We have an early start today, by 6 am we are past the Bridge of the America's and the beginnings of our journey thru the Panama Canal.
The Canal was built in 1913 and opened in 1914. It's still in it's original state altho there is talk now of expanding it with all the traffic.
Travel thru the Canal saves 20 days and over 5,000 miles. Three sets of locks go up 85 feet then another 3 sets to go back down 85 feet. Length of Canal is 50 miles and was built on a mountain top 9 miles long, hence the steps up and down to connect the oceans. All the locks are fed by Gatun Lake by gravity. The Canal is 94 yrs old in 2008. Each gate is equivalent to 3 Statues of Liberties in height. Gates are run by 40 hp motors. The Canal operates 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
Each ship pays according to their weight and our cost is $245,600, the highest toll paid by a cruise ship.
All ships are pulled by electric locomotives called 'mules' thru each individual lock. We have a total of 8 pulling us, 2 each quarter side. Cables connect mules to ship. Note the mule hills as we ascend/descend the Canal.
The 'mules'
We go from Pacific to Caribbean Sea:
~ 1st lock ~ 27 feet raised
~ 2nd lock ~ 31 feet raised
~ 3rd lock ~ 27 feet raised
The ship in front of us ~
Overview picture of the Canal ~
Our locks down are pretty much the same divisions as the locks up. Each ship takes approximately 8 - 12 hours to transit the Canal. Our day ends with 12 hours total time thru the Canal. The weather was fabulous at 85*!
No comments:
Post a Comment