Sailing Across the Pacific Ocean (Part 7) - The Panama Canal
We are finally passing through the canal today! We fueled up and did some last minute jobs in the morning and are just waiting for the go-ahead at around 1:00pm.
The canal is really big, so we have to anchor mid-way through (in Gatun Lake) and spend the night. Gatun Lake is supposedly full of salt water crocodiles, so I will try to get some good pictures of them. They supposedly swim up to the boats because they are used to being fed by sailors (or maybe feeding ON sailors? My Spanish isn't very good.). We have a hired pilot and some line-handlers who have to stay on the boat with us for the duration and we have to feed them. If they do not like what we feed them (if it is not satisfactory), then we get charged for food to be delivered to them.
We have to raft up with two other boats and all three of us pass through the canal at the same time. I imagine this is an extremely scary and stressful experience for the boat owners. There is so much potential damage to the boat.
When we arrive on the Pacific side of the canal, we are going to drop anchor and make sure the boat is all ready for the 8 day journey to the Galapagos. Supplies are hard to get in the Galapagos, so we have to make sure we are well stocked NOW for our 30 day journey across the Pacific (when we leave the Galapagos).
I doubt we'll have internet in the canal or on the other side, so this will likely be my last blog entry until I hit the Galapagos. So look for a whole bunch of new entries around March 31st or April 1st!
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