Joining the World Arc means they handle all the logistics on crossing the Panama Canal. There's alot of costs and paperwork involved in doing so.

Panama Canal Fees

Since the World Arc covers all that (we all paid a fee to join the World Arc), all we had to do was wait for our transit date. That means, working on more boat chores and making some meals for the advisors (each yacht has one, depending on size, and we have to provide them 3 HOT meals and bottled water). Todd got main halyard back on. Ashish also went ½ up the mast and took photos. Todd got 2 more jerry cans of diesel. Bob and Martha (from Salinity) arrived at 2pm – additional linehandlers. We were provided fenders (3 round ones) and lines (4 blue lines). We prepped all the lines and fenders in both sides of the boat - and we used ALL our fenders. Suzana saw us off by 3pm and we left the marina/dock. Boats are to meet at The Flats, anchorage just outside Shelter Bay Marina. We didn’t even get to anchor as our advisor arrived (Rick). Each yacht has an advisor (dropped off by water taxi) and each raft has a lead advisor.

The Panama canal is roughly 37 miles long, most of which is the waterway of Lake Gatun and Culebra Cut between the trios of locks at each end. Entering from the Caribbean side, three sequential chambers of the Gatun locks lift vessels up around 90ft.

When the lock doors close and water level changes, line handlers tension (or loosen) the lines according to the adviser’s instructions. It’s harder than it sounds and requires close attention.

We were rafted starboard side with Entre Nous (in the middle, a power cat and one of the World Arc boats) and a monohull, Salamander. Our raft remained intact through the first three locks, then separated. We arrived in Lake Gatun in the dark and Arjun jumped in the mooring ball to tie us off (moored starboard side). Dinner was pasta with a cheese platter. Rick left right after dinner and we stayed up and talked. We spent the evening at Lake Gatun.

Day 1 Crossing

February 2
Out of bed by 5:30am to prep breakfast – breakfast burritos. Arjun, who started the evening sleeping on the nets, ended up in the saloon as it rained a bit overnight. Moi, our advisor, arrived at 7/7:30am then we started our SLOW and LONG journey to the locks. We proceeded through the cut towards the Pacific side locks. This was the longest part of the transit, a time for us to relax and enjoy a meal and snacks. 7 hours later (2:30pm), we arrived at Miraflores Locks and we are solo this time. Linehandling was only in the starboard side so all fenders were there. This time around, water is going down. 3 locks later, we arrived in the Pacific. We took pictures as we went under and crossed the Bridge of the Americas. We made it to La Playita Marina at 5:30pm! Suzana and Paul (World Arc yellow shirts) were there to meet us, help tie lines, and had cold beers for us. What a day!

Day 2 Crossing

The adviser isn’t the captain – you’re still responsible for boat and crew –but our number one takeaway to transit safely is that it’s essential to work tightly with the adviser. They understand the lock conditions: some instructions may seem odd, like directions to turn the boat to point towards a lock wall, but it’s for a reason.