FROM PORTOBELO THROUGH THE PANAMA CANAL
The view from the fort of the harbor.
The Spanish built 2 forts, one on each side of the harbor, and a walled city.
Portobello - quoting Eric Bauhaus, Cruise Guide author extraordinaire - “The Bay of Portobello was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502 and was chosen as the Caribbean transshipment center because of its magnificent harbor and convenient location. From this port tons of gold and silver flowed to the commercial capital of the Spanish empire, Seville. Between 1574 - 1702, 45 fleets of galleons were sent forth, none of which carried less than 30 million pesos of riches. The wealth that arrived was a strong temptation for pirates like Henry Morgan. With his troop of 460 men he took over Portobello and while the defenders tried their best, they were overcome and unsuccessful with their negotiations, they eventually gave in and paid Morgan 100,000 pesos in order for him to not destroy the population.” (thanks Wayne!)
On Sunday, March 10th after a week in Portobelo, we sailed to Shelter Bay Marina to prepare for our passage through the Panama Canal.
This marina is top notch – beautifully tiled restrooms with rain forest shower heads, restaurant, pool, hot tub, mini market and a launderia. May not sound like a big deal to you, but to me it was HEAVEN! First things first – laundry. Five loads. Next we were awaiting the Admeasurer to measure the boat.
Pedro Lopez, Admeasurer
Then our agent Erick to complete our paperwork with all the vessel info, submit it to the Canal authority so we will then be given a day and time for our passage. Fortunately, the canal is not that busy now so our dates were Saturday and Sunday, the 16th and 17th. You are required to provide or hire line handlers. Our friends Allen and Patricia on Nauti-Nauti joined us for the trip as well as Nicole a nice Austrian gal we met in the marina.
The hungry crew!
Tires hanging are the fenders required! Attractive, hey?
Colon is the nearest town to get cash and provisions, i.e. food and beer! The marina provides a free shuttle bus daily for the 30-40 minute ride into Quartro Altos Mall. So off we go. It’s a beautiful drive through the jungle once we depart the marina property which is on the abandoned military base, Ft. Sherman. There are now a few new buildings under construction for barracks and administration as there are humanitarian troops here to aid in the construction of schools in Panama. The road crosses the canal – a swing bridge that is just above water level is used when the locks have been closed. Depending on the number of ships going through, you could have quite a long wait for the bridge!
Here we go..........sharing a lock with a big freighter.
The lines are from the boat to the top of the lock. As the water recedes, you let out the line, and pull in the lines when the water enters the locks.
Our helpful Advisor, Francisco, napping! lol
Locks closing behind us.
Dave Wood saw us on the canal's live cam. There we are tied up to a mono hull, L'Espirit de la Mer.
VERY COOL
A little history lesson: “There are mountains but there are also hands, and for the king of Spain few things are impossible.” This was the imaginative rationale of a Catholic priest in 1534, after having studied the feasibility of a canal through the isthmus of Panama. Presumably wiser minds prevailed, as King Charles V of Spain realized that picks and shovels were wholly inadequate (duh?). Instead, the Spanish did pave extensive cobblestone mule trails over which tons of gold from the conquest of Peru traveled on their way to Spain……..it’s always about the MONEY! In 1850 construction began on the Panama Railway with 10,000 casualties and $8 million later. The railway was successful but the Colombian government granted a French company the exclusive privilege, valid for 99 years, to construct a waterway across the isthmus of Panama. The considerable skills of the French engineers could not overcome the diseases or the harsh geographic and climatic conditions they encountered, nor the fiscal mismanagement that brought the enterprise to ruin in 1889. In 1894 a second French company emerged to resume work on the canal but due to lack of funds from the French government they were forced into bankruptcy. They sold their rights, ownership and equipment to the United States. In 1903, following Panama’s declaration of independence from Colombia, Panama and the U.S. signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty. It took 10 years, labor of 75,000 men and women and @ $400 million to complete the task. As you can imagine, the builders faced unprecedented problems: geology, enormity of the locks, excavation (where do we put all the dirt?), establishing new communities to house the workers, importing all the equipment and supplies down to the nails, and tropical diseases. Colonel Williams Crawford Gorgas and his medical team are credited with eradicating yellow fever and bringing malaria under control. The canal opened to traffic on August 15, 1914.
The new canals and locks under construction are mainly for the use of Panamax ships – which are so big they are unable to go through the present canal – and must go around Cape Horn. Lots of money and time will be saved. Scheduled to open 2014-2015. Plan your cruise NOW!!!
Enough of that.
Unusual architecture in Panama City (Guess jeans billboard). The women in Central America wear the tightest jeans I have ever seen (more like leggings)and the tallest heels. Short, tall, thin, fat - they all wear them!!! Don't know how they do it in this heat. The men.......blah! Saw a cute 15 year old!
I found the city of Panama, population @ 1 million, very attractive, high energy and booming. There is mucho construction going on downtown. They have a Trump Tower and a Hard Rock Hotel. Very metropolitan. Oh, and traffic to match the chaos. Most of the businesses close at lunch time, and for some dumb reason, everyone gets in their autos. Go take a nap and stay away from the traffic until after lunch.
.Another BIG shop. There's an escalator to accommodate the shopping cart down to the parking garage!
(NOTE: 4 cases of beer on the bottom!)
In the next day or so, we will go south @ 30 miles to the Las Perlas Islands where we hope to do some diving. By the way, the water is COLD here! Then we’ll start banging our way up the coast of Panama to Costa Rica, Mexico and finally California.
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