Here's a series of pictures from our canal transit.
From left to right: The first picture is entering our first lock chamber at Gatún behind a container ship. You can see the stern of the ship, a tugboat, and a French sailboat tied to the tug. We tied up to the French boat, then we were all raised (up-locked) 30 ft. in this first chamber.
Next is Pat and Colleen on the bow of SIMMER, right behind the ship VIRTUE, just before the water entered the third chamber at Gatún. (If it looks like we were close to that ship, ... we were!) The worst part of the up-lock is prop-wash from the ship in front of you as she moves forward to the next lock. Being tied to a tug was great because we did not have to worry about getting too much slack in our lines, the tug did all the work.
The third picture is the impressive man-made cut through the continental divide at Gold Hill/Contractor Hill. It was here that the principal canal excavation was required and devastating slides occurred during construction and even after the canal was opened.
The next picture is taken from half-way up our mast. That's Colleen on the stern with Manuel, our Panama Canal Commission advisor and Paul, one of our line-handlers. We were waiting to down-lock at Miraflores.
And the final picture is us on SIMMER's bow, coming out of the canal, with the Pacific Ocean waiting to greet us! The Bridge of the Americas is in the distance. The Balboa Yacht Club, where we stayed for a few days, is just on the other side of the bridge.
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