From the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, via the Panama Canal

Friday 6 May – our once in a lifetime experience started today! 

After having been given special big round fenders and thick blue ropes for the 4 line handlers on the bow and stern.   We left Shelter Bay Marina at 2.00pm and made our way into the queue for our 4.15pm slot going through the first of three locks, the Gatun Lock, en route through to the Pacific Ocean.  Lawrence our Advisor came on board, he will help guide us through the Lock to the Gatun Lake where we will anchor for the night.

Salanjo was rafted between another Catamaran and a yacht, and on a lovely sunny afternoon, we slowly made our way under the striking Puente Atlantico  (Atlantic Bridge) towards the entrance to the Gatun Lock on the Atlantic side of the Canal, passing a couple of crocodiles lazing on the rock in the sunshine in the process!  We were following Nordic Ami, a small tanker, which was fortunate for us as some of the cargo ships are so huge and full of containers, if we’d been unlucky enough to be behind one of these, we would have had our view severely impacted.

We entered the first of the three narrow chambers and the huge steel doors closed behind us and slowly, slowly the water started to rise, gushing around us and lifting us up so we could eventually see over the top of the gates and back to where we had come from, looking a lot lower than us – it was an amazing experience!  On the right of us we could see a huge cargo ship, one of the Evergrande Lines (you will recall it was one of their fleet that blocked the Suez Canal last year), passing by us in the opposite direction, laden with containers.  The large vessels are pulled along by electric locomotives, called mules, two on each side of the lock chamber.

We asked Lawrence where the live webcam cameras were located, and he showed us the tower above the second chamber.  How thrilling it was for Jo to get a text from her son Peter in Colombia and husband Earl, in Auckland, to say that they could see Salanjo going through – Peter even sent us a photo with us highlighted on it! 

We made sure to give them a good wave as we sailed slowly past.  Through the third chamber and out into the Gatun Lake we sailed just as the sun was setting and we tied up on our allocated buoy for the night.   The skies surrounding us in each direction were totally different, from sunset and pink on one side to dark and rolling grey cloud on the other, which culminated in a huge downpour, fortunately when our day’s work was complete and Lawrence’s boat had just come to pick him up.  A few drinks were then in order to talk about the wonder of what we had just been through.

Saturday 7 May – up early and today’s Advisor, William, came aboard at 7.00am to join us for breakfast and guide us through the Pedro Miguel Locks, the Miraflores Lake and the Miraflores Locks and out into the Pacific. It’s another beautiful day and incredible to think that we are sitting on a man-made lake, listening to birdsong, admiring beautiful, lush foliage and are sandwiched between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans!  Once again, we rafted up with our French friends in the catamaran and Argentinian friends in the yacht that we were with yesterday.

We sailed across the Gatun Lake, past Gamboa, a small township built to house employees of the Panama Canal and their dependents. Past the Chagres River and into the Gaillard Cut, which really is a feat of engineering, admiring the Gold Hill in the process.  Under the Puente Centenario (Centennial Bridge) and out to the entrance and through the Pedro Miguel Locks, which were a lot smaller than the Gatun Lock.  Just us and this enormous car carrier vessel, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, which came up so close behind us we thought it would never stop!

Next up was the Miraflores lock, again a smaller lock and again with our friends in the massive car carrier which came even closer this time.   Slowly the water level fell and we “unrafted” from our neighbours and sailed under the Puente de las Americas (Bridge of the Americas), past loads of very busy container wharves and vessels, and into the Pacific Ocean, the first time Salanjo has been in these waters for 11 years!