Logbook and Photos

We depart Barillas, El Salvador after a great inland trip to Guatemala followed by a short wait for a favorable weather window to head south on a 3 day passage to southern Costa Rica.  We meet this fishing troller just before crossing the river bar, which is totally benign compared to our harrowing entrance.  Sailing about 10 miles off the Nicaraguan coast, we eventually come to the windy Cabo Santa Elena in northern Costa Rica and the start of another notorious body of water, the Gulf of Papagayo.  Sure enough the wind pipes to 25 knots with gusts to 30, but we reef down our sails and make good time.   A few days later we make a non-eventful night entry into the wide open Drakes Bay, where we are greeted by a light  offshore breeze bringing the sweet earthy smells of jungle flowers and lush foliage. 

We truly have arrived into the jungles of Costa Rica which are rich in wildlife species we have never encountered before, like this bug on Joel's hat that likes to disguise itself as a leaf.  It is very hot and humid so we move slowly as we hike the trails, enjoying the numerous species of monkeys frolicking in the trees just above our heads.    Later, we head up a river in our dinghy and find a natural waterslide for a refreshing late day cool down....ahhhh!    Oh, on shore we also discover La Paloma Lodge, a fabulous looking spot for that remote get-a-way you may have been dreaming of. 

A short overnight run from Drakes Bay, lands us in Golfito where we are happy to be on a dock to celebrate Joel's birthday.  The owner of the marina we are at (K&B Marina) said it was alright to use the oven in their big kitchen rather than try to cook cakes and pizza on Tioga in these extreme temperatures.  Vienna and Rhiannon from s/v Atalanta join Joel and Gerrit in the fun of making their own personal pizzas.    We play some games while the pizza's are cooking, and then all eat hungrily as it had been a long day. We set up the DVD Mr. Bean to play on the large screen at the club house while final cake preparations happen.  It is so hot, the cream won't whip so we pour it over the cake and cherries which are also melting…..what is not melting here!

We clear out of Costa Rica and begin hopping our way south to the Panama Canal.  Isla Parida provides a great anchorage where we run into old friends Carolyn and Bob Mehaffy, aboard s/v Carricklee.  They provide us with a copy the sailing magazine 'Cruising World' (January 04 issue)  where an article of theirs called, 'A Child's Christmas in Paradise', is published  featuring  many cruising families including ours!  

Proceeding south, we stop for a couple of nights in Bahia Honda, where we meet a few locals.   The father of this family paddled out to our boat bringing us some fresh fruit and produce in exchange for some milk and soap (the barter system is alive and well here).  He then invited us to visit his house and meet his wife, Olivia and two children, Kennedy and Melony.  They were in the process of building a kitchen onto their existing home which was very basic but very nice. 

This is the first of many buoys as we enter the Bay of Panama.  Huge tankers and container ships are everywhere, so we must keep a sharp eye out to distinguish between those anchored and those that are underway.   Boats our size are a mere speck compared to their size, and 'Might has Right' out here as they are much less maneuverable!  We are very excited and thankful to be here as we drop our anchor in the Balboa anchorage where vessels waiting to transit the Panama Canal sit.

We enjoyed many busy outings exploring the City of  Panama.  This day found us in the 'Old Town' where many buildings have undergone serious renovations.  This square displayed the busts of many important people involved in the building of the canal.  The one in the front is of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French engineer who built the Suez Canal in Egypt, hired to build a sea level canal in Panama.  Under de Lesseps control, excavation began in 1882 only to be plagued with disease, difficult terrain, and a flawed design, thus bankruptcy occurred and work ceased in 1888.  The dream of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans did not die with the French bankruptcy.  In 1903, negotiations between the United States and Panama brought about a treaty that allowed the US to continue building in 1904 but on a 'lock-canal' system rather than the failed sea level canal plan.  Construction was successfully completed in 1914.  

Prior to our canal transit, we wanted to get a feel for this amazing engineering marvel.  So we took a morning to visit the newly completed Panama Canal Museum at the Miraflores locks.   Miraflores is one of three identically-sized locks (110' x1000') along the 40 mile waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.  The first picture shows the first lock (or last) of Miraflores, with gates at both ends.  The Pacific Ocean is just beyond, so this will be our first lock.  The second picture gives you a closer look at one of the upstream lock gates (there are 6 gates at each end of the canal).    Together, three sets of locks raise a vessel 85 feet up to Gatun Lake where one proceeds 23 miles under power to the other end then 'locks-down" 85' in the opposite ocean, the Atlantic in our case.

