We knew we must be getting close when we went past this breakwater.
Lots of ships at anchor waiting their turn.
Our cruise line had paid a premium to get a early slot so we moved on without stopping.
There was still some distance to go to get to the canal proper.
We slowly closed on the container ship you can see in the distance.
Tug boats were on hand to assist any ship that had problems to ensure other traffic wasn't impeded.
Everyone was ready for their first sight of the locks.
Just ahead of us the container ship and a vehicle transport are entering the locks.
There are parallel sets of locks on each end of the canal.
Both ends pass ships inbound in the morning raising them to the man made lake that forms most of the canal.
The ships are raised in three steps of 27 feet each.
Just in front of the first lock gate there is a bridge that swings closed when the the gate is closed.
It is the only way for vehicle traffic to cross the canal at the Caribbean end.
This series of pictures shows the ships ahead of us being raised and moving to the next lock and we move in behind them.
Each lock is filled with water from the lock above it, no pumps are used.
The uppermost lock fills from the lake.
The turbulence here is water pouring out of the lock above.
Entering the Panama canal
The gates for adjacent locks.
There were some substantial fire fighting capability mounted on towers.
The view from our cabin window as we passed one of the gates.
I have no idea who uses this door in the wall of one of the locks.
Standing there must give you a unique impression of the size of a ship as it moves past inches away.
We are in the lake looking back at the lock we just left.
To the right is the dam that was built to form the lake that provides water to operate the canal and also the waterway across the isthmus.
A little closer view of the dam gates.
Pearl and Sarah were able to get a good vantage point for the canal.
Some pictures of the powerful electric engines that guided us through the locks.
Large ships had a total of eight, four to pull them into the lock and four to stop them before we hit the gate in front.
Coordination between the drivers was exacting to maintain our ship's eight inch clearance from the lock walls.
Our captain commented that he had lost some paint at one point on the trip through the canal.
The pair of winches on each engine would pay out and retract the cables as needed as we were moved and raised.
The only signals they used were bells and the lights on top of each.
The engines are called mules, the original motive force for moving ships and barges on canals.
If the engines are "mules" are these guys "skinners" or "muleteers"?
And this a corral?
Panama canal "mule"
Other vessels we saw along the way ranged from risky looking rowboats used by maintenance workers,
to a cruise ship going the other way, little barges and tugs, dredges, and a lot of container ships.
Frigate birds were the most common wildlife we spotted.
Three shots of the second bridge we passed.
Some structures along the edge of the lake.
There was a lot of work going on to cut back the hills along the canal.
Also a new set of locks is being constructed at a the Pacific end.
We got some rain as we passed through the locks there.
Mules pulling a ship through a lock
The visitor center provides a vantage point for folks to watch us watching them watching us...
Here they are as we drew along side.
The view back as we leave the canal.
There is a swing bridge at the last gate that is only used in case of emergency.
Headed out into the Pacific we passed under the last of the connections between the continents.
Our total passage from entering the first lock to exiting the final one took eight hours almost to the second.