December 30th, 2023

We did the full transit of the Panama Canal today and it took a little over 8 hours. From the Caribbean side they need to raise the boats up 85 feet to meet the level of Gatun lake so the ships can pass though and then on the Pacific side they lower you 85 feet. You can through a series of locks and there are 5 in total.

The Atlantic bridge that you pass under to start the transit.

The Panama Canal port authorities bring on tons of people to help navigate the boat and handle all the lines on front and back. We counted 19 getting off after we went through. Plus they have a new pilot to steer you through in several places. You don’t just keep 1 pilot. Everyone is an expert in their own section of the canal.

This is our boat heading into the first set of locks and you can see the difference in water levels from the closed locks in front of us. We transited through the old locks. They leave the newer bigger locks for the larger cruise ships and container ships.

One of the “mules” that help pull you through the locks. In the old days it really was mules so they kept the name even though the mules are long gone.

This container ship was infant of us and it barely clears to 100 feet inside the locks.

The 2 row boats on the end help to tie the ropes to the boats before entering the canal.

It started pouring halfway through the canal and these deer took advantage of the nice green grass and no broiling sun.

One of the administration buildings going through the locks.

All of the boats waiting to go through the canal. Some get here weeks in advance to guarantee their spot through. I tried to get a picture of the Bridge of Americas but it was so foggy you could not really see it.

This is a screen shot of Marine tracker and all of the colored dots are boats waiting to transit from both sides.

We were out of the locks around 4:30 and while still rainy there was a nice sunset.

Tomorrow, New Years Eve is a sea day