Traversing the Locks!

We decided to order room service for breakfast to arrive between 8:30am and 8:45am because we thought we might be able to enjoy seeing some of our travel through the locks from our balcony. We grabbed a cappucino and headed up to the sun deck at the front of the ship to enjoy our passage through the Miraflores locks around 7:30am. Viking had the deck set up with a huge tent, water bottles, umbrellas to protect from the sun ... and ... had wait staff serving mimosas and chilled wash clothes. It wasn't too hot at first, but by 8:15am it was already quite toasty up there!

It was a fascinating process to witness. Apparently, the pilot of the locks comes on board and the ship is turned over to him to make the delicate entrance. I believe the boat is 95 feet wide and the lock is 110ft wide. There is minimal room for error. And, I came to understand that the pilot is the only person allowed to speak aloud through the process. He uses rings and other sounds to alert the other crew as to what needs to happen when. The ship is guided by tugs and ropes etc to line up with the dock along the starboard side. It is then an intricate process by which the ship is further guided into each lock.

The Miraflores lock has three levels ... emptying the ship into the Miraflores lake. After we arrived there (@8:20am) we hustled down to our room to enjoy our room service breakfast. It was already way to hot to sit on the balcony but we rearranged the room so we had a birds-eye view of things from our comfy chairs! You can also watch the whole thing broadcast in your stateroom on your TV if you prefer.

We enered the Pedro Miguel locks about an hour later. The old boy went up to see it from the outside again ... and ... I stayed to enjoy it from our room. I was hoping to get some nice pics of the Culebra Cut for my dear friend Caryl. We are amongst a convoy of 19 vessels heading north through the Canal at this moment. The flow of traffic is seriously monitored. A big cargo vessel from Korea (which they estimate paid $750,000 to get through the locks) was supposed to be in front of us, but they renegotiated the order because otherwise we we would have needed to stay very far back given the wake from that vessel.

Apparenty the Culebra Cut is the most watched and monitored piece of land in the world. They are vigilant about ensuring it does not have any landslided. I cannot fathom how mere mortals shaped those steps on the sides of the canal. It truly is remarkable. And, sobering to think of all the lives lost in the making of this infrastructure. I am ever grateful that my Great Uncle (who worked on the Panama Canal for 20 years) was not amongst those who lost his life here.

The Gatun Lake is situated between the east and west and is dotted with tranquil islands. The Panama Canal is 48 miles long in total and crossed the narrowest stretch of the Isthms of Panama. It is truly an engineering marvel and lowers the ship a total of 85 feet from Pacific to Caribbean Sea. The Gatun Locks are a little wider than the two previous ones, but the mechanisms remain the same.Baca lagi