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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE August 21, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 28, 2005 |
Panama – Panama Canal |
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| Peace Boat enters the first set of locks—Pedro Miguel locks. |
Participants were fortunate to experience traveling through the Panama Canal, the Eighth Wonder of the World, as Peace Boat made its way toward the Pacific Ocean. The canal spans 64 km (40 m) allowing vessels to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans without having to go around South America. It was completed in 1914 by the United States and eventually turned over to Panama in 1999. Accompanied by an intense sun as well as humidity, Peace Boat’s journey through the Panama Canal took nearly eight hours plus waiting time. |
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| The Miraflores locks lower the ship down to the level of the Pacific Ocean. |
Because the Panama Canal extends east-west, Peace Boat sailed northwest to southeast from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Peace Boat anchored to await scheduling of its passage. When ready, the canal authorities send out an experienced canal pilot to steer the vessel through the locks. As soon as the pilot takes over a vessel, it is under canal jurisdiction. Cutting through the central region of Panama, the canal has 12 locks, or water-filled chambers, that raise and lower ships through the area’s mountainous terrain. The locks are enclosed by thick metal gates at either end to contain the different water levels. When a ship enters the upper level, gates close behind it. The water is then drained into the lower level, lowering the water level of the lock and the ship. When the water level of the lock equals the level of the lower canal, the lower gates will open and the ship can proceed. |
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| Locomotives pull Peace Boat through the Miraflores locks. |
Peace Boat entered the first Pedro Miguel lock at Gatún. Steel mooring cables controlled by powerful electric locomotives were attached to the ship. The locomotives guide the ship through the locks and steadied it while the chambers filled with water. In three steps the ship was raised to the level of Gatún Lake, 26 m (85 ft) above the sea. The cables dropped and Peace Boat proceeded to travel through the lake. The scenery is peppered with small islands created when the Gatún Dam flooded the river basin covering all but the tops of the hills. Peace Boat participants were able to spot crocodiles and sloths on the islands. |
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| Peace Boat sails towards the Bridge of the Americas. |
After a few hours, Peace Boat queued up for the Miraflores locks. The cables and locomotives were used to lower the ship down 9.4 m (31 ft) to Miraflores Lake. The cables were released and Peace Boat crossed the lake, 16 m (54 ft) above sea level. The last two locks lowered the ship to the level of the Pacific Ocean. The final stretch of the canal brought Peace Boat to the harbor of Balboa, where the canal pilot left aboard a waiting tugboat. Peace Boat then passed by the skyline of Panama City, and sailed under the Bridge of the Americas, the only bridge connecting Central and South America, as the bay opened up to the Pacific Ocean. |
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