By: Marcia Abramson
We had arrived at the entrance to the canal and were prepared to go through the first lock. The passengers had been advised the night before to go the Observation or 11th-floor Deck for the best view of our crossing from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea (Atlantic). My daughter, Jill, and I chose to observe our passage from the balcony of our state room. In fact we were so close to the sides of the massive concrete locks that we could actually touch them, but we were advised not to.We learned that the canal consists of dredged approaches and three sets of double locks at each end. Gatun Lake is one of the largest artificially created bodies of water in the world. The excavated portion of the crossing is called the Gallard Cut. This crosses the Continental Divide through solid rock and steep hillsides that go up over 400 feet, and was the most difficult to excavate. But it was completed to a nine-mile long and 300-feet wide channel to a depth of 40 feet, costing $10 million dollars a mile for just that cut..The Canal took more than 35-years to build, with the involvement of tens of thousands of people. France started the project in 1880 under the leadership of the Suez Canal builder, Ferdinand de Lesseps, but had to throw in the towel after twenty years without a successful completion.. 25,000 workers in addition to the chief engineers were plagued by fatal diseases like yellow fever and malaria in addition to numerous accidents. The ill fated project was also doomed by rising costs, corruption and controversy. Actually, it was Charles I of Spain who initially proposed the building of a canal shortly after Balboa's hazardous long crossing of the jungles of Panama to get to the Pacific. Eventually France sold their interests in the Canal to the U.S. Government for a little more than 10% of their $300 million investment. Then President Theodore Roosevelt helped Panama declare their liberation from the country of Colombia and got the right to build the Canal on the independent country of Panama. For $10 million the United States got the strip of land needed for the Canal and $250,000 per year "in perpetuity for a ten-mile wide zone for the proposed canal. Finally, after ten-years the first ship sailed through the Panama Canal using the lock system. I learned that the six locks- three on each side are required to lift and lower the ship through the entire Canal taking from 10 to 12-hours. Each lock is paired for double-lane, side by side, not under its own power through the narrow locks. Once it is raised to the level of the lake and is towed out of the third lock, the ship resumes its own power for the trip into the Gatun Lake the first stop on the Canal which takes only about five to six-hours. On my first cruise traversing the Canal at least two-decades ago I did the whole trip to the Pacific from the Atlantic through the narrow nine-mile long Gaillard Cut to the west end of the Canal. There the motor power was cut off, and my ship was towed through the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks. The journey was finished with the lowering of my ship to the required 85 feet back to sea level. I arrived in Balboa and went off to Panama City for some shopping. And in February of 2002, Jill and I after about six-hours arrived at the Gatun Yacht Club, the first stop along the Atlantic Coast in Panama. The Radisson Diamond's Norwegian Captain took delight in sharing with us that this was the first "Yort Club that he knew of without any yorts". As a matter of fact we learned that he was pronouncing Yacht Club in Gatun Lake which was just a small family recreational area frequented by local families and employees of the Panama Canal Commission. We were taken by attractive enclosed tenders (small motor boats) from our ship and were expertly navigated under the double hull of the Seven Seas Radisson Diamond to the shore. There we were entertained by some partially clad indigenous tribal members, (a la the National Geographic pictures) certainly not Playboy's centerfold.The Panamanian hospitality was enhanced by Radisson with "Panama Beer" soft drinks , fresh fruit, and some delicious snacks along with samples of rum and rum punch. We also enjoyed the music and folk dancing provided by some delightful children and young men and women adorned with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of 24-karat gold necklaces, earrings and bracelets and dressed in colorful Panamanian costumes. I was not surprised to find a "Chiva bus" selling T shirts, Panama straw hats, at very good prices. There was also a kiosk with local Indian handicrafts, pottery, rum and some very lovely jewelry at the Galleria Orofino.
©Copyright by Marcia Abramson E-mail: mascribe@aol.com
