Crew Blog

Our Panama Canal experience

18 May 2008

“Wake up everyone - it’s 5.30.” was today’s dawn chorus. We needed to leave Flamenco Marina early for our slot through the Panama Canal with Jamaica, Liverpool 08 and Qingdao. Not everyone received this graciously but Terry and Kate, today’s mothers, leapt out of bed immediately. So eager were they not to miss a minute of the Panama Canal experience that breakfast was cleared away by 7.30 and lunch and dinner all prepared/cooked by 8.30am!

Some crew have spent their time day dreaming/sleeping but most of us have been like kids in a sweet shop, enjoying every second. Pointing as the mules (small locomotives) pulled the larger vessels through the locks - some using as many as 6 mules. We studied the lock gates, the rate the water rose and fell in the lock chambers, and talked about the extraordinary engineering
feat this was. All the while, we were carefully guided by our pilot, Ray.

Just before entering the first lock, we rafted up with Qingdao, as did Liverpool 08 with Jamaica. We then entered as two paired Clipper rafts, 2 line handlers each side took our lines and walked us through the 3 locks and we took up the slack as the water rose. We remembered to smile to the crowds on the viewing platforms and for the web cameras as we knew many friends and
family planned to watch this live on the internet.

We had an amazing 3 days in Panama, seeing friends from other boats, visiting the old and new parts of the city, the canal museum and visitor centres and some ventured to Gamboa rainforest to see monkeys, sloths, alligators, turtles, kites, eagles and thousands of other birds. A big thank you to everyone who helped and welcomed us there and for many of us, promises were made to return. Good luck, Dan, we were very sorry that you needed to leave us in Panama.

For Kate, this was another dream fulfilled - I’d wanted to sail through the canal since I was a little girl.

We start racing to Jamaica tomorrow with a Le Mans start, affectionately also known as a “Lemon Tart”!

Kate and Terry