least one unfortunate ship had capsized before it’s journey began.

It was fascinating to watch the tiny pilot boat come alongside to offload several pilots needed to guide the ship. Not only were pilots offloaded but also boxes of pumpkins for Halloween perhaps or maybe pumpkin soup. BTW the soup served on board is the best we have ever tasted - different options each day. I want all the recipes. Civilians were also offloaded; they came on board to offer Panama souvenirs as the ship does not dock at a Panamanian port on this ship. The transfer between massive cruise ship and tiny pilot boat is precarious and dangerous.

Once the pilots came aboard the pumpkins were loaded.

We commenced our transit about 6:30am and completed it eleven hours later as we passed under the Bridge of the Americas just as the sun was setting.. This fascinating day began with room service breakfast to enable us to capture as much of the action as possible.

So lovely to be pampered

Some time was spent during the day exploring the outside decks to capture views of the ship's progress from different angles but mostly we got the best view from our stateroom veranda, from which I hung a Canadian flag. We sat back and took in the action, receiving friendly waves from many travelers going in the opposite direction in the west-east channel.



RP displaying our flag

DS, who took the above photo, is right next door

I will post photos of our journey with brief captions explaining the process. It really is not possible to describe all that we witnessed. The experience is best done in person. Put it on your bucket list family and friends.

We pretty much smiled like this the entire day. Awesome experience - beyond words!

We did the transit via the original Gatun locks. There are two channels which accommodate transit in both directions. Recently a third, wider channel with longer locks was opened to accommodate mega sized ships. The new channel is not as obvious from the Atlantic side but we did get a view from the Pacific side. We also saw one crocodile in the murky waters, looking like a floating log, well camouflaged.

Approaching the port channel of the canal, sailing east to west



Rowers preparing to attach tow lines to keep the ship centered in the channel

Our ship needed tow lines attached to the bow and the stern to maintain a constant center position for the first three locks of the canal. For decades this process has been done by two workers in a small rowboat. They carry the tow ropes to the ship in their miniscule boat. The distance between the ship and edge of the channel is only a few feet. We are astounded at the dangerous operation but the captain assured us this is and has always been the most efficient way to secure the vessels. The brave rowers received thunderous applause from the spectators onboard.

A we entered the port channel a large freighter prepared to enter the starboard channel.
We encountered several freighters travelling east as we made the west bound journey.

Ready to start the journey to the immense man-made lake that spans the Isthmus of Panama

This large freighter received tugboat assistance to enter the west-east channel alongside us;
between the channels there are many propane powered engines used for guiding the vessels in transit



Travel Time Pals next door

MS Regatta made the transit through the 3 Gatun locks and then anchored in the lake.





      

A tropical rainstorm and blustery gales blurred the view of islands in the lake but did not deter
the hardy Canadians from viewing all the afternoon activity 

A couple of hours were spent anchored waiting the final stage of transit through the two Milafore locks to the Pacific Ocean. The view at times was hazy and we got a little wet but watch we did, every nautical mile of the way.

End of the line for the Gatun Locks

The small silver engine worked diligently for hours to get our ship to the end of the line near the Pacific Ocean.

It was exhilarating as we passed beneath the Bridge of the Americas at sunset. Things certainly did not look like this when Great Grandpa John and my father visited this part of the world in 1864 and 1943 respectively.

BRIDGE OF THE AMERICAS

Panama City had a luring stateliness to it through the raindrops but we could not stop ashore.

Cheers to the Panama from the Travel Time Pals

To celebrate our journey we watched the sun set on Panama City and drank a toast to the ancestors who made the transit decades ago. Dad, at age 19 years, on his way to in the North Atlantic experienced his first Singapore Sling in a sleazy bar between the Americas. Cheers! as we sampled the same beverage 74 years later, although the Horizons Lounge on the Regatta could hardly be classified as sleazy.

Panama City - October 21, 2017

We are off to explore another part of our world, the Central Americas.