Keyswench After BLUE MAX ADVENTURES: 2005-6-2

We entered Limón Bay from the Atlantic & docked in Colón at the Colón Free Trade Zone. Most of the women were excited about the duty free shopping - actually, just to shop. Wayne bought an expensive pair of sunglasses for almost nothing...I'm wondering why I don't have any pictures??

There's an enormous amount of interesting information about the Panama Canal so, if interested, I suggest you check it out on Wikkipedia.
"The Panama Canal...is a 77.1-kilometre (48 mi) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. There are locks at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 metres (85 ft) above sea level. The current locks are 33.5 metres (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks is currently under construction and is due to open in 2015.
France began work on the canal in 1881, but had to stop because of engineering problems and high mortality due to disease. The United States took over the project in 1904, and took a decade to complete the canal, which was officially opened on August 15, 1914.

1908 - Steam shovel

One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan.

1910 - Construction of the locks

The shorter, faster, and safer route to the U.S. West Coast and to nations in and around the Pacific Ocean allowed those places to become more integrated with the world economy. It takes between 20 and 30 hours to traverse the canal. The Panama Canal had its 100-year anniversary on August 15, 2014."

Interesting, Wayne went through the canal in 1998 on a trawler named CHART WELL. He was part of a delivery crew taking the boat from Miami & the final destination was to be China. However, Wayne got off in San Diago as an El Niño was churning up the Pacific. He doesn't think it ever made it to China as we saw the same boat a few years ago in Sarasota. So Wayne has gone through the canal twice - both in the same direction.

One of the "Mules"

"A Panama Canal "mule" is a locomotive used to keep ships in the proper position in the locks. The mules run on tow tracks along the walls of the locks from one end to the other. They don't pull the ships, but they help guide it and act as a safeguard to mitigate accidents."

Mule at work - notice the dinky line from the Mule to the GRACE- It might be a wire??

"From the formal marking line of the Atlantic Entrance, one enters Limón Bay (Bahía Limón), a large natural harbour. The entrance runs 5.4 mi. It provides a deepwater port (Cristóbal), with facilities like multimodal cargo exchange (to and from train) and the Colón Free Trade Zone (a free port).

A 2.0 mi channel forms the approach to the locks from the Atlantic side.
The Gatun locks, a three-stage flight of locks 1.2 mi long, lifts ships to the Gatun Lake level, some 87 ft above sea level.
Gatun Lake, an artificial lake formed by the building of the Gatun Dam, carries vessels 15 mi across the isthmus. It is the summit canal stretch, fed by the Gatun river and emptied by basic lock operations.
From the lake, the Chagres River, a natural waterway enhanced by the damming of Gatun Lake, runs about 5.3 mi. Here the upper Chagres river feeds the high level canal stretch.
The Culebra Cut slices 7.8 mi through the mountain ridge, crosses the continental divide and passes under the Centennial Bridge.
The single-stage Pedro Miguel lock, which is 0.87 mi long, is the first part of the descent with a lift of 31 ft.
The artificial Miraflores Lake, 1.1 mi long, and 54 ft above sea level.
The two-stage Miraflores locks, is 1.1 mi long, with a total descent of 54 ft at mid-tide.
From the Miraflores locks one reaches Balboa harbour, again with multimodal exchange provision (here the railway meets the shipping route again). Nearby is Panama City.
From this harbour an entrance/exit channel leads to the Pacific Ocean (Gulf of Panama), 8.2 mi from the Miraflores locks, passing under the Bridge of the Americas.