The Panama Canal Authority ("PCA") has a great and informative website, well worth a visit, and saves us confusing you further :-)  Go to www.PanCanal.com.

It's an early start on our transit day and by 6:30 am our line handlers (friends from other sailing boats) are on board.   The PCA requires 4 adult 'line-handlers" for each corner of the boat plus the helmsman.  Once in position we must now wait for our call to proceed to the first lock.  All vessels transiting the canal must have either a PCA 'advisor' or 'pilot' on board.  Large vessels actually hand over command (not the helm) of their vessels to the pilot.  As a small yacht (<65') we only have an 'advisor' on board and we retain command and control of our boat.   Here, our advisor, Victor prepares to hop on board to assist us in our transit. 

With a complete crew and advisor on board, we are clear to cross under the Bridge of the Americas and head for the first lock.  The Bridge of the Americas, formerly known as the Thatcher Ferry Bridge, connects North and South America.  Thanks to terrorism, an unauthorized vessel could literally be blown out of the water if they were to proceed under this bridge without proper PCA clearance and a pilot/advisor on board.

In order to maximize space within the canal and get as many boats through as possible, smaller boats such as ours are often rafted together with similar sized boats.  Just before we enter the first lock, Tioga and our friend's boat, Atalanta, are rafted together for the transit.  Each boat's 4 line handlers must be ready to operate two lines from the bow and 2 lines from the stern to secure the boat to the canal walls.  In a rafting situation, where we are all tied together, there are spare line-handlers.

Tioga and Atalanta proceed forward as one unit.  Other multi-boat units are in front and behind us to maximize the available lock capacity.  Atalanta is then tied to a tug boat which has already tied to the canal wall, so we have 3 boats tied side by side.  Everything happens quickly and immediately the water begins to boil as the water rushes in to fill the lock.  For each lock and set of gates, 52 million gallons of fresh water are required, fed by gravity flow from Gatún Lake. 

When the water rushes in, the seagulls shown in the picture patiently waiting on the side of the canal walls get their breakfast as numerous fish are swept to the surface.   Now that's easy pickin's.

Once we have up-locked the required 85', we must then proceed under power for 23 miles heading for Gatun locks at the Atlantic side.  First off, the canal follows a channel dug through the mountains, which was the most difficult part of  building the entire canal.   Called Gaillard Cut, this section of the canal measures 9 miles and traverses the Continental Divide.  Numerous landslides occurred both during and after construction, requiring frequent dredging to keep the canal open. The channel through the cut is 500 feet wide, the narrowest part of the canal.  Once through the Gallaird Cut, we continue across Gatun Lake, which was created by damming the mighty Chagres river, and remains one of the largest artificially created bodies of water in the world.     We successfully complete the crossing of Gatun Lake and arrive at the Gatun locks in time for an afternoon transit out into the Atlantic.  However, to our dismay all the locks have been filled for the day with vessels ahead of us.  Though large vessels transit night and day, sail boats are only scheduled for day time.  We anchor in Gatun Lake, as instructed, and enjoy our evening in a beautiful setting knowing we will complete the transit tomorrow. 

After successfully finding places for our three extra line handlers to sleep on board for the night, a new advisor arrives and we move into the Gatun locks.  Our locking-down the 85 feet through the three locks on this side of  the canal goes smoothly so we manage a crew photo.  From left to right, we have: Gerrit, Chris, Joel, John & Susan (s/v Compania) with Eddy (s/v Shealah) in the foreground, and Sheila.

Here we are, about to enter the Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic ocean side from last lock before the plug is pulled.  The water level is lowered and so are we for the last time.   The locks open and we are successfully in a new body of water!! 

The entire Panama Canal event was a major milestone for us and it also provided yet another great learning opportunity for all of us!  One interesting fact of this entire engineering wonder is that its completion after so many years of hardship went almost unannounced as it occurred within 12 days of the start of WW1 in August of 1914.   Also for you fact hounds, the United States controlled the entire operation until December 31st, 1999 when control was at long last, handed over to the Panamanians. 

Catch you on the other side and the next log!!!

PS - did you know that as early as the 16th century, Europeans dreamed of building a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Spanish kings considered building a canal to carry treasure from their South American colonies back to Spain, but they never tried.