November 15 - The Path between the Seas

That’s the name of the best book written about the conception and construction of the Panama Canal.  It was written and published  by David McCullough in 1977.  For anyone planning to take a trip through the Canal I think it’s a must-read work. 

Today was our day to make our transit through the Panama Canal, one of the seven wonders of the modern world. I’m not going to write  a lot about the history of its construction.  I’ll just say a few things that weren’t as well-known to me that I learned after reading the book.  Back in the 16th century a Spanish king ordered a survey of the Isthmus to determine if there might be a way to shorten the voyage of his ships from the real Indies and western South America back to Spain.  In the 17th century an English philosopher pondered the same idea of a way across the narrow piece of land.

After the California gold rush and the construction of the Suez Canal in the mid-19th century the concept and efforts to actually do something about it began to take a more active form. For nearly 20 years from 1881 to 1899 the French attempted construction under the inspiration of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who had successfully guided the construction of the Suez Canal which was hugely profitable.  Unfortunately, Panama presented many more challenges like tropical rain forests, unhealthy climate, disease and mountains which necessitated the use of a lock system.  His efforts at one point nearly bankrupted France.

When Teddy Roosevelt became president the US efforts to build a canal became serious.  One camp wanted to build a canal through Nicaragua which would have been longer and could use a couple of lakes and rivers along its course.  But there were also volcanos to contend with. It was finally decided to build across the Isthmus of Panama, which was then part of the country of Colombia.  We helped the people in Panama to successfully rebel and separate from Colombia and we signed a treaty with the new country granting us rights in perpetuity to build on and administer the land to be used for the canal.  The work began on May 4, 1904 and took a little over 10 years to complete. Between the French failed effort and the US construction project it’s estimated that more than 27,000 people died, many from disease.  Walter Reed from Gloucester, Virginia (my part of Virginia) was instrumental in figuring out how yellow fever was transmitted and his research played a big part in figuring out ways to control the disease.  The canal was officially opened on August 15, 1914.  It was a pretty momentous occasion, but interestingly it didn’t receive a tremendous amount of attention at the time.  Why?  Just two weeks earlier WWI began and German troops were driving across Belgium toward Paris and newspapers relegated the Panama Canal opening to inside and back pages.

That’s a brief history of the original canal.  Here are a few facts about it.  The Panama Canal is about 50 miles long.  On the Atlantic(Caribbean) side there are a series of three locks which raise a ship 87 feet to enter Gatun Lake. From the lake ships transit for a little over five miles through the Chagres River until they reach the Culebra Cut, which was the most challenging part of the construction.  The cut is a passage through a mountain ridge crossing the Continental Divide.  It’s nearly 8 miles long and required the excavation of nearly 100 million cubic yards of rock and soil. Approaching the Pacific Ocean ships transit through first the single chamber Pedro Miguel lock lowering the ship 31 feet.  Then traffic goes through the Miraflores locks lowering it a further 54 feet. Along the way ships travel under two bridges, the Centennial Bridge and the Bridge of the Americas.

In 2006 an expansion project began to build a new set of locks which could accommodate the larger generations of cargo vessels which now ply the oceans. That project was completed in 2016.  The new locks are 180 feet wide, 1400 feet long and 60 feet deep enabling them to accept 79% of all cargo-carrying vessels today.  Earlier I wrote that when the US began the canal construction in 1904 we signed a treaty giving administrative powers in perpetuity for the Panama Canal Zone.  In 1977 President Jimmy Carter signed a new treaty ceding control to Panama in 1999.  Of concern to many people since that happened is that China has funded many of the expansion projects which have been undertaken and has won several management contracts.  That might potentially give it significant ability to control access should there be conflicting interests.

Leaving a lock on the Atlantic side

I have been through the canal several times and I didn’t feel compelled to get up at Zero Dark Thirty to see us approach and enter the Gatun Locks.  By the time I was up we were exiting the last lock before  Gatun Lake.  I did watch us go through the Cut and get lowered through the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks.  Several of us informed friends and family at home to look for us on the webcam at the last lock.  I don’t think the resolution was good enough to make any of us out, but we were waving and toasting as we went by.  We were lucky because it wasn’t very sunny and hot and rain held off.  In the distance at the Pacific end we could see the very modern Panama City with its many towering high-rise buildings.  It’s a little surreal to see them when all around are lush, tropical forests.

Gatun Lake

Part of the Culebra Cut

More of the cut with the Centennial Bridge in the distance

Pizza time with the girls

Entering the last lock at Miraflores

Panama City

I don't know what this building is but I thought it looked neat

We had two pilots onboard and if you really squint you can see one of them go from our ship to the pilot boat. I don't think you could pay me enough to jump from one to another.

Now we’re in the Pacific Ocean sailing north along the coast of Central America.  We have a sea day on the 16th and then we’ll be in Costa Rica.  Here are a couple of interesting pieces of trivia.  The sea level on the Pacific side of the canal is about 20 cm higher than on the Atlantic side. I don’t pretend to understand why but I’m told it has something to do with the density of water and prevailing weather and ocean conditions.  Another fact is that the name Pacific was given by Magellan in 1520 as he made his voyage around the world.  He didn’t survive the whole thing but we still call it his expedition.

It’s the 16th now and I had a very nice dinner last night in Solis with my friend Claudia and a guest speaker and his wife.  We had a great time and closed the restaurant down.  Today is a lazy, sea day.  A win at trivia is still eluding us on this leg of the voyage.  I don’t mind because on the previous segment my then team won all the available prizes, but I know my teammates would like a win or two.  We still have time.

This afternoon we have birds playing around in the draft of the ship.  This was the best shot I could get of one skimming along above the waves.