American Spirit II - Day 19; Gatun Locks and Quiz Night; January 24, 2014

A tour was taken of the Gatun lock complex today by Joel and Darlene Heyne; and Paul and David Fox. Brian Fox was off to Panama City to try to secure a haul out date for the boat to fix the rudder. The date assigned is next Wednesday at 1:00 PM. The hoist time of 1:00 PM, middle of the day, is because of the large tide, 15 feet. The water at the hoist location will be too shallow for us to get into until that time.

Before the Panama Canal was constructed, a debate ensued about whether to have a 'sea level' canal or a stepped, lock system as is currently in place. For some crucial reasons, the stepped, lock system won out. The three Gatun Locks are the "up" locks on the Caribbean side of the Isthmus of Panama. Boats traveling from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean are raised 85 feet. Each lock is 1,000 feet long; a 110 feet wide; and hold 97 million gallons. It takes 15 minutes to fill a lock. When Gatun Lake was constructed, it was the largest man made lake on the planet. The lock system consumes 60% of the fresh water in Panama. The transit time for a ship to go thru the locks is 10 hours. Twelve hours per day, from 12 noon to 12 midnight, both locks send ship traffic from north to south. From midnight to 12 noon, the ship traffic is directed thru all locks from south to north. Each ship going thru the locks has to have a Pilot on board. When sail boats go thru the locks, they must have an Advisor on board. To prepare for the transit, each sail boat has to be 'measured.' An official comes out to the boat, takes measurements of the length, width and draft of the boat; and inspects it to make certain that it is suitable for an Advisor to guide the boat thru the canal. One of the requirements is that the Advisor must be fed a meal during the transit. New, larger locks are being built to accommodate larger ships. The doors for these new locks are the size and height of office buildings.

At 4:30 PM a Transit Meeting was held for the 11 boats going thru on the first transit on Saturday, January 25. The other sail boats in the Rally will transit on Monday and Wednesday. Though the transit time is 4:30 PM, we have to be ready to leave on a moments notice starting at 12 noon. Equipment supplied for the transit includes tires to put along side the outer facing the lock wall; and ropes 125 feet long to be used by the line handlers. The sail boats will not have another ship in the lock during the transit; and will be 'rafted' together in groups of 3. The cost to transit for a 40 foot sail boat is approximately $1,000.

Joel Heyne installed the new running lights, as the port (red) running light was knocked off the boat during the near gale that was encountered on the way to Key West.

The Theme Dinner tonight at the Shelter Bay Marina Restaurant was Mexican Night and was delicious. After dinner a Quiz was held by Joel from the World Cruising Club. The Quiz consisted of 35 questions. American Spirit II placed 2nd in the Quiz by getting 14 points out of 35, and was awarded a bucket of beer. The bucket is unique and will have to find its way home eventually. First place was awarded to a boat getting 20 points out of 35. An impressive score.

Brian Fox