We began our crossing on the Legend of the Seas at 6:00AM
Our trip along the canal from its
Atlantic entrance took us through a 7 mile dredged channel in Limón Bay. You
can see the Gatun Locks ahead and Gatun Lake just beyond.
Our ship then proceeded through the canal for a
distance of 11.5 miles to the Gatun Locks
where we
were hooked up to little “mule“ engines that pulled our ship through the
locks.
The
smell of diesel fuel and the loud chattering of the hard-hat workers woke us
up at 7:45 am. Such a busy, noisy place! “Panama-damonium” for sure!!
We watched as steel cables were transferred from the eight “mules” (electric
locomotives) to the Legend. The mules would guide the ship through the
locks, while the Legend provided the power to move forward.
What makes the Panama Canal so remarkable is its
self sufficiency. The dam at Gatun, is able to generate the electricity to
run all the motors which operate the canal as well as the locomotives (4 to
12 mules depending on the size of the ship) which tow the ships through the canal. No force is required to adjust
the water level between the locks except gravity. Fresh water
from Gatun Lake is used to fill the locks. Each ship passing through
the entire Panama Canal uses 52 million gallons of fresh water from Lake
Gatun. As the lock operates, the water simply
flows into the locks from the lakes or flows out to the sea level channels.
The canal also relies on the overabundant rainfall of the area to compensate for the loss of the 52 million gallons of fresh water consumed during each crossing. The only other "power source" needed to operate the Canal is the fellow in the tiny rowboat who meets each ship approaching the locks to bring ashore the first tow line. (In 83 years, they simply haven't found a more efficient way to do the job!)
Mules hooking up to ship Mule Close Up
We are now in the first channel of the lock being raised up--and looking back toward Gatun
There are three Gatun locks set together; meaning you move from one lock into the second lock and from the second lock into the third lock. Along the Canal, the three sets of locks are paired; that is, there are two parallel flights of locks at each of the three lock sites. This, in principle, allows ships to pass in opposite directions simultaneously (See YouTube above). A 30,000-pound fender chain at the end of each lock prevents ships from ramming the gates before they open. And large rubber rollers protect the corners of the locks, and... there is only four inches of clearance on the rollers! The total raise from when the ship enters the first lock until it sails out of the third lock onto Gatun lake is 85 feet. It is an awesome sight to be on either side of the three locks and look at a ship on the opposite side seeing it sit so far above or below your position! From the third lock you sail onto Gatun Lake.
Sets of stairs led to another world of operating equipment underground. Welding work was continuous in the bays on land.
In the first lock, water raised us up Richard watches from our balcony as we approached the second lock
We reach the center of the triple locks The Panamanian Flag
Heading toward the last lock and entering Gatun Lake. At the end of locks mules unhook
After escorting us out some distance, the Harbor Master leaves our ship and we are on our way
We were able to watch the whole operation from our balcony (while enjoying our breakfast) as this series of three locks at Gatun eventually raised our ship 85 feet to Gatun Lake. What an interesting morning!
Sailing away, we passed ships that were in a queue in Gatun Lake awaiting their turn to enter the narrow channel. The best part is... cruise ships are passed to the front of the line... no waiting around for hours the way most cargo ships have to. (Considering that some cruise ships pay well over $100,000 to transit, it's only fair.)