Panama Canal Transit

Created by webmaster. Last modified on 2002-08-19 00:50:49
Contributors: Dick Hanson
Countries: Panama

Recently, I was invited to share another Panama Canal transit experience with a good friend and highly respected professional delivery skipper, John Rains. John and his wife, Pat, have written and have published four or five reference books and other materials describing his many deliveries of powerboats and sailboats from the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast and vice versa. Several of these books have become "permanent cruising partners" for us cruising sailors, because of the valuable information describing the best routes, weather conditions, safe bays and harbors along the Pacific Coast of Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Of course, this reference material also includes advice to the inexperienced as well as the "seasoned" cruisers which greatly enhances the exciting adventure of transiting the Panama Canal.

We met up at Isla Flamenco near the Pacific entrance to the Canal. This is the location of a new, exciting and very well planned marina being constructed between the Flamenco and Perico islands. Two breakwaters already have been completed to protect the slips and moorings and a 150 ton haul out facility is already in operation. Additionally, retail and hotel facilities are under construction at the present time.

Some of you may not have visited Panama or transited the Canal to know that each lock is 1,000 feet long and 110 feet wide. This permits large ships to transit which will have the maximum allowed dimensions of 950 ft. in length and 106 ft. in width. However, in nearly all transiting situations involving a commercial ship of lesser dimensions, the "recreational" type of powerboat or sailboat may be required to accompany the large commercial ships through each lock during the entire transit which generates more revenue for the Panama Canal Authority. There are three sets of twin locks totaling twelve chambers which permit transiting vessels traveling North and South to pass each other in adjoining chambers while transiting in opposite directions. The Canal operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year resulting in more than 14,000 transits per year.

We passed under the huge Bridge of the Americas on the Pacific side (which is slightly more than one mile long and was constructed by the U.S. during the early 60's) and entered the first of two chambers at the Miraflores Locks behind a very large cargo ship which we, subsequently, accompanied throughout the entire transit. We then entered the second chamber and were released from that chamber after being elevated a total of 54 ft. above our original Pacific Ocean level. We then headed across Miraflores Lake to the Pedro Miguel Locks where we were elevated by a further 31 ft. to the level of Lago Gatun by this single lock. We crossed the lake and prepared for our final and "down locking" procedure through each of the three Gatun Chambers. We completed our 3rd and last chamber down locking after lowering our water level by 85 ft. to equal the water level on the Atlantic (Caribbean) side of the Canal. We, and of course, our large partner, the cargo ship had used approximately 52 million gallons of fresh water from Gatun Lake during our entire transit from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans. We anchored in a section of Bahia Limón known as the "flats" near Colon on the Caribbean side of the Canal.