We entered the first lock (Miraflores) at approx. 9am behind a cruise ship. We were pretty close to them and many people were waving and taking pictures of us right below them. In the first set of locks, we were side tied with two lines to a motor vessel that was also side tied to a tug, which was tied to the wall. The tug that was tied to the wall had to do all the work with the lines, pulling in the slack as the water level was raised. This causes a bit of turbulence as the water level raises fairly fast. I’d say the whole process, from when the lock closes and the water fills and then the other side of the locks open, takes about 30 minutes.

I had sent my family a text message telling them that we were at the lock, and my daughter in law, Ashley, was nice enough to take a screen shot from the web cam as we went through. Thanks Ashley!