{"id":2797,"date":"2023-04-20T15:43:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T20:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jemmofthesea.thelaskowskis.com\/?p=2797"},"modified":"2026-04-23T15:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T20:47:22","slug":"panama-canal-transit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jemmofthesea.thelaskowskis.com\/?p=2797","title":{"rendered":"Panama Canal Transit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After finishing all preparations and resupplying our vessel, we were ready to ‘conquer’ the Panama Canal with an intention to head to the Galapagos Islands after that. We enrolled the help of Emmanuel Agencies S.A.<\/a>, the most renowned and highly valued agent among cruisers. Its owner, Roy Bravo, filed all the necessary documents with the Canal authority, arranged for the additional crewmen for the transit, and provided the required lines and fenders. He turned out to be invaluable with all his help and advice. Roy was able to get us a one day transit, which meant an overnight mooring at Gatun Lake, but the price was a very early start. We were meeting our crew and a Panama Canal assigned pilot at 4 A.M., just outside the Shelter Bay Marina entry.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Hail to Roy Bravo and his Emmanuel Agencies S.A.!<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To transit the Panama Canal, you need to go through three locks on each side of the Gatun Lake. Coming from Atlantic side, the first three locks lifted our vessel approximately 26 meters (85 feet) to reach the level of the lake. On the other side, this process is reversed going down to the Pacific Ocean sea level. Gatun Lake is an artificial body of water created by damming the Chagres River. Its water is used to fill up the locks on the way up and on the way down, the locks release the water back into the lake. At about 33 km (21 miles, 18 NM), Gatun Lake is a majority of the Panama Canal length.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Going through the whole length of the Canal for the very first time was a great adventure!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Panama Canal Transit – Time-lapse video<\/h6>\r\n\r\n\r\n\n
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