We had been scheduled to transit on the 20th of March for some time. We were to anchor in 'the flats' and wait for our transit advisor to be dropped off.
The transit advisor is an ACP (Autoridad del Canal de Panamá, or Panama Canal Authority) employee whose job it is to ensure that boats make it through the canal safely and on time. Just after 3:00 PM, a large ACP launch pulled up and our advisor, Ric, hopped on board. Ric sat us down and explained the entire process, complete with diagrams drawn on the back of a sheet of paper.
The canal takes boats over and through a mountain, and so our first step would be to get to Lake Gatun - an artificial lake created by damming the Chagres river. We would cross the Isthmus of Panama on the lake, and then be lowered down to the Pacific on the other side.
Ric explained that we would begin by heading towards the first set of locks (Gatun Locks) and before entering, raft up alongside another sailboat. The two boats would then motor into the locks together. Once inside, workers on the wall would throw thin lines with monkey's fists (a weighted knot) to us. We would tie our strong dock lines to the thin lines (four to a raft, one on the bow and stern of each outside boat) and the workers on the wall would secure them. These lines would keep the boats in the middle of the lock and away from the walls.
After the lock doors closed, it would be our job to take in slack from the lines as the water flowed in and raised the boats. This would be repeated three times (through three chambers) on the trip up.
Our first day went exactly as planned and Ric was very helpful through the entire process. We made it to Gatun lake alongside a sailboat from Seattle named 'Celestial.' After clearing the locks, we tied up to a set of moorings just in time for dinner. Ric was picked up by an ACP launch and headed home. We spent the night on freshwater Gatun Lake. Although supposedly the home of crocodiles, none were seen, so some of us jumped in for a swim before bedtime.
The next morning, Ric showed up just before 6 AM. We untied and began motoring towards the Pacific. It took us about four hours to get to the next set of locks. We crossed the picturesque lake, went through the narrow Gaillard Cut, passed under the Centennial Bridge, and arrived at the Pedro Miguel Locks by 10 AM.
We rafted up with 'Celestial' once more and entered the lock to begin the down-locking process. It was almost identical to the prior days, however, instead of the water entering the lock to lift us, it was drained out to lower us. We repeated this process twice more in the Miraflores locks, and suddenly were in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. We crossed under the Bridge of the Americas and had, in 24 hours, crossed a continent and entered a new ocean.
For those of you who missed the opportunity to watch us transit live, below is a time lapse video taken from the Miraflores webcam.
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