Canal transit.
We spent the night at Shelter Bay Marina where we picked up Dagma and our lines and fenders needed for the transit. We started out the next day around midday for the Flats Anchorage where we had to wait for the Canal Advisor to join us. As usual, he was a few hours late, but nothing more than what we expected. Timeliness is not a Panamanian trait. Our first agent was Amador, a very pleasant advisor who was a wealth of information about the Canal and was very helpful. It was very different when we were approaching the canal, navigating in close quarters to some very big ships. But we meandered toward the Gatun Locks, a series of 3 locks to Gatun Lake. It was getting late and it was almost dark as we approached the first lock. We had to raft up to 2 other boats and we were on the port side. Unfortunately, we had to raft up to a boat that had crew that were limited in their ability to tie knots and it was a challenge for us. We were thankful of the extra fenders we had. We had to catch lines on the port side as the line handlers on the shore threw us the monkey fist with the thin line. We then attached our 7/8 lines that were eventually hauled by them to the top of the locks and secure by them. We watched as the gates behind us closed and we said our last goodbye to the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean. Other than the inept crew on the boat beside us, it was an uneventful transit of 3 locks. Once the monkey fist had been thrown to us, we knew what was happening and each lock became easier. We had done some preparation, secured lines, covered the solar panels and tried to mitigate any damage the monkey fists can cause. We have seen that some of the line handlers are good throwers and some just generally need more training. We needed to pull in the lines as the water in the lock rose and Amador took pity on us girls and gave us a hand as needed. He was certainly a gentleman and a scholar. We fed him dinner after the 3rd lock as we motored toward our mooring for the night in Gatun lock. We got to tie up to the biggest mooring block we have ever tied up to with 2 other boats. Unfortunately, one of them was the one we were tied to in the locks and they once again showed a lack of seamanship. Even the canal advisors from their boat and ours were a little miffed (putting it nicely).
The next morning we were up bright and early as we were told to expect the advisor from 0700 onward. Time went on and we were finally under way at 0900 after Roy arrived. We had a 4-hour trip through the lake and through the Culebra Cut to the Pedro Miguel Lock. We had to wait at some point for large LPG tanker to come through, as it was so big even we could not squeeze beside him. It was not a ship that we want to get too close to anyway. We passed many big ships and got to see them, warts and all. Even a flashy cruise ship has many blemishes up close. We arrived at Pedro Miguel Locks and were the first of the slow sailboats. We had pleaded with our advisor Roy all the way that we felt it was unsafe to raft up to our previous buddies and he relented and let us do a 3way raft with a super yacht Fujicap and a small fishing boat on their starboard side. The super yacht was a Japanese boat being delivered to Japan and we nicknamed it Sushi Express. It certainly made life easier as he had a powerful enough motor to control the 3boat raft most of the time. It also cut down on the work as we now had only one line to manage. It made it easier for us to enjoy the afternoon tea they shared with us. We kept the 3-boat raft through the first lock then motored through Miraflores Lake then through the 2 Miraflores Locks. Then we let go and it was truly a welcome to the Pacific Ocean. We motored under the Bridge of the Americas a short way to the Balboa Yacht club where we said good-bye to our wonderful Advisor Roy and gave up our lines and large fenders. It was a great relief to get through without mishap as we have heard all the horror stories. Paul had the hardest part as he had to stay at the helm and follow the advise form the Advisor to ensure our boat stayed safe and off the lock walls. All I had to do was keep everyone fed and watered. We decided to pick up a mooring at the Yacht club for a couple of nights to get ourselves oriented to the area. Dagma left the night we arrived and Chris and Geoff left in the morning. They were all great line handlers and it was fun to have them on board. It was certainly a challenge catering for so many on board but also fun. We spent 2 days getting the boat back together after the rearranging to sleep 5 on our boat. Now we could concentrate on getting everything sorted for our next big trip – the Pacific Puddle Jump.