I said goodbye to the folks on Shayele and thanked them profusely for my timely rescue, and we set out to the anchorage to wait for our line handlers and adviser. The German couple consist of Uwe (pronounced 'Uve') and Bridgette. They are circumnavigating over about 3.5 years.
The line handlers came first, Beqa and Mauricio, locals from Colon. Our Spanish-English-German conversations were entertaining. As per usual I'm fine with small talk but can't get into a much deeper conversation. Uwe was at about the same level - impressive! About 3 hours later (tarde!) our advisor, Emiliano, was dropped off by a pilot boat (scary maneuver) without incident.
We were off in a jiffy, motoring full steam ahead to the entrance to the Gatun Locks, which raise boats 26m from sea level to Gatun Lake.
Inside the locks, the line handlers are thrown "monkey fists", weighted balls that carry lightweight lines. You tie your heavier 150ft lines to these and the guys along the canal pull them up and attach us to the walls of the locks to hold us in position while the water rises/falls. The first lock was very exciting! These gigantic doors closed behind us and slowly we started rising as water was rushing in. Up to the top, we were untied and went forward into the 2nd lock. Excitement waned a bit. By the 3rd lock, we were all sort of over it and the cameras got put away :-) We then motored off to spend the night in Gatun Lake. The moorings were full so we tied up to another boat there. Our adviser left us then, but the 2 boys stayed on for the evening. Bridgette and I got to work on dinner and we all had a few beers to celebrate a successful day.
Around 6am the following morning, a new adviser came via pilot boat and we set off to cross Gatun Lake. "The lake was formed by flooding the existing landscape with a big dam and apparently the drowned buildings and even a train sitting on its tracks are still down there in almost perfect condition. The total canal length is around 80km, most of which consists of the Gatun Lake so it was quite a long time before we crossed the lake and reached the Gaillard Cut, the final 12km stretch forming the narrowest part of the canal that leads to the final locks."
We approached the final locks and found another monohull waiting for us. We tied up with them and off we went into the 1st of another 3 locks on the Pacific side. This time we have to go down, so once the big doors are shut, the water rushes out and down we go. The line handling procedure is the same. So, #1, #2 go by without much excitement. Then #3 is the biggy - the final lock before entering the Pacific. There's a webcam and a big ole tourist building with an announcer giving the play by play to hundreds watching from a balcony. It was somewhat anti-climactic though. The doors opened up and we were through! Welcome to El Pacifico! We untied from our buddy boat and set to work breaking out the champagne. I, sadly, had nervousness in my stomach anticipating what I'd find (or more to the point wouldn't find) on this side. Per tradition, we poured some champagne and threw some coins into the sea underneath the very pretty "Bridge of the Americas". I naturally wished that I'd quickly find a new boat to call home.
At the dropoff point for the line handlers, super long lines and extra fenders, I disembarked as well. Bridgette, Uwe and I were all sad to have to part ways. They said they wish they could take me, but just didn't have the space. They pushed some cash into my hand, which I adamantly refused, but they wouldn't hear of it. They bid me well and motored away. (Much later I looked at what they gave me and it was $80US! Oh my goodness - sooooo sweet, but sooooo unnecessary! I quickly sent a profuse thank you email.)
Once on shore I realized I was quite a ways from any normal looking marina, so I set out to walk. OH MY GAWD my stupid bag is too heavy. It's gotta be around 45 pounds or so (why did I think I needed camping gear again?!) I was in the heat of the day too, around 1400. So I trudged around 2k before I got to a road and hailed down a taxi. I found a marina, sorta, but not really the cruisers type of marina and left some cards on a window, knowing they'd be utterly useless. The feelings of dejection were quickly overwhelming me.
I HAD to get rid of my bag and get myself sorted for the night before I did anything else, so I hailed another cab and we set off for the recommended hostel, Casa de Carmen. Sadly, it was a 10 minute drive - WAY too far to realistically "commute" between to schlep myself to other boats. But the hostel turned out to be fantastic and had space in the dorm for $15/night. Perfect.
Without even so much as splashing water on my face, I checked my email. As I said in my last post, there was one waiting from the Cat that was a 'maybe' back at Shelter Bay. Was I still available for the passage to Tahiti? YES!!!! They coming through the canal today, so I will hopefully be getting confirmation later this afternoon.
I'm apprehensive. I know nothing about this boat, NOTHING - I don't even know it's name! Don't know what's on it or anything about the owner or captain. Stupid Jen stupid Jen. I need to find out as much as I can as soon as I can. I'm fairly certain it'll be fine - I do know they've made it from Fort Lauderdale to Panama, so that's something right? Still, need at least a cursory run down of the deal before hopping aboard. Really unfortunate to feel so desperate.
No comments:
Post a Comment