A highlight! An absolute highlight are the words that I have to describe our entry into the Pacific Ocean.

The photos that I saw in one of the many cruising books that I devoured before casting off the mooring lines in Durban when we started this sailing adventure, were of the locking gates of the Miraflores gates - the gates that open up in front of the yacht to reveal the other side and then closing behind the yacht again, closing off what is left behind. It looked so final, so distant, so - awesome. And when we motored through those gates into the other side, all onboard Prrrfection were ecstatic and jubilant, it is awesome and final, and we have done it.

The formalities before transiting the Canal were easy and completed in less than a day. It started with the admeasurer, Salvador, coming out the yacht, armed with all the necessary information, pamphlets, instructions and forms to be filled in, in order to be cleared for the transit. After the admeasurement was completed, we payed the toll fees ($600) directly at the bank and before 6pm the same day we had our transit date and schedule, 3days later. Every yacht transiting must have 4 hand liners and I employed Alex who works through the Panama Canal Yacht Club and is recommended by them. He proved to be invaluable for his knowledge and willingness to help and I recommend him to any yacht in the process of transiting. We rented the ropes required for the transit from him and he also organised the old tyres, covered in plastic, that we used as fenders during the transit.

On the morning of our transit, which started early, we were boarded by our Canal advisor, another Alex, and at 6.30 am we motored into the first of the three chambers of Gatun Locks, behind a huge ship transporting motor vehicles that was so wide, it fitted in between the two walls, which are 110 ft. apart, with only inches to spare on both sides. Being in such close proximity to a big ship, set off all the alarm bells in my head and the adrenaline started pumping. We were the only yacht transiting and we transited the Canal as a "centre chamber" lockage, which means that the vessel is held in the centre of the chamber by two bow and two stern lines. The procedures were expertly explained to us by Alex, our advisor, and Alex, our expert hand liner showed Riaan, Byron (my son and his school friend who were onboard during their school holidays and were flying back to South Africa in three days time) and Claude "all the ropes". The turbulence as the chamber was pumped full of water, was not as bad as we expected and we were all smiling huge smiles whilst looking down at the level of the water outside the gates from the top of the first lock, after successfully being lifted more than 10 meters by this "water elevator". The smiles however quickly faded and we were jolted back into reality as the big ship in front of us started to throttle forward and as I did not throttle forward fast enough, the current of his wake was 2.89 knots, Prrrfection jolted and strained on the ropes that still held us onto the bollards on the sides. Wearily we proceeded to the second chamber and this time the big ship and Prrrfection were in sync and the procedure went smoothly and uneventful and by the time we reached the third chamber, I was already in my mind trying to slow down the clock in order to stretch out this experience as long as possible. At 9am we were through the Gatun Locks waving at the web cam, feverently hoping that our families back home were watching the transit.

Although the entire canal is 50 miles long from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the distance from the Gatun Lock to Pedro Miguele Lock, the second lock, is only 29 miles and we motored that in 4.5 hours, admiring the scenery of the islands scattered in Gatun Lake and trying to see the crocodiles reputed to live in the water. Mariska and Rochelle prepared a light breakfast for us and as we motored on, meeting ships travelling in the opposite direction, from the Pacific side to the Atlantic side, we were impressed by the well- organised, professional operation run by the Panama Canal Authority. It is also amazing that the building of the canal was inaugurated by the French as far back as 1879. It was also interesting to note the performance of Prrrfection sailing for the first time through fresh water, it felt as though she was dragging her heels in the lower density water.

We had lunch whilst tied to a mooring buoy, Prrrfection was now in a "hurry up and wait" situation. We had to wait for 4 hours before we could proceed into the Pedro Miguel Lock and this time the "water elevator" took us down, from the level of the Gatun Lake which is approximately 29 meters above sea level to Miraflores Lake which is slightly lower than Gatun Lake. The locking down procedure was easy and quickly completed and we motored the last mile to the Miraflores Lock, consisting of two chambers,..........