I quickly dressed in shorts and T-shirt, [it is very hot and humid here]. I wanted to get a couple of shots of the beginning of the transit. On the promenade we have a mix of people: fast-walkers, slow-walkers, strollers, and today, lookie-loos, many with coffee or sweet buns in hand. Today is a special day and it is coffee early and lemonade throughout the day to try and keep us hydrated.
Through my sleepy eyes I spot this determined lady ploughing her way through the strollers and eaters determined to get her 'miles' in before starting the day. It is Moe! We stopped briefly but she had to keep her pace up and we soon departed, her on the walk and me up to a front vantage place to get photos.
Throughout the ship there are skads of folks up early to get the 'best spot' to see this thing today. We have done it a couple of times, it is always very interesting but does go on for many, many hours in one form or another. Today is a special day but most classes are on as scheduled as if it was a sea day: bridge, Tai Chi, art classes, keep fit etc.
We were early in the line of ships doing a daylight transit, there were I believe three cruise ships in a row behind us. The canal is really a marvel of engineering. It has been dreamed of for hundreds of years and a earlier attempts failed miserably. The canal area is a hell-on-earth for heat, humidity and disease.
Things never got going until 1903 when Panama gained independence from Colombia and signed a treaty with the USA. The US Army Corps of Engineers were the backbone and drivers on the project, and somewhere along the line the killer Malaria came under control. It was about the biggest construction undertaking ever done. The soil and rock removed from one section alone, [Gaillard Cut], accounted for half of the removed earth. If put onto railway cars, the soil removed for the canal would circle the globe four times. Digest that!
TRIVIA: It was officially opened for business in 1914. It was turned over to Panama in ???? About 52,000,000 gallons of water is used, per ship. Our ship paid around $110,000 dollars to transit. The 'canal' is about 80 K's long and is series of locks and lakes. The water used is rainwater from the mountains which flows into Gatun Lake. Since 1914 about 942,000 ships have used the canal. The canal shortens the trip around South America's Cape Horn by about 7,000 miles.
It was an overcast day, but too hot to be outside for more than a few minutes and the humidity was extreme. The day was spent with a bit of this and a bit of that trying to keep up with the commentary from the bridge all day long. Actually you can see it all from your cabin on TV! There was an arts and crafts sale of local Panamanian goods on deck today and a barbecue on deck for dinner tonight.
There are two parallel locks and a ship was along side us in the locks all day. The majority of the transit is in open water of the lake or canals. The ships are positioned by 'donkey' engines' secured front and back and both sides, they keep the ship midway between the lock. The ships engine moves the ship.
By 5.00 PM we were anchored off of Panama city and the tenders were lowered to run an all-night-all-day ferry service from ship to shore. Who would be going ashore from this ship at midnight tonight I have no idea! We were all a bit surprised to see the Panama City skyline. What happened to that image we had of a dozy tropical port in the middle of nowhere?
Tomorrow Fellette and I go on an all day tour to an Indian Village. Gail and Jim are meeting friends at a restaurant and spending the afternoon with them. Moe is going ashore, [she thinks] and scope out the shops! [Moe is getting braver by the day.]
I spent the last leg of the locks on a treadmill in the Gym. It is the picture of the canal gates opening onto a lake. Great view!
Envy here.
ReplyDeleteDull rain on top of snow. Cold. Mushy under foot.
CJ and Don
Once again, we are facinated by your experiences, photography, and descriptions !
ReplyDeleteCheers to you both and Moe,
Peg & Gord