Transiting the Panama Canal

CAPTAIN'S LOG / The Americas
28 November 2019

Whether you’re doing the trip in one go or stopping midway at Gatum Lake to head off on jungle adventures, transiting the Panama Canal is an experience never to be forgotten.

Written by Captain Michael Droszcz

BUILT IN 1914 and cutting the sailing distance between the east and west coasts of America by a staggering 8,000 miles, the Panama Canal carves a 51-mile-long channel through Central America, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The canal is a realisation of a dream that dates back to the 16th century, and whose eventual building cost a sobering 25,000 lives. One of the most magnificent feats of human engineering to date, the canal is separated into three locks – Gatun, Pedro Miguel and Miraflores – and welcomes over 815,000 vessels each year.

By being prepared and using an experienced agent, you can have a swift and carefree transit through the Panama Canal.

In these locks, there are multiple channels and you will be assigned a channel based on traffic movements. The locks are 110 feet wide and 1,050 feet long, however, a new lock opened in 2016 for the largest container ships, spanning 140 feet wide and 1,400 feet long.

Transit costs for superyachts start at US$12,500 and extend beyond $45,000 depending on the size of vessel, day versus night transit, and stopovers. Our transit was in early 2018 going north to south, which is the Atlantic to Pacific Coast passage.

At just twelve and a half hours, our transiting was very swift.

We arrived into Panama Bay late in the evening and the authorities requested to board the next morning at 8 am. Thankfully, we had used an agent – Pacific Bound Yachts in Fort Lauderdale – who specifically works with yachts transiting the Panama Canal, and our paperwork was complete for the canal team’s inspection.

Our Filipino, Thai and Ukrainian crew had no visa problems. However, we did encounter an issue with our Nepalese crew member, for whom we would have had to apply for a visa in advance. In the end, a compromise was reached that he was not allowed to go ashore.

We started our transit at around midday and finished in the Pacific Ocean around midnight. Overall, the experience was seamless and professional. I have to say, the Panama Canal is the best-lit canal in the world. If you are delayed on the Atlantic side, there are a few anchorages worth discovering: off the Panama coast at N 9° 24′ 59.4411″ W 79° 59′ 5.2936″; and in Limon Bay at N 9° 20′ 40.7135″ W 79° 54′ 49.7319″.

Once you are queued to enter the canal, you must remain in your appointed slot. Due to the size of M/Y Here Comes the Sun (83 metres), we were towed by four locomotives on cog tracks.

The locomotives are required to counter the immense water turbulence experienced in the closed locks, and the very biggest ships require up to eight locomotives to hold them. There were soft lines from the yacht to steel wire a couple of metres off the hull, which were connected to the locomotives.

We had no problems with line handlers; there were 10–12 of them and the pilot, for whom we had to provide adequate accommodation and provisions, was the linking man and in charge of communicating with them. Everyone was very professional and familiar with the requirements of a yacht.

All yachts over 125 feet must be pulled by locomotives, yet those under this length are manually guided through the locks by line handlers.

For those undertaking a line handler transit, there are some mandatory requirements. You must have your AIS turned on the whole time and maintain a speed of five to eight knots.

The yacht must have holding tanks, sufficient fuel and a working horn. Line-handled yachts will take on a pilot so there must be adequate accommodation and provisions for them. You will need four line handlers on deck (forward and aft, port and starboard), with plenty of fenders.

Midway through the Canal is Gatum Lake. It is possible to stay on the lake for a day or two. Guests and crew may visit the jungle or take a trip to the Smithsonian Institute, all of which needs to be organised by an agent and cleared with the Panama Canal authorities prior to entering the canal. You can also opt to transit the canal during the day at a cost of €4,000–€6,000.

Here Comes the Sun didn’t take on any provisions, however, bunkering was very new to the canal so we took the opportunity and it was a very successful experience. The barge came to us and we simultaneously carried out fuel bunkering, waste oil discharge, and bunkering of two different engine oils. This would be a mission impossible in Europe.

What you need to know

The Panama Canal transit is an involved procedure, with many moving parts to coordinate. To avoid damaging the yacht or accidentally offending officials, following is a handy guide, kindly provided by Captain Mathew George from M/Y Temptation, as adapted from the Third Edition of The Great Southern Route.

Essentials

- two large Esky coolers
- ample supply of soft drinks
- bags of mini chocolate bars
- as many thick removalist blankets as possible
- protective covers for work boots (preferably the durable vinyl type with non-slip sole)
- roll of Visqueen plastic
- roll of Blue Diamond plastic
- two-inch blue tape
- eight mooring lines of 35 metres or more; four each for bow and stern.

Important information

- Show respect to officials at all times. Send the first mate to greet them during boarding before escorting visitors to the bridge to be formally introduced to the captain.

Have interior crew on hand to provide refreshments.

- The bosun will be dressed in a white shirt and red helmet. He will need to be shown to the foredeck to delegate his workers, before being taken to the captain to hand over the paperwork.
- Fill eskies with soft drinks and chocolates and put one each on aft and foredeck. However, don’t overfill unnecessarily: the line handlers will generally empty these eskies upon departure.
- You will often be asked for food. While the pilot is always provided meals, it is up to your discretion whether the line-handlers are fed.
- While transiting the freshwater lake, flush the fire mains to clear the pipes of salt build-up.

Protecting the yacht

- Cover as much of the aft deck with plastic as possible, as well as one side deck and path to foredeck. Put moving blankets down by bulwark door for the arrival of officials, who will step in their boots straight off a dirty launch. Offer boot protectors immediately.
- Cover the capping rails with moving blankets: triple or quadruple fold the blankets and tape them to the rails above the fairleads and the boarding area.
- Tape blankets on the outboard side of the hull around the aft deck fairlead and cover the rubbing strake to protect the paint from steel cables while attaching to your soft lines.
- Remove or cover guest cushions on deck and stack furniture.
- Tape off sections of yacht that you don’t want visitors to enter.
- Use plastic to create a pathway to the day head that line handlers will use. Escort line handlers to the head to avoid people wandering off into guest areas.
- Make sure line handlers are aware of the procedure of soft lines. Run through this procedure with line handlers after boarding, and have the crew be extremely vigilant while line handlers are running lines.
- After passing through each lock, shore handlers will throw more heaving lines, which can damage paint and teak upon landing. Have boat hooks ready; extend hook as far aft or forward of yacht and ask shore handler to throw the line over hook.
- When it comes time to receive the pilot and line handlers from the canal ferries, be well-fended both forward and aft of the boarding position as the ferry captains often bounce into the yacht with force and hold the vessel alongside while boarding. Board as far aft as possible.
- Remain vigilant throughout the transit, even if line- handlers are relaxing. Watch for overstretching of the lines and alert pilot to speak to mule drivers onshore to relax or tighten lines accordingly.
- Mule drivers have been known to fall asleep, and lines to break and recoil. For safety, make sure crew are not standing near the lines while locks are in operation.

Navigating the white continent

Nature on display