Day 82 1st April 2011

Bridge of Americas at Sunrise

Balboa Port

Culebra Cut

Centennial Bridge

Dredging Culebra Cut

Evacuation Miraflores Lock

Approach to Gatun Lakes

Gatun Lock - Steps

Today started very early at 6am when the alarm went off in time for us to see the beginning of the journey to cross from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans in one day. The start is marked by the Bridge of the Americas which carries the Pan-American Highway. Even before sunrise you could hear the heavy traffic that was thundering over the bridge. Sunrise was not until 6.15am and in the dawn light you could just see the skyline of Balboa, the city that marks the Pacific end of the canal. The Aurora sailed under the bridge with only about 12 feet of clearance and proceeded towards the Miraflores Lock which we arrived at 7.55am after passing the port of Balboa.

We were following the MSC Container ship Monterey. In order to enter the lock the ship needs help and this is provided by powerful locomotives called Mules which run on tracks on both sides of the lock. Eight mules (i.e. four on each side) pulled Aurora into the lock along with some power from the ships engine. There is only a couple of feet of room each side so great accuracy is needed. The lock raises the ship by 54 feet so when you leave you are now above sea level. During the trip through the lock we landed a passenger so that he could go by ambulance to a hospital.

As we left the lock we enter the Miraflores Lake which has been created by damming the Rio Grande river. There are several tugs around us to help if we need it. It is a 30 minute trip to the Pedro Miguel lock and we repeat the process except that we only raise the Aurora by 31 feet this time. We are now 85 feet above sea level. In order to raise the ship the lock must be flooded with 11 million gallons of fresh water.

There is little sign of any animals on the bank which is heavily built up but there are some pelicans and other birds and large yellow butterflies as big as your hand. The banks are covered with piers, landing stages and many small boats. As we left the Pedro Miguel lock we could see the Centennial Bridge opened in 2004 to relieve the pressure on the Bridge of the Americas. We have more clearance as we pass under this bridge and sail towards the Culebra Cut. This is the place that cost the most lives during the building of the canal. It is 9 miles long and you can see how the sides have been cut away to form terraces in many places. They are still working to widen the canal and have been doing so since it was first opened. We saw both dredges and what look like drilling rigs working on the canal.

During the transit of the Culebra Cut other ships are not allowed to pass us since it is too narrow (i.e. about 640 feet at its widest). However, once we are though this section we meet a series of container vessels and the Celebrity Infinity, a liner. This area is Gamboa and is the approach to the Gatun Lakes. This is a lake created by the canal and is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. There are several ships moored in this area waiting their turn to move through the canal.

We reached the Gatun Locks at about 2pm. They are three step locks that lower ships down 85 feet so they are again at sea level. There are two side by side locks so on our right the MSC Container ship Monterey went through alongside the Aurora. It took an hour and a quarter to descend the steps. We are now effectively in the Atlantic or rather the Caribbean Sea. The whole process began at 6am and was completed at 3.15pm so taking 9 hours and 15 minutes.

For me the final process of descending to sea level was amazing since we could see the container ship going down while being followed by another cargo ship which was in a higher step of the lock. We spent almost the whole day on the balcony popping inside the room to hear the comments of the port presenter who narrated the trip and also looking at a camera positioned in the front of the ship showing the forward view. It has been another hot and humid day probably one of the warmest of the whole trip. The trip through the Panama Canal has certainly lived up to expectations.

We now have a day at sea on our way to Aruba.