Here we are entering the final of the three locks up to Gatun Lake.

We had a close call on separating ourselves from the yacht, Sabbatical, which we were rafted alongside. After we had cleared the final lock the pilot called for the spring lines to be cast off. The bow person on Sabbatical cast off the bow line instead, which caused Sabbatical to peel off toward the wall of the lock. Her stern and one spring line were still connected to us and the lines went bar tight as our bows pulled away from each other and our sterns looked like they would collide. It would not have been pretty as Sabbatical is steel and we are fiberglass. Not to mention she carries an externally mounted wind vane steering on her transom. Fortunately we were able to slow down quickly which gave us an instant of slack in which we cast off all lines and were finally separated with no collision or damage...just a good scare.

We motored to the mooring buoy and prepared to tie alongside it as it is made for large ships not small yachts. Andrew volunteered to jump on to the mooring buoy to secure us. It seems that the mooring buoy is also very popular with birds. Good for him he did not slip as we here the alligators are very large in the lake. We will spend the night here before crossing the lake and locking down in to the Pacific again.