Anton del Valle'

Addressing Deb's desire to visit parts of the interior of Panama, we take the bus to Anton del Valle' for couple of days diversion.

View of Anton del Valle' from nearby ridge

This excursion puts a smile on Deb's face ----->

Mascot at our accommodations is the Golden Frog

Day one brought low clouds and a bit of rain.  Our room is on the left in this photo.








One of the attractions of Anton del Valle' is a market which expands on Sunday to include orchids and other potted plants.  A modest zoo on grounds that double as a plant nursery entertains us for hours.

Lawn, water hazard and rest stop at the zoo.

    "Somethin' tells me it's all happening at the zoo
    I do believe it, I do believe it's true."

                 Simon or maybe Garfunkel?

Gregg admires Japanese glass balls collected in
Alaska by our hosts which now decorate the
Golden Frog Inn of Panama.

Our host and hostess at the Golden Frog spent time in Alaska.  Larry was a tug boat captain and even took barges into Dillingham, our old stomping ground.

We rise early one morning to hike the ridge known as the sleeping Indian princess.  This was fairly strenuous but well worth the effort.  The guide book describes the silhouette of the mountain and the trail as beginning on her brow, proceeding over her nose and mouth past her breasts and navel.  The navel is the cave in the lower right of the photo above.

Panama Canal Transit

April 10, 2014.  A canal transit, but not for Kalliope

Easing into the lake, I push off and enjoy the soothing warm sweet water.  No need to venture far, so swimming up and down the port side of s/v Taitonga, my need for a little exercise and lots of cleansing water is soon satisfied.  Returning to the company of Deb and three new friends, we all enjoy a refreshing breakfast and a panoramic view of Gatun Lake, a few buildings on the shore, the jungle beyond and large ships resting at anchor nearby.  The cries of howler monkeys provide the backdrop to our breakfast conversation.

Three boats moored to a buoy in Gatun Lake for the night.

Thus begins day two of our transit of the Panama Canal north to south as volunteer line handlers aboard Taitonga.  Day one, found us making our way from Panama City across the continent by land to join Taitonga at her slip in the Shelter Bay Marina near Colon.  This journey of 60 miles costs $6.30 for two people and consists of a dinghy ride from Kalliope to shore, a bus ride to Albrook Terminal, transfer to a bus for Colon and rather a long wait to catch the free shuttle to the Shelter Bay Marina.  All of this occurs on the same day the transit is to begin.

Continuing day one, Taitonga leaves the marina and arrives at a staging area near Gatun Locks called “the flats” around two p.m.  The flats are the last corner of the Atlantic Ocean before the transit through the fresh water of Gatun Lake at an elevation of about 85 feet above sea level and on the Pacific Ocean.   At the flats we get our first chance to observe two other sailboats that will make the transit with us.  One rests at anchor while the crew enjoys a snack.  The second is busy motoring up and down to save the trouble of dropping and retrieving the anchor.  At this spot, each of the three boats will be joined by a Panamanian advisor who will guide that boat through the canal.  When a pilot boat drops off the advisors, we move closer to the locks and tie all three boats together.  Now our “raft” has twenty people in a social unit that will need to pull together to pass through the canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Photo from a different day shown here to illustrate what a "raft of sailboats looks like when transiting the locks.

After a long wait and some jockeying for position as assigned by the lockmaster, we pull into the first lock behind a ship so wide we cannot see any space between the sides of the ship and the lock wall.  We feel insignificant by comparison.  Now we must look sharp as folks on the wall above us throw weighted lines down on our decks and then haul them back up after we attach our mooring lines.  The gate closes behind us and our view is limited to the stern of the ship and the algae and rust on the concrete lock walls and steel gates.  The water starts to 'boil' around us as it rushes in under the pressure of the lake water high above us.  The four line handlers on the outside corners of our raft now strain to take up slack from the lines and keep us from drifting out of position.  Within a few minutes water rises to within four feet of the top of the wall and our horizons expand to the hills beyond the locks.  It seems amazing that the huge ship ahead of us lifts this far with little apparent effort.

A tight squeeze

Locomotives called "Mules" keep the ships in
position in the locks.

The gates ahead of us open and we advance into the next lock, repeat the process then repeat again and we are on Gatun Lake in the dark, shaking off our tethers and motoring.  Fortunately Captain Christian made this transit recently on another boat and confidently takes us past several hazards to a mooring buoy where we spend the night.  At this buoy, the pilot boat takes the advisors ashore.

The required minimum crew for each boat is one skipper, one advisor and four line handlers.  Line handlers are needed to transfer lines from the boats to the lock wall and then maintain the proper tension to keep the raft in position in the often-turbulent water of the lock.  However Taitonga is the middle boat of three in the raft and we are exempt from many of these duties.  Good thing too as another duty of the line handler is to avoid getting tripped overboard and to keep sudden tension on the line from nipping off a finger or two.

Our desire to assist a transit like this is unsatisfied until two previously scheduled line handlers take sick on short notice and arrange for us to substitute on Taitonga.  We are grateful to Captain Christian, mate Dagmar and their friend Derek from back home in Germany for having confidence that we will show up on time and be competent and sociable.  They are very gracious hosts providing comfortable accommodations, good food and most importantly friendship and the entertaining stories of their lives.

Guest Dirk, Captain Christian and Admiral Dagmar
aboard sailing vessel Taitonga.  Note wind powered
generator behind Dirk.

Advisors arrive near noon of day two and we travel 35 miles across the lake to the next set of locks.  This is independent of the other two boats.  We have the fun of sailing part of the way with a breeze of 20 knots plus pushing us along.  The first part of this journey is on the open lake with buoys marking the way, then there is a relatively narrow portion where one of the other boats reports seeing two crocodiles.  Perhaps the morning swim wasn’t such a good idea?

This is a typical island in Gatun Lake.  We see
no crocodiles.

Now for the “downhill” portion of our transit.  After brief traffic delays we raft up with the same three boats and the raft enters the San Miguel Locks ahead of a different large ship. BANG, weighted lines rain down on deck, swoosh, they are hauled back and secured to the lock wall.  This time the line handlers must pay out line at a controlled rate as the water level lowers in the lock.

Another perspective from a raft of sailboats
entering a lock.

Between the San Miguel and Miraflores Locks there is a small lake just long enough to moor a couple of tankers.  We cross this quickly and enter the pair of locks that are known to be the most difficult because of the currents generated within the locks by the water rushing out and the prop wash of the ships.  “HEY YOU” echos off the lock walls as the advisor aboard the boat on the left begins yelling at one of the line handlers for the boat on the right about some minor error.  I thought this was uncalled for and was embarrassing for the advisor.  But, these are difficult maneuvers and as there are two “bosses” aboard each boat, it is not surprising that there are differences of opinions about how to get through safely.  Diplomacy is called for and speaking of diplomacy, this raft carries people from Panama, England, Germany, USA, Canada, Hong Kong and the Philippines.  Did I leave anyone out?

This is what the lock gates look like from the visitor's center
in daylight.

This is what the lock gates look like from inside the lock at night.

When we safely clear the last lock it is again dark and we politely say our goodbyes to the other boats as we cast off the lines and head for the Las Brisas anchorage where Tiatonga anchors near midnight.  This is the Pacific, the transit was a big success and Kalliope is anchored nearby.  We sleep aboard Taitonga and next morning offer minor assistance handling fenders and inflating the dinghy which has been folded up on deck.  Then Captain Christian takes us home and we bid a fond farewell to our new friends.