Panama Canal
Hope you enjoyed the transit !!
ms Maasdam
anchored at Half Moon Cay
I take my camera everywhere...
Cartagena, Columbia, South America :
new and old
military guards at La Popa Monastery
San Felipe de Baraja Fortress
San Pedro Claver Cloister
San Pedro, himself... or what's left of him
The fort was built in the 16th century to help guard Cartagena. The city was a main shipping port for treasures such as emeralds and gold leaving South America and going to Spain and thus attracted much pirate activity including an attack by Sir Francis Drake.
San Pedro was dedicated to the protection of slaves.
He baptized thousands of black slaves and was the first monk in the New World to be canonized.
Cartagena was founded in 1533 by Spanish Conquistador, Pedro de Heredia who enslaved the indigenous Calamari Indians.
La Popa Monastery, built in the 17th century, sits on the highest point of Cartagena. It is still inhabited by monks.
Transiting the Panama Canal
The Maasdam sailed into the Canal from the Caribbean Ocean entering through Limon Bay, the port of the town of Cristobal in the Canal Zone. There were sixteen large ocean vessels waiting to enter the canal. Approximately 40 ships transit the Canal every 24 hours. Passenger ships take precedence over cargo vessels. A Canal Pilot came aboard at this point. He takes over the ship and has complete control of and responsibility for the ship as it transits the canal. The Maasdam paid $188,000 for the transit toll.
Leaving Limon Bay, we enter the Gatun Locks. These locks are a set of three giant "steps" made up of three concrete chambers that lift the ship 85 feet from sea level to the level of Gatun Lake. Electric locomotives called "mules" (attached to the ship by towing cables) pull the ship through the locks. The mules run up an incline at the end of each chamber to reach the next higher level. Four mules were used to pull the Maasdam. Huge steel gates close behind the ship as it is pulled into each chamber. Valves are opened that allow water from Gatun Lake to flow into the chamber through openings in the bottom of the lock. During the next 15 minutes the rising water slowly lifts the ship. When the water level reaches that of the second chamber, the gates in front of the ship swing outward. The mules pull the ship into the second chamber. The process is repeated until the third chamber of the locks raises the ship to the level of Gatun Lake. 52,000,000 gallons of fresh water is used for the ship's transit through the locks.
The cables are released and the ship sails out of the locks under its own power and heads south across the quiet waters of Gatun Lake following a 33 mile channel that was once the Chagres River Valley. The tops of trees and hills jut above the water. They were covered by water when the valley was flooded to create the lake. Water hyacinths float on the surface and are a major problem as they can become entangled in the propellers of ships and endanger navigation. A special hyacinth patrol destroys more than 42,000,000 of these plants each year to keep the channel clear.
When the ship reaches the southeastern end of Gatun Lake it enters the 8 mile long, 500 foot wide Gaillard Cut which has a minimum depth of 42 feet. The ship passes Gold Hill to the east and Contractor's Hill to the west and crosses the Continental Divide. The cut was named for David DuBose Gaillard (1859-1913), the engineer in charge of digging between the hills. Dredges are constantly at work to keep the channel clear of earthslides. They remove as much as 1,000,000 cubic yards of earth per year.
Mules are again used to pull the ship through the Pedro Miguel Locks. These locks lower the vessel 31 feet in one step to the man-made Miraflores Lake.
The last set of locks, the Miraflores Locks, lowers the ship with two chambers to the level of the Pacific Ocean. The level changes depending on the ocean tides.
Out of the locks, the ship travels the 8 mile channel between the Miraflores Locks and the end of the Canal. It passes Balboa, Balboa Heights, Diablo and La Boca that stand on the shore of the channel. We pass the United States Army Southern Headquarters (closed at the end of 1999 when the United States returned control of the Canal to Panama in accordance with the treaty). The ship passes under the Bridge of the Americas, an important link in the Pan American Highway. At this point, the Canal Pilot leaves the ship.
We enter the Bay of Panama and steam toward the open sea. The ship has traveled over 50 miles from the Caribbean to the Pacific in about eight hours.
the Gaillard Cut
Contractor's Hill
on the Continental Divide
Lake Gatun
Bridge of the Americas
the "Windstar" in the Gulfe de Dulce off the coast of Costa Rica
One of my first views of the Costa Rican landscape. I fell in love with the country at first sight and was to return for a grand adventure a year later.
Visit my Costa Rica page
Rafting the Corobici River
Huatalco, Mexico
25th Anniversary on the Maasdam
