Panama Canal – Transit to the Pacific

Panama declared independence from Colombia in 1903, helped by the US, which led to a speedy and clandestine treaty with America to start building the Canal.   A large tract of land on either side of the proposed canal was handed to the US, an agreement that happened without consulting the population of Panama.   Over the next 10 years more than 75,000 people worked on building the canal costing almost $400 million.   At the time of construction, the dam that flooded Rio Chagres to form Gatun Lake was the largest earthworks dam ever built, forming the largest man-made lake in the world.  

We were excited about the next part of our journey, taking us from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean and all that lay in our way was the passage from Bocas to Shelter Bay Marina, and the start of the administration booking process to secure a date to transit.     We were expecting 20knots of wind on the beam and messy seas with 2-3m waves.     Once we left the protection of the islands, the sea started to build and current was sweeping us along at a fast pace as we set Hilda, the hydrovane and prepared for a fast sail east.   Suddenly a large bang shook the boat and our heartbeat sprang to life as quickly as we jumped up to try to work out what had happened.   A bolt had sheered off the bottom of the hydrovane so the rudder was starting to separate from the boat.   We hove too, stopping the boat and Steve climbed over the side to remove the heavy hydrovane rudder as we bounced in the confused sea.    Now underway again, we decided to hand steer to save our batteries, instead of turning on the autopilot.   

We continued at a fast pace all night, arriving at the buoyed channel in front of the seawall as the sun came up.   We wove our way through the numerous anchored tankers, waiting their turn to pass through the canal, received permission to enter the port, pulled down the mainsail and proceeded under jib only through the channel as the wind blew at over 30knots and waves crashed high on the seawall either side of us.    We called Shelter Bay Marina on the radio and received very precise information on how to negotiate the entrance, our allocated berth and instructions on how we should proceed and prepare.   We were impressed, as we had never had such efficient, precise and clear instructions from a marina before!    As we pulled into our berth we were welcomed by several old friends – more people than will probably be there to catch our lines when we arrive in NZ!   Our friends on Zelda had rescued TT, who we had left in The San Blas on Christmas Day by accident, and we were happily reunited on arrival in Shelter Bay Marina. It felt great to see so many familiar faces and join a family of friends who could provide us with all the information we needed to prepare for our bureaucratic journey as we start the booking process to transit.  

When transiting the canal it is possible to complete all the necessary paperwork and fees without an agent, saving up to $500, but as we had joined the Pacific Posse (group of boats sailing across the Pacific this season), we were able to get a good discount on an agent, so had already been in contact with one.   Before a transit date can be confirmed, the boat needs to be officially measured to make sure we do not exceed 60ft in length – a hard task for a 43ft boat!    We eventually got a date to be measured, four days after we had arrived, and spent about an hour with the measurer, answering numerous questions before being issued with our unique identification number (SIN).   We were later visited by the agent who we repeated our desire to have a transit date of 19 February, as a friend was arriving from NZ on 18^th.   As our desired date was 10 days away, and other boats were waiting only seven days for their transit, he did not see this as a problem but would confirm in the morning.   

We had arranged to join our friends on Avanti to help them as line handlers on their transit through the canal and they had been allocated a spot leaving at 3am.   Next morning we left the marina at 2.30am, meeting an advisor who jumped on board from an expertly captained pilot boat as we rocked in the heavy seas.    We rafted up alongside a small catamaran and together we proceeded through the six locks, separating as we motored 20NM through Gatan Lake.  

Along the way we contacted our agent to ask for confirmation of our transit date…… We were told we had been confirmed for 23 February, and I immediately responded saying this was not acceptable, particularly as other friends who had arrived after us, had been allocated dates well ahead of 23^rd!     It then transpired that our measurements papers had been put into the tray of the person allocating dates, upside down, so had been missed…….!    Happily, after numerous messages and phone calls, we were eventually allocated 19 February but it did cause a few unhappy hours as we tried to come up with solutions!  

We left Avanti anchored in the Pacific after spending a night with them in their lovely boat, catching the bus back to Colon in time for the free bus back to Shelter Bay Marina.   While we waited on deliveries and continued to prepare the boat for our Pacific crossing, I helped other friends on Zelda transit this time staying overnight in Gatan Lake, moored to a large cushioned buoy in the north of the lake.

Our date was fast approaching.  We had provisioned, filling our cupboards with non-perishables as we stocked up on everything we would need to cross the Pacific and back to NZ.   I felt like we were a mini grocery store as we had so much food stored in every nook and cranny just needing to top up and buy fresh fruit and vegetables before leaving on our passage.   The big topic of discussion around the boats preparing to transit through the canal was the food menu for the advisor!   In addition to having four linehandlers, all boats need to have an advisor on board when transiting the canal and we were instructed to make sure they were well fed with hot food and cold drinks.   We heard rumours of a boat which offered substandard food to the advisor, who responded by calling for a takeaway.  The food wasn’t expensive but delivering it to the yacht in the canal was another matter and the yacht was presented with a bill for $400!  

The day before we were due to go through the canal, our good friend Kim arrived from NZ and we met her, along with our sailing friends from Altimate, Norbet and Sabine, in Colon – our crew for the transit was complete.   The agent came, relieved us of our $2500 fee and delivered lines and fenders for the next day.  We had been notified our transit would take place over two days with an overnight stay in Gatan Lake, meeting our advisor in the anchorage area close to the entrance to the marina.   We said our goodbyes to the many people we had met and spent time with during our two weeks in the marina, reversed out of our berth and started our transit to the Pacific.   

Our crossing was a wonderful experience.   We saw crocodiles on the banks of the canal, enjoyed great company, ate well and celebrated our safe arrival in the Pacific – a major milestone in our journey home.    We dropped the hook in Las Brisas anchorage with a backdrop of Panama city’s impressive skyline and farewelled Norbet and Sabine.    Kim was with us and we were going to make the most of her visit, wanting to explore and discover new places together and give her a taste of our life afloat…..