Spacegrazer Transits the Panama Canal

We finally decided to take the plunge and go through the Panama Canal, and head for the Pacific! Our canal date was postponed a few times. First by us, then by the authorities, who temporarily closed the canal for small vessels due to Covid 19. Now that the canal is open again, and French Polynesia is out of lockdown, we are ready to go through.

Once on the Pacific side, we plan to spend some time in Las Perlas, a group of islands that is part of Panama. After that, we will set sail for Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia. Unfortunately, we will not be able to visit the Galapagos islands along the way, since Peru has closed its borders.

Preparations

We have been preparing, and “un-preparing”, for our canal transit, a couple of times these past 3 months. We have plenty of provisions onboard. We have also put together a flotilla of 3 sailboats, to go through the canal together. Small vessels raft up together and go through the locks as a block. Our yachts have been measured beforehand to ensure that our boats are a good fit and a good match. Normally each vessel needs 4 line handlers and 1 adviser on board. Due to Covid, we may now have only 4 line handlers for our entire flotilla. We still need one adviser per boat.

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Our Buddy Boats

Our buddy boats for the canal are SV Windchase, carrying Paul and Sue with their dog Milli on board, and SV Moira, with captain Thomas and his crew Denis and Selma. In total, we have exactly 4 line handlers between us. I will be line handling with Sue on Windchase. Our boat will be in the middle. This means that Spacegrazer will be the driving vessel, with Max at the helm! The other 2 boats will also have their engines on so that captains Paul and Thomas can assist with steering the flotilla.

We have hired a set of big ball fenders and lines that are long and thick enough to handle going up and down with the water level in the locks. Basically what will happen is that we have to go through a set of locks, which will lift us up above sea level so we can sail across Gatun lake from the Atlantic to the Pacific side of Panama. Once on the other side, we go through another set of locks which will lower us down to sea level, so we can exit and get onto the Pacific Ocean.

For the geeks: check out this site for more info on how the locks work. Or, watch this 1-minute video. The video mentions that boats are pulled through by locomotives, but that does not apply to us small vessels. We motor ourselves through the locks, with the help of canal staff on top of the walls, who walk alongside holding our lines.

Saying Goodbye to Shelter Bay

We had to be ready in the anchorage outside of Shelter Bay Marina at 3am. Our advisers would board our vessels at that time. So we left the marina the afternoon before. It was hard to say goodbye. We have been here for a while, at a very bizarre time. It has created a bond with the other boaters here. Plus, the kids have made so many friends. They will miss them!

After saying quick bye-byes (Max and I both hate long dramatic ones), we cast off our lines and move out to the anchorage. We have an early dinner and go to bed early. I accidentally toss a plate overboard when I am getting rid of leftovers… oops! The water is murky, it is getting dark, and we know that crocodiles swim here. So we don’t bother jumping in after the plate to retrieve it…

The Big Day

At 5AM, our advisers arrive. It is just staring to get light. Our adviser is a friendly guy called Orlando. Beforehand, our Panama Canal agent has warned us to feed our advisers well – apparently they prefer hearty “man’s food” in the words of our agent… I guess they spend long hours on other people’s boats so they rely on sharing meals with the people they guide through the canal. We were told that if advisers are not happy with the food on offer they can call in a food delivery – which costs the yacht they are on a lot of money apparently.

So after making sure that Orlando has a big fried breakfast on his lap, we set off towards the first set off locks. Just before the locks, we will raft up with our buddy boats. First up is Windchase on our port side. We already practised with them the night before and it went smoothly. Next up, Moira. That went pretty smooth too. Now we are ready to line up at the first lock.

First Set of Locks: Gatun

We progress upwards through the Gatun locks. As the water level rises and we float up, the distance between our boats and the men on top of the walls holding our lines decreases. This means that us line handlers need to keep pulling in the slack on our lines to make sure we stay in the middle of the lock, and not veer sideways into one of the walls. It’s pretty hard work pulling in these massive lines. I really enjoy it though. I wear sailing gloves to protect my palms, and at the end of the day they are completely wrecked!

We have one hairy moment when one of the helpers on the top of the wall does not secure the line on time: this causes our stern corner of the flotilla to drift quickly towards the wall. There is not much we can do from our side because the line needs to be pulled in from the other side… Our adviser saves Windchase’s wind vane from getting smashed into the wall by quickly shoving a big ball fender in front of it… Phew!

Boat with a View

Before we know it, we are through the first set of locks. The view from the highest lock is incredible. We are actually looking down from a great height, down at the sea, while we are bobbing along on our own boats. The mind boggles…

Next up is taking our raft apart again (easy). Then, we have to motor through Lake Gatun fast enough to keep up with a large container ship that has to go through the locks with us. Everything is planned and timed here. We have to go fast enough to be able to transit the entire canal, including the lake, in 12 hours.

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We Are Too Slow

But, our big buddy is a lot faster than us and we are not able to keep up. We try to go faster, but our engine alarm goes off: it is overheating! So we power down again. The next big ship carries dangerous cargo, so we are not allowed to go into the locks with him. After deliberating with each other and the canal authorities, our advisers tell us that we will have to stay overnight in Gatun Lake on a mooring ball. We will continue through the last set of locks tomorrow.

Our first reaction is disappointment. We want to get there soon! But then we realise that it will be quite a special place to spend the night. Plus, we’re tired from getting up at 3AM… So after we are all rafted up around a giant mooring ball, we all clamber onto Moira for a drink and a chat. It’s been a pretty fun and exciting day. We see a small crocodile swim by and decide not to go for a swim. Everyone goes to bed early.

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Day Two

The next morning a fresh set of advisers arrive. We get going. We raft up again, getting pretty good at this now, and head for the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. These locks will bring us down to sea level and into the Pacific!

All goes smoothly on this leg of the transit. Going down is easier for the line handlers as you don’t have to pull the lines in, but you gently ease them out as the water level drops. Steering can be trickier here though: when the last doors open, salt and fresh water mix and can cause all sorts of interesting whirling in the waters. Max does a great job steering though and we get out without a hitch.

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The Pacific Baby!

Woop woop we made it!! We feel pretty euphoric as we untie our raft again and motor away into the Pacific. We head under the Bridge of the Americas, drop of our adviser, lines, and extra fenders, and anchor up in the nearest bay. Time to catch some z’s.