Where the Atlantic and the Pacific meet

Dec. 1, 2006

After two days at sea out of Savannah, Georgia we arrive at Manzanillo, the eastern end of the legendary Panama Canal. Not scheduled to enter the canal until the next morning, we spend a crack-the-whip night at the end of an anchor chain in the Caribbean. By six a.m. we are motoring back through the breakwater, heading for the canal.

The US, under the blustery leadership of Teddy Roosevelt, completed the Panama Canal in the early 1900s after the French had failed in two previous building attempts in the late 1800s. What were the French thinking when they hired the confident hero-canal-builder of the Suez? The Suez is not much more than a long trench in the sand. Here in Panama there’s an 85-foot rise in elevation at one end and a similar drop at the other end, plus nearly 50 miles of jungles, mountains, bugs, crocodiles, yellow fever and much, much more to challenge the imagination.

Our history lesson on the canal comes from one the two pilots who guide us through. Winston, a native Panamanian, is named after his father who had been named for Winston Churchill! He’s a wildly enthusiastic encyclopedia, and all topics are instantly available for exposition. In case we think he’s not paying attention to his job, in the middle of a story he suddenly calls to the helmsman, “10 degrees starboard” and then finishes his sentence without breaking stride. By the time he leaves the ship we are out of breath and glad about it.

The ships that pass though here are immense, making our own freighter seem modestly proportioned. Panamax ships are built to the maximum size that will fit in the locks. They have only one foot on either side. We’re pretty sure there’s only space for about a quart of water in the lock after these behemoths squeeze in. We rise three levels at one end of the canal and drop three down at the other.

After about 12 hours, we emerge on the Pacific side at Panama City and head into the open ocean. Our next stop is Tahiti in 10 or 11 days. We’ll have plenty of time to read, relax and gab with the crew.