| Panama Canal |
| Our ship arrived at Panama City early in the morning when the tide was low. This was important because of our tall masts and the limited clearance under the Bridge of the Americas (seen in the picture below). Just before it was our turn to proceed, a pilot boat dropped off several men who took over the job of securing the deck. Obviously the main pilot was on the bridge in command of the ship. |
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| When ships approach from the Pacific side, they have to go through three sets of locks that raise the ships a total of about eighty-five feet. Two of the locks are close together; the third is a mile or so further up into the canal. Because of the amount of traffic, there are two sets of locks next to each other. A larger cruise ship, the Black Watch, was waiting to go into the lock to our right; however, for some reason we proceeded first. The "mules" were ready and waiting. |
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| Six mules pulled and guided us through the locks; three on each side. Two were in front; one to pull, the other to slow us down, while the mules astern kept us from hitting the sides. Steel cables from the mules were secured to the bow and stern of the ship, and these were controlled by the mule operators to keep the ship in the center of the lock. These modern electric trains are specially built in China at a cost of about $250,000 each. |  |
| To attach the steel cables, two men in a row boat came along sides and passed a line to the crew on deck. It seemed so contrary to see tiny rowboats next to multi million dollars worth of "mules" and huge ships as one fellow grabbed a line tossed to him in his wobbling craft. |
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| The mules run along a cogwheel-track and, at the point where the lock doors and control towers are, they have to climb this steep incline to the next level. |
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| When all was secure, the water from the canal was let into the lock, the ship rose and finally the doors opened to the second lock. All the work of guiding, pulling and stopping the ship was done by the mules. When we asked if any mules ever had been pulled over, the guide on our ship told us that, yes, indeed one time a train had capsized and ended up in the canal. The operator, who turned out to be the first woman in that position, was able to jump out and was unhurt. However, she lost her job. |
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| After we cruised under our own power to the third lock, we had to go through the whole process again. Then we were into the main sections of the canal, passed under a new bridge (which as yet had never been connected to any roads) and entered a very narrow part where all the digging problems had occurred during the construction work. It was obvious looking at the steep mountain sides that not all the problems are solved. In fact we saw several dredgers continuing to clear the channel. Because of the narrow part, it was one way traffic and when we entered the wide lake region we saw several west bound ships waiting for us. |
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