Today started early. The pilot came aboard around 5 am. There are two sections to the canal: the old Canal for smaller Paramax ships and the newer Canal for larger, new ships. The Queen Elizabeth is the largest of the Paramax ships, so we used the old canal. New, larger ships are called New Paramax and are about 1 ½ times the Paramax size. The new canal lanes opened in 2016.
At 6:00 a.m. we are slowly making our way into the canal. You can see ships all around us waiting their turn to go through. By 6:45 we crossed under the Bridge of the Americas, the Thatcher Ferry Bridge, which marks the Pacific entrance to the canal, connecting North and South America. The bridge was completed in 1962 and is 5,425 ft. long with 14 spans, the longest of which is 1,128 ft. The highest point is 384 feet above sea level. We are assisted by round tugboats, round so they can approach the ship from any angle.
After the bridge, we come to the Port of Balboa and by 7:30 enter the Miraflores Locks. There are two chambers to these locks, each 110 ft. wide and 1,050 ft long. As I mentioned earlier, the Queen Elizabeth barely fit. Vessels are then raised in two stages.
At 7:50 4 mules are attached to the ship to guide it through the locks. Mules are rail cars on tracks that simply keep us straight. We go under our own power. They are called Mules because originally live mules were used.
By 9:00 we clear the locks and enter Miraflores Lake. Next, we have the Pedro Miguel Locks. These we enter at 9:30 and exit at 10:15. Now we are at the level of Gatun Lake, and at 10:45 we cross under the Centennial Bridge (Pan American Highway) as we traverse the Culebra Cut into Gatun Lake. Formerly called the Gaillard Cut the Culebra Cut is an artificial valley that cuts through the Continental Divide in the Panama Canal, linking the Gulf of Panama to Gatun Lake. Culebra is the name of the mountain range it cuts through. It is an 8.75 mile cut through the mountains and has an average depth of 43 feet.
Gatun Lake was created when the Chagres River was dammed. We pass by the town of Gamboa where the River flows into the lake. Here at about 11:00 we do a pilot swap. Pilots only work one-half of the canal. It takes about two hours to cross the lake. As we approached the Gatun Locks, we saw several capybaras grazing on the banks of the lake.
At 1:15 we enter the Gatun Locks with three chambers. At 2:30 the gates have opened to let us into the second chamber. And then the third. We exit Gaton Locks at 4 pm. and continue toward the Caribbean Sea, passing under the Atlantic Bridge, completed in 2019. Our pilot leaves at 5:00; the transit is over. We are on to Curaçao.
The engineering feat to build, maintain, and navigate this canal is breath-taking. Prof. Druyea narrated the whole passage all day, explaining everything. The bows of decks 4 and 5 (crew areas) were opened to everyone in addition to all the other decks, so it was easy to find a place to stand and watch. Also the bow camera showed the whole passage on our cabin televisions. Of course, we spent a lot of time on our balcony watching everything going on the port side of the ship. It was a memorable experience.