Preparing to cross the Panama Canal

Anchored in the Rio Chagres

After leaving Portobelo, we headed to Colon to prepare for our Panama Canal transit. When we used to go through the locks that separated Lake Michigan from the Chicago River, we just pretty much just went through when they opened up. There's quite a bit more involved with the Panama Canal.

 

We committed our first faux pas by entering the harbor without calling Cristobol Signal Station, whose job it is to direct traffic through and around the canal. The first question we were asked is, "Are you sailing?" Um, well, we were just in the process of turning on our engines and taking down our sails. "Yeah, use your engines. Then go to the stern of the vessel approaching." As they were referring to a humongous container ship that could pulverize us without even slowing down, we readily agreed.

 

For a small private vessel going through the Panama Canal, there are several crucial steps. Although many cruising boats do it themselves, we decided to use an agent to help guide us through the process. Our agent did the paperwork, arranged for us to be measured, organized fenders and lines, and set up our transit date. When you use an agent, you also don't have to pay the $800 refundable deposit. You have to have an advisor that works for the canal, who comes with you through the locks. You also need 4 line handlers besides the captain (so for us, 3 other people). Going from Colon to Panama City takes 2 days, so you have line handlers staying overnight on your boat. We have 3 other cruisers who want to experience the canal before going through, including our friend Mark from Amelie IV.

 

We waited in "The Flats", which is an anchorage area near the Colon side of the canal, for five days without being able to get off the boat. It took longer than we expected to get measured, buy fuel, and for the weather to cooperate.

 

We finally got to go to the Rio Chagres, which is the river that was dammed to make part of the Canal. It cuts through dense jungle filled with howler monkeys, birds, frogs and butterflies. There are crocodiles, sloths, and jaguars. We hiked through one section with Marie-Claude, Megan and Matthew from Amelie IV, almost bushwhacking our way through. Afterwards, Mark and Conrad had a great time running through tunnels at the San Lorenzo Fort with their friends from Kazaio and some kids from Colon. On another day, we took the dinghy up river to see the dam.

After a visit to the marina to pick up our fenders and lines, finish our provisioning, do some laundry, wash the boat, play in the pool, and see the monkeys in the nearby jungle, we'll head back to The Flats to wait for our advisor and begin our transit. From what we have heard, there's not much to it. That doesn't stop me from being a bit nervous about the whole thing.

Isla Linton and Portobelo

After the San Blas, we had a very unpleasant sail over to Isla Linton. The winds were still high and the seas were filled with 10-foot swells. We caught a mahi but Matt got seasick (for the first time on this boat) when he tried to fillet it on the side deck because the seas were too big to have him on the transom. Apparently the combination of the leftover head cold and having his head sideways was too much.

Unfortunately, the anchorage in Isla Linton was full of swells. We visited Isla Linton to see the monkeys, but looked at them from the safety of our dinghy. We were very cautious after our friend's hand got chomped by an overly aggressive ape. She had to go get a bunch of stitches and a heavy-duty antibiotic.

We visited Portobelo by bus. It is an interesting town with a lot of history and a diverse population. There is a festival each year celebrating the Black Jesus. While were there we witnessed children walking around in black-face (even though they were already black) for the Congo festival, seeking donations. It is sort of like Halloween in the weeks leading up Mardi Gras.

 

We want to get some boat parts while we're in the area. Our freezer broke on our way to Isla Linton. We have replaced the Danfoss black box controller multiple times and luckily had another spare, but we need to get more since we seem to go through them every few months. Indel-Webasto, the maker of our freezer, basically blamed everything from our wiring (our fridge system uses the same wiring and has no problems) to the placement of the unit in the galley (where else would you put a freezer control unit?). That was during the 2-year warranty period when they were still talking to us.

 

We also started running our water maker because we have had so little rainfall to fill our tanks and we wanted to make sure it would work for the Pacific crossing. Although it ran fine, the booster pump kept blowing fuses and probably needs to be replaced. It's been awhile since anything major has broken, so we have gotten a little bit complacent.

 



In the meantime, we need to get measured for the canal and arrange for line handlers, fenders, and dock lines.

Getting out of Dodge

Boogie boarding boat buddies

Being in the San Blas and seeing all the boats up on reefs reminds me of a story told to me by a friend about her friend ("Suzy"). Suzy had failed the road test to get her driver's license four times. But she had figured out her problem: "I just don't know whether to err to the left or to the right!" My friend's response was, "Oh, Suzy. You don't err..."

Math on an island

That's how we were starting to feel in the San Blas. Any little mistake could easily lead to disaster. The intense winds, abundance of reefs, and suspect charts seem to create a perfect storm of boat deaths. We saw numerous reef-bound boats in the San Blas, five of which had happened in the weeks right before we arrived or during our four-week stay. Matt helped one boat that was sinking (this one was due to mechanical issues, not hitting a reef). Despite the beauty of the islands and the interesting Kuna culture, by the end of our stay in the San Blas we felt like we might be pushing our luck. After several days of staying put due to 30 to 40+ knot winds, we finally left for Porvenir to start our journey west. From Porvenir, we heard rescue efforts being organized for yet another boat and could see it stuck on the reef in the distance. And this was a backpacker boat familiar with the area.

Our dinghy ride up the Rio Diablo

To add to the "danger" quotient, the San Blas is also home to an abundance of wildlife. We heard reports from other cruisers of a four-meter caiman swimming right where our buddy boat Amelie IV was anchored and a bull shark eating a ray in the shallow area where a gaggle of our kids would later swim. It didn't stop anyone from swimming, but it did give us pause.

Super-highways of leaf cutter ants

It takes a steady hand...

 

Shoe-sucking mud

We'll head towards Colon next to start the process of crossing the canal.