We had a lively passage to Colon, the Caribbean entrance to the canal. Winds were gusting 45 kts and there was quite a sea running. All of which made threading our way through the shipping traffic either at anchor or under way resemble the dodgers at a fairground. It was a relief to get behind the shelter of the breakwater and then into the marina. Later on, we caught up with the crews who will transit with us. Nine yachts will go through together in three rafts of 3 yachts each.
Next day Alex, Patricia and John went to Colon to do some provisioning of non-perishables. We ended up getting so much stuff that the taxi driver had to call a buddy to bring a pickup truck to transport it all back to the boat! Many hands made light work of stowing and then it was time to go to the bar. The younger crew fell in with a group from a couple of other boats......and by all appearances the next day it must have been quite the party! The senior members retired to the cockpit for a glass or two of Baileys and some tranquil music (and musings).
Saturday was supposed to be a "tidy-up" day before the Sunday departure. We had barely started on the chores when Paul, the World ARC Manager, told us that plans had changed, and the Canal Authority wanted us to go through TODAY! So, a flurry of activity, skippers briefing and out of the marina at 1600 hrs. Needless to say, there was tremendous excitement that the transit was starting.
Sapphire was the lead boat of the group, and once we had the pilot on board we upped anchor at 1830 hrs and as darkness fell, headed for the bright lights of Gatun Locks. We had to dilly-dally waiting for our entry time (2000hrs). Soon however we were rafting up the boats on either side of us and taking on board the long lines which run to the "minders" who walk along the banks of the canal. There are 4 men per raft; 2 take bow lines from the smaller boats while 2 stern lines come from Sapphire. The men on shore are some 50 feet above us. They throw down monkey fists with thin lines to which we attach the heavy mooring lines. These are then pulled up to the canal embankments and as we move into the chamber of the lock the men above walk the lines forward. Once all the boats are secured to large bollards the lock gates are closed and the neater swirls in, raising us up some 30 feet or so. As we rise up Gavin and John take in the slack on the heavy mooring lines and work to keep our raft of 3 boats centered. The first lock was a little daunting (the unknown), but the second and third were a breeze, and we were soon "on top of the world", or so it seemed, as we motored into Gatun Lake and set our anchor for the night. It probably took a little over 2 hours to transit the 3 locks.
It was truly a fantastic, other-worldly experience. It was mostly quiet, the sodium lights cast an orange glow on the scene and the men on shore went about their business competently. The enormous scale of the canal construction is awesome and the sign on the Gatun Locks building "Constructed 1913" makes for humbling reading when one realizes that next year it will be 100 years of age. They are building a wider, parallel channel and we could see the earth-moving trucks in constant motion from our night-anchorage.
We are all elated at the smooth process of this first part of the transit. The pilot will come on board at 0730 tomorrow and then we'll have the excitement of "stepping-down" into the Pacific!