Panama Canal Transit in a Sail Boat - Pacific to Atlantic

 

Jen and I at Brightnest's bow, transiting the Panama Canal.

Here’s something you may not have heard: The birding and wildlife in Panama were just as fantastic as anything we encountered in Costa Rica. Panama doesn’t get as much buzz and press, but it has all the natural diversity you would expect from its geographical location on an isthmus connecting North and South America.  But first, let me catch you up, and bring you along to Panama with us.

We departed Costa Rica on Feb 13^th, bound for Panama City. (By chance, we were always departing on the 13^th!) We settled into our watch schedule of 4 hours on/off. We promised ourselves that we would have a nice dinner in Panama City since we spent Valentine’s Day on passage. At some point early on, we lost the wind vane of our anemometer. We still had wind speed data, and for the first days, the wind was between 5 and 12 knots, starting to pick up above 15 knots on the night of the 14^th. From then on, it was 15-20 knots, much of it on the nose. The 15^th was a challenging day – not as rough as the Papagayo’s on the Chiapas to Costa Rica passage, but still a bumpy ride. Wind accelerates around the points on the Azuero Peninsula, Punta Mariato and especially Punta Mala. We realized that we rounded these too close to shore, and if we were to sail it again, we would stay farther offshore for a bit smoother passage.

The unmistakable sight of so many freighters and cargo ships at anchor let us know that we had arrived at the canal. We had reserved a slip at La Playita Marina and tied up there with a sense of anticipation and, honestly, a bit of anxiety in our bellies. This was our last stop before transiting the Panama Canal! We had been working with an agent, who would handle our paperwork and navigate the bureaucracy for us. Fees included transit tolls, transit inspection, Transit Security fees, Canal EDCS (data collection), bank charges, Agent service fees, and of course we’d need a Panama Cruising Permit. Also, we were paying for fenders and lines and for four line handlers. Jennifer had taken the lead in communications with our agent and ensured everything was ready to go.  Our scheduled transit date was Feb. 28th - Jen's birthday.  I'll put our detailed transit costs, including the sailing permit, later in this post.

We didn't plan it, but we had arrived during Carnaval. Why not? We felt fortunate for the serendipity, but first, we had to take care of some priorities. We met with our Canal agent to complete the country check-in procedure and scheduled another meeting in a week to review the logistics for the day of transit. We also found a marine stove technician to review the propane system repair we had completed in Golfito, Costa Rica, and contacted the local rigger to see about a replacement wind vane for our wind instrument atop the mast.

With these tasks completed or underway, we decided to check out Carnaval. First we walked the streets of Casco Viejo, where a great rooftop bar scene thrives, providing stunning views over the venerable, centuries-old architecture along with great food and cocktails. After nightfall we worked our way to the Carnaval area, enjoying the parade, street food, and party atmosphere. It sort of felt like the festival was a welcome party for us!

Jen, at one of the many rooftop bar restaurants in Casco Viejo, Panama City, Panama.

Captain Mike is always happy to find meats on sticks.

Carnaval, or welcome party for Mike and Jen?

We split our time before our transit date between working on Brightnest (oil change and engine maintenance – you do NOT want to break down in the Canal!) and exploring Panama City and its surrounds.  We began to really appreciate the nature we encountered, even in the urban environment.  By the marina, we saw sloths and many tropical birds. We did a hike up Cerro Ancòn (Ancon Hill) in the city, where we beheld great views of the Panama City skyline as well as encountering monkeys and caracaras.  We did a day birding trip to the world-famous Pipeline Road, where we spotted over 32 species.

As part of a global travel route, Panama City has food from all of the the world.  We made up our Valentine's Day dinner with some dim sum.

View of Panama City skyline from Cerro Ancon.

Yellow-headed Caracara, Cerro Ancon, Panama City, Panama.

This sloth, who I called "Speedy" (the fastest sloth this side of the Darien), was raised by workers at the marina, and climbs from nearby trees into the shelter at the marina around sunset to sleep.

