Central America Travel - Plying Panama Canal from Pacific to Atlantic Oceans

“The Land Divided, the World United”

With a whoosh, 100 million liters of water empty from the lock. As the waters churn into a whirlpool of white, our ship slowly lowers. Next stop, the Atlantic Ocean.

Gary and I are on Radisson Seven Seas Cruises m/s Mariner, transiting the Panama Canal northward from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. The transit has three stages: progressing up a series of locks that raises our luxury cruise ship 26 meters above the Pacific, crossing the Continental Divide and Gatun Lake, and being lowered by another series of locks into the Atlantic. As it was for the first ship through the Canal in 1914, the trip is a carefully choreographed display of man’s engineering ingenuity.

Before dawn, our transit begins as we sail under Panama City’s Bridge of the Americas. With a full Panamanian moon shining above the still-sleeping jungle, we reach the Miraflores locks. Leaning over the rail of our balcony to look at the lock, I see many fellow passengers doing the same. The ship’s populace is up uncharacteristically early to witness as much of the transit as possible.

As it has since 1915, a manually operated arrow indicates which of the two lanes our ship will use. With a whirr, electric locomotives called mules are set in position. Linemen approach in a rowboat. They tie the ship to the locomotives with lines that will keep the ship in position in the locks. There’s less than a meter of clearance from the lock walls on either side.

Like a royal procession flanked by its honor guard, we enter the lock at a stately pace. The 730-ton gates close behind us, five meter wide culverts open, and rushing water fills the lock. Even though the canal connects two bodies of salt water, it is fresh water from Gatun Lake moving the ships. We rise, almost imperceptibly.

Since Balboa crossed it in 1513 to discover the Pacific Ocean, this narrow isthmus has been a choice route for traveling between the oceans. The Spaniards hauled gold from Peru across it. Spanish monarchs considered digging a canal to speed transport of those riches. Four hundred years later, the canal evolved from a dream to reality.

The French began building the Canal in the late 1800s.

However, they were doomed to failure due to inappropriate engineering and rampant outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever. The Americans supported Panama’s declaration of independence from Colombia in 1903, and paid $40 million for the rights to build the canal.

Chief Engineer John F. Stevens began, not by digging, but by improving the infrastructure and disease controls. He installed water and sewer systems in Panama City and Colon, paved streets, and sprayed standing water to eliminate mosquitoes bearing the deadly diseases that decimated the previous work forces. Only once those measures were complete, did construction pick up where the French left off.

After rising through two locks, shedding the lines to the mules, and leaving our tugboat behind, we cross Miraflores Lake. On the east side runs the Panama Railroad, which was essential for moving men, equipment and debris during the construction. At the third lock, Pedro Miguel, the linemen reconnect the lines from ship to mules, the tugs straighten us, and the waters lift us up. The process, though slow, is fascinating.

In the observation lounge of the Mariner, enrichment lecturer Richard Holt is answering passengers’ questions. Born and raised in Panama, he can trace his heritage back to the New World Spaniards of the 16thcentury. He sat at his engineer grandfather’s knee listening to tales of how the canal was built. Possessing a wealth of knowledge, Richard enhances our canal experience with his lectures and explanations.

The bulk of the labor force was recruited from the West Indies. At the project’s peak, 16,000 people a day were working and none were slaves. Unskilled workers were paid in silver and skilled workers received gold. Explosions and landslides sometimes caused two to three hundred deaths a day, and dealing with the bodies was a major problem. The little-known solution at one point was to pack the bodies into kegs and sell them as cadavers to medical schools, a bizarre source of income to offset building expenses. The human cost was tragically high; over 30,000 workers lost their lives.

After the Pedro Miguel lock, we enter the narrow Gaillard or Culebra Cut.

This long, narrow channel was created by digging down through the mountains of the Continental Divide to the level of the lake. Tons of debris had to be hauled away in specially designed train cars. The steep hillsides are terraced to reduce run-off but dredging to keep the channel clear of mud is constant. When you hear about the Panama Canal being widened, this is the stretch they’re referring to. At the end of the Culebra Cut, we enter Gatun Lake.

Created by damming the Chagres River, Gatun Lake was once one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. Its dam generates all the electricity required to run the Panama Canal and the locomotives. Panama’s abundant rainfall replenishes the fresh water lost from Gatun with each transit. Lush jungle-covered islands scatter the calm lake. Some have inviting grass huts perched under palm trees on their shores. Crocodiles live in these waters but we don’t see any.

At sunset we enter the Gatun locks, which will lower us back to sea level. For the final time, the choreography of linemen and mules and gates repeats. Birds swoop around the ship and the jungle as evening falls. As the last lock empties, our level drops. The gates open, and we sail from the eighth wonder of the modern world into the Atlantic Ocean.

FYI:

Radisson Seven Seas Cruises m/s Mariner is a six-star luxury cruise ship. It holds 700 passengers and was the world’s first all-suite, all-balcony ship when it was launched in 2001. www.rssc.com

The transit of the Panama Canal’s 80 kilometers takes roughly nine hours. More than 12,000 ships a year go through the canal. Depending on the line, cruise ships either transit the entire canal or do a partial transit by coming from the Atlantic into Gatun Lake and going back out the same way. Tolls range upward of $45,000. The least paid to use the Panama Canal was 36 cents by Richard Halliburton, who in 1928, took ten days to swim from ocean to ocean.

The Canal cost the U.S. almost $400 million between 1904 and 1914. Until then, it was the most expensive construction project in U.S. history. Combined French and American costs were over $625 million. Panama regained control of the Canal Zone from the U.S. in 1999. Concerns about the Canal’s future include questions about maintenance levels, security, and, as the concrete of the locks is cracking, rebuilding or enlarging the locks. See: www.pancanal.com and www.canalmuseum.com

Author: Karoline Cullen and Gary Cullen