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( 1 – 15th April and onwards to 20th June)

As many of you will know, Ally did not get to experience the wonders of the Panama Canal first
hand. However, I am so chuffed that she managed to see some of our lock transfers via the Panama
Canal livestreaming cameras. And it was so lovely to know she was with me in spirit if not in person.
I had a amazing crew that made sure everything went smoothly.

A few days before transiting the canal an official comes on board to measure the vessel. It seems a
total waste of time when you compare us to the monsters that we go through with. Obviously they
need to know whether we will fit in front or behind one of these behemoth transporters, but the
manufacturers length is more than enough as they don’t push the limits to the centimetres. And in
fact, the official mentioned that for boats under a certain size, soon there will not be a need for
measurements. That will be a pleasing change for the budget yachts, as the 1hr of superfluous
measurements costs a few hundred dollars. Our total cost for the transit was $2400US plus about
10hrs of hard motoring – poor Imagination, she is not used to being pushed hard for so long on
motors, but she did well.

Something I noticed was that the Panama pilots and measurers always tell you they will be there 1hr
before they ever do. And it was almost to the minute – maybe they work on Panama Canal saving
time. It meant we were always ready and waiting and the second the pilot came on board, we were
off on our way, almost like we had delayed them and now there was some catching up to do.

Because we are a slower yacht (motor at less than 8knts) we have to do the transit over 2 days and
you get to moor up to an enormous buoy in the lakes. That first day was a bit stressful. Firstly, my
crew had caught a taxi a few days earlier and the driver had been an employee of the Panama Canal
company as a pilot for many years and told them loads of scary stories of mistakes and the resulting
damages that were caused during the transit. Swirling whirlpools that drag the yacht from one side
to the other, crushing yachts against the walls. Incorrect tension on the four ropes that centre the
yacht in the lock as the water gushes in or out, allowing boats to sail around a pool with hard
concrete walls. Forgetting to loosen or not loosening enough, or snagging the rope under itself so
the tension prevents it being loosened, as the water flows out and you sink down the lock walls.
Bang, you’ve just ripped a cleat out of your hull, leaving a great big hole and no cleat to continue the
remaining locks. As a result a number of the crew wanted to get an experienced helper on board
but I didn’t see the point unless we got 4. Because a helper cant be in all four tether points at the
same time, and the pilot is there to give instructions on what to do, so an extra experienced helper
would just be like having 2 captains at the helm – not always an advantage. But those stories by the
taxi drivers were great because it sharpened all their sense to look, listen and perform as told and so
everything went smoothly, except for……….. those dam pilot/tug boats that seem to have a sport of
seeing how much they can make two tied up yachts crash together as they produce the biggest wake
they possibly can as they pass you. We almost became a cropper with the first wake we
encountered on the first evening of going up from the Caribbean side. A pilot boat went past at high
speed just as we were disengaging from our buddy yacht. We are a catamaran and it was a
monohull. So when the wake hit us, the monohull rocked madly on the waves. Luckily we had hired
our fenders and not used I normal dock fenders. The hired ones are about 3 ot 4 times the diameter
of a standard fender. These were the only things that prevented our hull being hit by the other
yacht that only had its standard fenders. Another, almost catastrophic failure was the stern bowline
knot from the French monohull. Well it wasn’t a bowline and started to come undone. Which
increased the distance bounce on our stern with respect to the monohulls stern. Great when the
sterns were apart, except the rope acted as a spring and when the rope reached its end, it pulled
both sterns in on the waves. I really thought we were going to get some damage, but luck was on
our side and we came through unscathed.
We woke up the Howler monkeys the following morning. I love that sound but could imagine how
scary it must have been 500 years ago when Europeans first heard that sound. What monster lives
in the jungle? It must be so big to make such a noise.

Actually, one of the most nerve wrecking things about doing the canal transit is that you have to
provide the pilot with his lunch. Sounds fine, except that if you don’t provide him something he
likes, he can order a take away. At first thought, that does sound so bad either, maybe they can
order us some Chinese, pizza and Indian curry. Hmmm. Possibly, but the cost for delivery is $250US.
So I made lasagne, pizza and hotdogs plus salad. Phew….. all was good.

The lakes are beautiful and so green but you cant stop. It’s a race to keep up with the ship that you
are meant to be sharing the lock with. So have a look, take a photo and on we continue. Our pilot
loved showing us orange bougainvillea. I didn’t like to tell him the Grenadines and Carriacou, where
we had based ourselves for the last 10 years, had orange, red and white versions. But still, it was
beautiful.

One quite intimidating feeling is when you are travelling at 6knts and one of these monster ships
overtakes you in a narrow channel at 14knts. Now normally you look at the horizon when you pass a
ship at sea. One mile away would be considered quite close at sea, but now they are passing at less
than 50m away and you are looking up, almost vertically as if looking for stars, as they pass.
Amazingly these enormous vessels don’t produce a wake as they go by. They are so more efficient
than those dam pilot boats. And then the other quite intimidating feeling is on the way down through the locks as you head to the Pacific side. For these locks, we go in first and then you see this great big monster slowly
squeeze up behind you. Fingers and toes crossed that his hand doesn’t slip on the accelerator and
crush us.

What a great experience, having crossed the divide between North and South America, between the
Caribbean and the Pacific. What an amazing accomplishment but it had a high cost in lives, both
through accidents and diseases. Glad I have done it and such a shame Ally could not, but I am also
so pleased she was there with me in spirit.

I have now been on the Pacific side for 2 months. Las Perlas are nice but nothing amazing. The
beaches are great when the tide is out but non existent when its in. Snorkelling is ok but not great.
I’ve spent enough time here for a life time. Wont bother coming back and would not recommend it
to anyone unless they are here for another reason.

So looking forward to having Ally back on board and continuing our adventure. So much for Long
Stay Visas taking 2 weeks in the UK and 4 in Panama. It was 7 weeks for me in Panama and Ally’s
took forever.
Easter Island looks like its shut till 1st August so with the delayed visas and potential closure we will
skip it and go direct to the Gambier Islands of French Polyn

From Ally’s perspective, these last few months have been a real mix of emotions….I was sad to miss out on the canal transit, but did stay up half the night so I could watch Imagination and all on board go through the first set of locks. It was really lovely to see them and to be chatting to them via the group chat on messenger as they went through – a little surreal to see them all on deck doing what needed to be done. The 10 week wait for my visa did have several silver linings for which I am very thankful….the main one being time to spend with my loved ones. Mum underwent heart surgery whilst I was home so i was relieved to be there to stay with dad and to support my sister in watching both of them once she came home from hospital. So many lovely memories to look back on as I sit here in Amsterdam airport during a 14 hour overnight layover ( it’s currently 3am) writing this to the background noise of other travellers snoring or having quiet telephone conversations. I return to Shawn and Imagination tomorrow evening and then our adventure continues……..

Ally

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