Transiting the Panama Canal is a milestone for any sailor.  We visited the center at the Miraflores Locks to learn more about the engineering marvel that is the Canal, and more importantly, to see for ourselves some sailboats locking down along with huge cargo ships.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal

From: https://adventurelogan.com/2014/01/05/panama-canal/

The Pacific side of the Panama Canal.

Two sailboats rafted-up ahead of a cargo ship, in the last lock of their Atlantic to Pacific canal transit.  Viewed from the Miraflores Visitor Center.

Panama Canal Transit

The day of transit finally came, and we made our final preparations. You’re required to feed your line handlers and agent. Including us, that meant three meals for seven people! Jen cooked up a huge batch of spaghetti while I made sandwiches in a production line on the saloon table. It ended up taking longer than we expected because we’re not used to cooking for so many and our pots and pans couldn’t hold the quantity, so we had to cook twice. Our menu for the crew was:

Breakfast: Ham and cheese sandwiches.

Lunch: Spaghetti with meat sauce and salad.

Snacks:  Nuts, breakfast bars, candy. 

Special treat: Jen’s birthday cake.

Dinner (if needed):  Stewed chicken.

The line handlers and agent would be arriving at 3:00 a.m. We took a break from meal prep and walked the pier to take a pic of Brightnest, her last pic in the Pacific.  

The last photo of Brightnest in the Pacific (she looks so small here!).  On our last day, we moved her from the slip to an outer tie-up to pre-position her for leaving at 3:00 a.m. for the canal transit.

For those curious, the transit costs looked like this:                                        

Transit tolls                               $1,760.00 up to 65ft  

Transit inspection                    $75.00                                                     

Transit Security fee                 $165.00                                                   

Canal EDCS                              $75.00                                                    

Fenders & lines rental             $125.00 (no tires)                                                

Bank charges                           $75.00 3% Visa/Mastercard                                                                                             

Agent service Fee                   $450.00 up to 65ft                                                                                            

Panama Cruising permit        $235.00        

Line handlers (x4)                   $120.00 per  

Total:                                         $3,290

Panama Posse discount       ($150)            

We could hardly sleep the night before, but we were ready to roll when the line handlers showed up.  It was quite a day, and Jen's spaghetti was a big hit! We were prepared to raft up with another sailboat, but ended up going solo (to our relief - rafting up can make things more complicated). The transit can take two days if they schedule you to stay the night in Gatun Lake, but we were going straight through in one day, so we lucked out on that account, too. They always pair small boats with a big cargo ship or cruise liner, and it's mostly your job to stop when you should, move when you should, and stay out of the way.  That was my complete focus at the helm.

My post on social media sums up the day:

Feb. 28th, 2023. Happy Birthday, Jen! What a day. At dawn, we said goodbye to the Pacific, after more than a year and a half of sailing the Western Coast of the U.S., Mexico, and Central America. In the dark at 3:OO am, we began maneuvering through a mooring field of gigantic freighters, passing under the Bridge of the Americas, for our transit through the Panama Canal. First, the Miraflores Locks, then the Pedro Miguel, squeezed in next to cargo and cruise ships towering menacingly above us. Who would have thought you could cross a continental divide in a sailboat? At the end, two massive doors opened on a different ocean and a new set of adventures. When we motored out from the last of the Gatun locks into the Caribbean, it was birthday cake for everyone, as four canal line-handlers, one canal advisor, and me, sang happy birthday in a couple of languages. Here’s to more to come!

One of the Miraflores Locks closes on the Pacific Ocean behind us.

    

As the sun was coming up, we were in the Canal.

Crossing Gatun Lake

Through the Gatun locks, we were grouped with a European cruise ship.

Note the size of the audience on the top deck.  We're definitely in a few folks' vacation pictures.

The second-to-last Gatun Lock opening.

The last lock, opening to the Atlantic.

