Panama and The Canal Day 8
Panama and The Canal
Day 08 - Sunday, December 19, 2010 - Begin Daylight Transit of the Panama Canal-Bridge of the Americas-Cruise Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks
Our day began at 5:30 when the crew raised the anchor for our 5 mile trip back to the Canal Zone. We waited in the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. All procedures and timelines are dependent on the availability of Canal Authority pilots.
We were scheduled to welcome our pilot at 7:30 but he did not arrive. We had breakfast at 7:30 and about 8:20 a Panamanian Canal Authority (ACP) boat arrived bringing our pilot so we could begin our journey through the canal.
Gennie and I stayed on the bridge taking pictures and talking with the pilot, our Captain, and Hector who is the First Mate and learning the procedures for navigating the canal. It was warm and sunny at 78º with the humidity at 91%.
We passed the container yard where they load and unload ships that are too large to go through the canal and ships that are transferring cargo. How tiny our boat looked compared to the huge cargo ships.
At 9:00 we began our own transit by cruising beneath the soaring Bridge of the Americas. We were guided into the left gate and were “up-locked.” Our ship was not large enough to necessitate being pulled by the electric locomotives or mules.
The canal crew secured the Discovery with two lines as we were closed in the lock. Our transit number was N 21CZ; all north bound traffic is N and an odd number. The southbound are assigned an S and an even number.
As the water level raised us 54 feet in the two Miraflores locks and evened out, we had a wonderful view of the surrounding areas and the Visitor’s Center where we were a few days ago. We passed through the Miraflores locks in only 20 minutes and made our way north.
The next set of locks was the Pedro Miguel Lock, and we were lifted another 31 feet on our journey through these engineering marvels. We had an excellent view of the excavation for the new locks.
There was a delay at Pedro Miguel. Our Captain told us that the Lockmaster controls the amount of water dumped from the culverts. This regulates the amount of time it takes to fill the lock.
A huge car container holding 3,500 vehicles was going through on the right lock. We waited until given permission to enter our gate. Time is money in this business and the largest of the ships have priority because of the price they pay for passage.
We traveled under the Centennial Bridge, which was damaged in the recent rains and is not expected to be open again until repairs are completed in several months. As we crossed the Continental Divide we noted the buoys changed. They were red on the right and green on the right, now just the opposite.
Navigating the Gaillard Cut or Culebra Cut; the narrowest section of the canal that bisects the Continental Divide, Ian, our ship naturalist, told us the history of the original construction. The passage was named for the American who oversaw its design and then died just before it opened.
The crew planned on a BBQ for lunch but because of the weather, they cooked indoors. We can certainly attest to the high quality of food we were told we would have on the Discovery. We had lunch as we cruised the channel and the long straight-aways called reaches.
The drivers and the boats from the Gamboa Rainforest Resort came after us at 3:00 for a nature boat ride on Gatun Lake. Although it was a little dark with heavy cloud cover, we saw many birds and other animals.
The list of critters we saw included snail kites, iguanas, osprey, brown pelicans, two-toed sloth, Central American Spider Monkeys, little blue heron, turkey vultures, three-toed sloths, mangrove swallows, yellow back oriels, and social fly-catchers.
Gatun Lake was created during the construction of the canal by damming the Chagres River. As we criss-crossed the lake we noticed it is very silted and high from the recent storms. We were caught in a torrential rain storm on the way back to the Discovery. All of us were soaked to the skin when we got home.
Before dinner, everyone gathered in the lounge for happy hour and we joined them for space to type the journal and peruse our photos from the day.
For dinner it was “Pasta Night” and Gennie and I shared the chicken and seafood sauce to have a taste of both. Ian gave us a lecture on more aspects on the history of the Spanish in the isthmian area and the building of the canal and the importance of the Chagres River.
We have noticed this part of the canal is much cleaner. Although Panama is beginning to be more aware of conserving this area, the canal, the expansion for the new locks, and the pollution along the river is evident.
The Discovery dropped anchor for the night at Gatun Lake. With no moon or stars because of the cloud cover and no city lights the night was very dark. We got to sleep early as we had spent a little of our free time working on photos and the journal during the day.
Accommodations: Discovery Northbound Cruise - - - Meal: B, L, D
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Comments
Captain Orlando and Pilot
Cranes and Container Ship
Pedro Miguel Locks
Building New Locks Panama Canal
Spider Monkey
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