Blog #3

Where does one begin.............

It's Saturday March 09, 2013. The boat is packed to the brim with food, spare parts locker has everything we can think of, the boat has been measured for the Panama Canal transit, Ron has acted as the "agent" for the transit and has paid the proper fees, food has been prepared ahead of time, we have gotten three other sailors to be our line handlers plus me, the 4 - 125 foot lines have been rented along with the twelve tires that have been hung off the side of the boat acting as huge fenders if needed. We are scheduled to leave the dock at 3:00 pm and anchor in the "flats" waiting for our Advisor to come on board and take us through the Gatun Locks (three chambers that each rise about 27 feet). The adventure begins! The Canal lifts us up 81 feet on the Atlantic side and then we need to motor 30 miles at this level, on Gatun Lake, until we get to the Pacific side where we are locked down the same amount.

The advisor arrives around 6:30 pm and we weigh anchor and start the process while crossing our fingers and hoping that all goes well. Arriving at the Gatun Locks in total darkness, we are pleasantly surprised to see we will be behind a small freighter, maybe 600 feet long, in the locks. We will be center chambered which is the best that it can get. We are basically going by ourselves instead of being nested or rafted up with one or two other vessels. Our lines are ready, line handlers are ready and the skipper is really ready. We slowly motor into the first lock waiting for the monkey fists to be thrown. Two on each side and all are received without any problems. The line handlers tie off the smaller line to our 1-inch, 125 foot line and we continue to motor forward. As we get positioned, the canal personnel begin pulling up the small line to get the larger line that we have secured to the cleats on Always Saturday. We have already tied a 3-foot loop in the end of each line so it can be secured onto the bollards on top of the sidewalls. We wait for the gates to close and the water to begin rising. Water rushes in about 3 feet per minute, we rise and we begin to take up the slack on the lines to keep Always Saturday centered in the lock. The entire process takes about 20 minutes and then the gates open. The larger vessel motors out and we are close behind. The larger lines are taken back on board Always Saturday but the smaller lines are walked to the next lock. We are off again to do the same thing over two more times behind Costa Rican Star. We have completed the first set of locks and all has gone well. We are now on our way to find a mooring and spend the night on Gatun Lake. Our Advisor is taken off the boat and we settle into the evening waiting for the new Advisor to arrive at 6:30 am.

Our new Advisor arrives at 6:15 am......breakfast anyone? The crew is fed underway and we spend the next five hours chatting and sharing various canal transit experiences while we motor for 28 miles to the next set of locks. Keep in mind we are only going 5 knots so it does take awhile to get there.

The Advisor is very chatty with interesting tales of his experiences working on the Panama Canal. We are on our way to the Pedro Miguel Lock which is one down and then to the Miraflores Locks which is two down. Same thing as going up but only in reverse but a bit trickier as there seems to be much more current in and out of the locks and the final lock is mixed with fresh water from Gatun Lake and the Pacific Ocean. Interesting combination.

All in all we completed the transit with no misfortune. The Advisor is picked up by his "chase" boat and we drop the lines and tires off at the nearby Yacht Club along with the crew. I know it was a long 24 hours for all us. We drop anchor late in the afternoon on Sunday and we toast and give a big high five. Well earned for both of us. This has been truly an experience of a lifetime...taking your own boat through the Canal. Glad we are on to our next adventure!