All said, while we had a few white-knuckle moments, it was a calm, uneventful transit. Things to watch out for: 1) Currents when the locks open. This is a bigger worry locking up than down. 2) When you are behind a freighter/cruise ship, and they begin to move forward, their prop wash will create a current you must be prepared for. You must motor into it or you will be swept back. 3) The linemen on shore don't always toss the lines down accurately enough for your line handlers to retrieve them. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries. 4) Be prepared to wait outside the locks on Gatun Lake to be paired with a cargo ship or cruise liner for locking down. 5) Be prepared for the line handlers to eat a LOT of food.

It felt amazing to motor out from the canal into the Atlantic. We were in the Caribbean! We dropped our agent off on a waiting transport boat and then high-tailed it for Shelter Bay Marina before sunset. 

Shelter Bay

Our home for twelve days, Shelter Bay Marina earned a special place in our hearts. We felt a great sense of accomplishment after successfully transiting the canal, a meaningful milestone after departing a year and a half ago out of Seattle, WA. We also felt a great sense of relief to have completed it and not have that hanging over us. Now we could relax and indulge ourselves with a little laziness. And what a place to relax!  Shelter Bay is a real global hub for cruisers. We met old friends that we'd met last season in Barra de Navidad, Mexico, and met new ones on S/V Three Rivers and S/V Boundless. The captain on the boat next to us shared his digitized charts of the Guna Yala/San Blas Archipelago from the Panama cruisers' "bible", The Panama Cruising Guide by Eric Bauhaus. We had dinners at the marina restaurant where we met other cruisers headed our way - to the San Blas Archipelago. French, Dutch, Germans, and other Europeans abounded. We'd just missed the tail end of the AARC rally of many, many boats sailing together and transiting the canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That was lucky for us, or we might have had trouble finding space at the marina. The atmosphere was friendly and salty, with yoga classes under the shelter in the mornings and evenings, cruiser barbecues, and other events.

On top of this, there was a nature walk through an abandoned part of the old military base that offered not just phenomenal birding, but extraordinary wildlife in general. We walked the trail sometimes three times a day, to hit it in the morning, day, and evening.  Among the many birds we saw regularly were Fiery-billed and Collared Aracaris, Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, White-tailed Trogons, and Keel-billed and Yellow-throated Toucans.  The thriving animal life included Howler monkeys, White-faced Capuchin monkeys, and of course, Coatis. 

Yellow-throated Toucan.

Coati. The jungle racoon.

Distinctive Oropendola hanging nests.  They are engineered by the Oropendolas to be deeper than the length of a Toucan's bill.

The jungle overtakes the ruins of the U.S. military base.

Howler monkeys.

White-tailed Trogons.

Jen walks on old military road through the jungle.

Coati in a fire hydrant.  Click play button twice.

As I said at the beginning, the birding and wildlife in Panama were just as fantastic as anything we encountered in Costa Rica.  Panama City was a cosmopolitan capital with the cultural sites, restaurants, and atmosphere you would expect from such a city.  The cruising culture, especially on the Atlantic side, was fantastic, fun, and welcoming.  And transiting the Panama Canal was a truly unforgettable experience for both of us.  We ordered a plaque to be made, marking the date of our transit.  After some thought, and holding it up at different places around Brightnest's saloon, we installed it in a prime spot at the nav station.

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"An in-the-moment moment" - from Mike's Log, 3/2023.

Shelter Bay Marina, sipping rum cocktails to the background of artillery and machine gun fire at Fort Sherman.  Felt like I was in some Heart of Darkness in 1960s Vietnam.  Military barracks, palm trees, and thundering weaponry.  Soldiers chanting in the jungle, ran by in formation, completely disregarding me with my binoculars in hand, as I assessed the nesting pair of Aracaris in the Royal Palm above.  And the monkeys - we were swarmed with monkeys. Howlers in this instance.  You have to be careful if you stand below the males because they may defecate on you – be especially careful if you are one of those gape-mouthed people who tend to view nature with your mouth open.