Greetings from yacht Ensemble.
We spent the morning in preparation for the crossing this afternoon. We caught up with some last minute emails while we still had WiFi access, paid our marina fees, and then after lunch headed out to "anchorage area F". This is where the boats meet and are joined by their Panama Canal supervisors.
There are 10 boats from the World ARC going through today - two rafts of three boats and two of two boats - and we got the role of the centre lead boat.
All very exciting - and a little intimidating! On either side of us is Peat Smoke and Seaquest - two monohulls (or as I prefer to call them - large fenders ;-). They take the ropes passed down from the Canal walls which have to be constantly adjusted depending on height of the wall and the water level. We provide the power - with the side boats on the raft also using their engines every now and then.
We have to go through three locks. Our supervisor - Roy Paddy - has been doing the job for over 25 years - so was cool calm and collected throughout.
At just after 5pm we started from the flats towards the entrance to the Canal. We rafted the boats up just before the entrance - and then Magali took the helm. This caused one or two anxious looks (and the comment "our fate is in your hands Magali")... but all went well and without a snag.
We got through the last lock and then arrived at Anchorage Basin around 10pm. We decided to stay together in the raft - with Peat Smoke and Seaquest dropping anchor. We had a few beers and wines to celebrate - and were up again the next morning at 6am for the next part of the journey.
... TBC
Dave and Magali