CANAL CROSSING NOTES

Many Ocean Posse members cross the Panama Canal at some point on their journey.  When this time comes people often wonder about the actual logistics of the transit, what food and beverages make for an easy day and happy line handlers, etc…

SV BRIGADOON III recently crossed the Panama Canal and is sharing the notes they shared of their experience to “give some friends a feel for what to expect and see it from my perspective”.

The night before the transit, the four line-handlers arrived with the fenders and lines. One of the line-handlers was (Posse Sponsor and Canal Agent) Erick (Galvarez)’s son, Juan and another was Juan’s uncle “Junior”. Junior seemed to be the head line handler and gave the others direction. They slept one on each salon sofa, one in the aft quarter berth and Junior slept in the cockpit because, as he said, he snores.

The line-handlers arrived on time, as planned, at 6:30 pm and we had dinner ready for them -Spanish style meatballs in a roasted pepper sauce on Orzo, bean-corn salad and grapes for dessert. They devoured everything and all wanted to know what orzo was. They also drank water and Coke. I had read that they like Coke; regular not diet.

We had dinner before they arrived to simplify things. After dinner, they took off and Junior stayed and went to bed. Doug and I also went to bed and didn’t hear a peep from anyone.

We got up at 2:30 am and left the marina at 3:15 am to travel to a point between markers 2 and 4 to pick up our advisor. This area is just outside of Playita Marina. It took a while for Carlos, our advisor, to show up in the big pilot boat but eventually did and readied himself in the rocky seas for a very heroic leap to our boat. Once the advisor was aboard, all the line-handlers, except uncle Junior, went back to bed and we travelled in the dark under the Bridge of the Americas to the first lock which is about 7.5 miles from where we had picked up Carlos at about 4:15 am.

It was just getting light when we entered the first lock. The advisor gave us instructions and explanations for everything we needed to know as we went along, such as what to expect in the lock and that it takes 8 minutes for the water to fill the lock.  He also explained how and when we would raft up to the other sailboat we were travelling with.

Because we were up-locking, we would travel behind the commercial ship. At the other end we would be down-locking and would be in front of the commercial ship.

We cleared the third lock at about 8 am so I got the coffee on and had oranges and muffins for everyone to tide them over while I made breakfast – rice and beans, eggs, avocado and salsa plus orange juice and more oranges. They love rice and beans.

As expected, the three younger line handlers went below to bed or rest and we carried on through Gatun Lake passing huge freighters going the opposite way.

At 12 noon and before we got to the Gatun locks, I made lunch – Chicken Chorizo Paella, grapes and watermelon. They also had water, coke and orange juice. Again, they gobbled it all up and helped with the dishes. Phew, no more dinners. We continued through the Gatun locks and about 20 minutes later the pilot boat showed up for Carlos the advisor. The three line-handlers continued on with us to Shelter Bay and Erick was waiting for them to transport them back home.

I want to add a comment on the line-handlers.  Generally, when they are not needed, they are happy to hang out inside the boat. They were professional, tidy and kept their bags away and out of sight. They seemed to have a sixth sense of when they were needed as they would appear topsides, ready to work, out of nowhere. I suspect Erick has coached them because they were quiet, pleasant and thanked me for every meal. As for food, they liked the rice dishes and fruit. They had seconds of these dishes and they can pack away the food. They were not too interested in sweets such as muffins but did eat a bit of the chocolate that I had. According to Erick, they also like pasta. Remember, lunch is their main meal of the day. They appreciate water and Coke and enjoyed the orange juice I had.

SV SUMMERBREEZE followed in the wake of SV BRIGADOON III and found the notes super helpful.

SY BRIGADOON III    Doug & Patty – Saga 43’ & MV SUMMERBREEZE 🇺🇸 Sam & Kurtis – Bestway 46′

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR NOTES AND YOUR COMMUNITY SPIRIT WITH ONE ANOTHER!