Panama Canal

Yesterday was our Panama Canal transit – our second time.  The first was in 2006 just before they started the expansion project.  We saw major construction underway yesterday.  It is supposed to be completed in 2014 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the original canal opening.  Not sure they will make 2014 from what we could see.  The expansion is to provide wider locks to accommodate the current generation of mega-ships.  Rather than expand the existing locks, they are building parallel locks so there will eventually be 4 sets of locks instead of the current 2 at each site.   There are locks near the Caribbean and two sets on the 

Pacific end of the canal.

Most of the time you sail through Gatun Lake and another smaller lake as well as the infamous cut through the hills that claimed so many lives during construction.  Gatun Lake is man-made – one of the engineering marvels of the canal.   There are double locks as a precaution since a failure would mean that Gatun Lake would empty out into the Pacific or Caribbean.  Not a good thing!

The canal runs from northeast to southwest – which is counter intuitive until you look at a map and realize that Panama actually runs west to east.  So – you go south to get to the Pacific from the Caribbean! 

It was a beautiful day – hot but bright sun with white clouds and no rain!  The ship had a very good commentator on board who pointed out sites along the way as well as history and basic facts about the canal.  All in all – a great day!