Yachting down the Panama Canal : Photo Gallery

Yachting down the Panama Canal I just got back from a yacht trip down the Panama Canal. A tour costs more than $100, but in fact each yacht has to hire 4 line handlers, so what backpackers do is volunteer to linehandle. People told me it was the season for yachts to move from the Caribbean to the Pacific. So on Tuesday I set off to Colon Yacht club hoping to get lucky. I asked around and put my notice on the laundy noticeboard. I went to have a look around the fair and the duty free zone , neither very interesting. When I came back to the Yacht club I found that someone wanting a spare line handler had seen my note. A South African family had built their own catarmaran (on board, Des and Alison, brother Russel and the 2 kids Jared and Dylan.) The yacht was setting off at 4.30am ! so we went out into the bay where it was anchored and slept on board.

The work was easy, cos the first thing we did was lash the 3 yachts together, meaning we had 12 linehandlers for a raft which only has 4 corners. From 6 to 8 we navigated the Gatun locks, then we were out on the Gatun Lake. We passed some monkeys , but I didn't see them. 12.30 we passed into the canal at Gamboa 2pm San Miguel Lock then through Miraflores Locks and into the Pacific at 4pm. Not amazing scenary, but I met some interesting people and had an interesting experience