Transiting the Panama Canal 18 March 2024.
I was woken at about 3.30am by the American boat next door called Downshifter which was supposed to be meeting a pilot at 4.00am at the anchorage outside called the flats. I got up and sat on a chair on the back and watched them depart and then went back to bed. They were apparently going through the canal in one day –which would be a long day. We were due to meet our own pilot at 11.30am at the flats anchorage. I went back to bed and got up about 7.00am.
It was a grey morning and we had breakfast and made sure everything was ready. We left our mooring about 9.45am and went out to the flats anchorage and anchored. We then looked over a very industrial landscape with lots of large cargo ships anchored and then lots of cranes and container ship ports. There were a number of boats moving and we were only quarter of a mile from the breakwater. The weather improved and it was sunny and warm.
The pilot arrived at about 12.10pm and he introduced himself as Maurice. We were due to go into the Gatun locks behind an oil tanker called Kneed Reefer who had just started to move into the channel in front of us. It was bright red but with a cream top. Maurice told me to move into the channel behind it and to go about 8kts. He explained that as it passed the big bridge ahead of us it would begin to slow down. He said that behind the tanker in the locks would be two canal pilot boats and then we would be behind on our own. Maurice had a large iPad type device which was I suppose was like a big chart plotter.
We followed the Kneed Reefer and within 1 nmile of the first lock of the Gatun lock it started to slow down. The channel area was narrowing and we had seen various wrecks near the side. We had to stop, reverse, go slowly forward and to do these types of manoeuvres for some time. We had to wait for a large ship to come out of the Northbound lock and there was no room either side of it. Quite how it fitted into the lock I do not know. Eventually Kneed Reefer went into the first lock and then the two pilot boats which were tied together and then I was asked to move forward.
Maurice explained about various currents in the lock and that initially we will go close to the west wall where the canal workman would throw their lines with a monkey’s fist (knot with a ball bearing on the end). Our line handlers on board would then tie the 125-foot blue lines we had hired to the throw lines which would then be hauled up and put on a bollard on the top of the canal wall. We would then move starboard toward the east wall and the canal workmen would do the same for the starboard lines.
We moved forward toward the lock and were about 25-30 feet from the wall. Charles and Keith were on the bow and Angus and Mark were on the stern. The monkey’s fist came over and it hit the bottom of the dinghy which was on the deck at the front. The near one came over and was grabbed and in respect of both lines a bowline was tied to the 125-foot lines and the canal workmen hauled them up to the top of the lock. Maurice said go across to starboard and then the two monkey’s fists came over from the starboard wall and bowlines were tied to each of them. We moved further forward into the lock and Maurice then told me to stop. The canal workmen then put the four blue 125-foot lines on to bollards on the top of the lock. Mark, Angus, Charles and Keith who were on one line each on one of the four corners of the boat took up the slack. The idea being that when the boat was buffeted by the water the four lines if taught would hold us in position.
The lock doors began to close behind us and they were huge. The last 6 inches took a while to close. We then saw the water start to bubble around us as they let millions of water into our lock. The guys had to gradually tighten and take in on their lines as the water level rose so we could keep the boat in the same position. I guess this took about 10 minutes. Once the water stopped moving things calmed down. We then saw the Kneed Reefer slowly moved forward and it was attached to two little trains called mules. Kneed Reefer used its engine, but the mules helped as well. The pilot boats in front of us moved forward. The canal workmen then came back and took the blue lines off the bollards and we hauled them back on board, but the throwing lines were still attached. The workmen then walked forward with their lines as Stormbird moved forward and into the second large lock. Kneed Reefer was in front and so were the pilot boats. We moved forward until we were told to stop and then the workmen pulled on their lines and took back the blue lines and put them on bollards. We had to wait a bit until a tanker coming the other way went into their lock as the idea was that when they let that ship down, they would use the same water to raise us up.
The second lock filled up and we held well and then the same process occurred. Kneed Reefer moved forward into the third lock and as did the pilot boats. We then moved forward with the workmen giving our lines back but holding on to the throwing lines whilst they walked forward to the next lock. They then gave us them back when we were in the right position in the third lock.
We went through the same procedure for the third lock and then when we moved forward, we took back our 125-foot lines. We had done it – we had been raised 26.5 nm (87 feet). We moved forward into what is called the Gatun Lake. This seemed quite and became more attractive as we moved forward. This was a large expense of water with little islands dotted around and trees and jungle ashore. There was a clearly marked channel with buoys. We followed Kneed Reefer who speeded up and we were left behind. We motored for some two hours through this attractive lake following the buoyed channel and enjoying the sun and scenery. We saw vultures and other birds of prey. Maurice told us that there were lots of crocodiles and they sat on the banks. After about an hour we looked across to a bank on our port side and there was an enormous crocodile sitting there with its mouth open. Hmm -no swimming later!!.
We continued on until the sun began to come down and we came to a large red buoy which Maurice said we should moor against with a central line and a spring (line which stops you going back or forward) line from the bow and stern so three lines in total. Once moored Maurice got off on to a pilot boat and we thanked him. He had been charming and polite and his English was excellent. He had been on a cargo ship for 4 years and then had been a tugboat captain in the canal before coming a pilot. He had been very informative and helpful and a great pilot. We were lucky as many have reported the adviser/pilots have been bored and uninterested.
I had given out details of webcams on the locks and had various messages as we were going through the three Gatun Locks from those watching and some pictures. It appears that it was a bit difficult to see us or in any detail.
Mark cooked a Patti type supper which we eat in the dark and which was very tasty. It had been a long day and we have to do the second half tomorrow. Charles used the torch and thought he saw crocodile eyes shining back in the dark. We were all quite tired, but it had been a very interesting and challenging day and we have been lucky to experience this. Time for bed.
Our pilot is due to come to us at 9.45am so we should be in the Pacific locks by about 12.30pm we should be through the 3 locks by about 3.00pm.
Opportunity for any Readers/Sailors.
In late May 2024 we shall be in the Marquesas in French Polynesia, and we will then move through to the Tuomoto’s before getting to Tahiti about the end of July 2024. There may be some space on Stormbird during this period should any sailor/reader be interested in joining for this period or part of it in what must be one of the most distant and beautiful places in the world. If there is any interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
The blog will continue as we head off to Panama and beyond.
If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk