The highlight of our cruise was upon us. Our captain announced the previous evening that we would be passing under the Bridge of the Americas (opened in 1962) to enter the Panama Canal at about 7:30 a.m. I set my alarm to get a good viewing spot, and took a towel with me up to the 13th level viewing deck. I managed to find a spot behind a shorter couple, and eventually asked to sit in front of them. The guard glass against the railing is slanted to be streamlined and there is room to sit on the deck in front of people standing at the rail. With a breeze coming through the open bottom of the glass, a fluffy towel to sit on, and the people standing behind me providing shade from the sun, this was a comfortable spot with a perfect view. I stayed for three hours, talking with the women who joined me in sitting and watching the process.

A local guide was on board to explain procedures and provide historical stories throughout the day. We also had two Canal Pilots who took charge of the ship while in transit, per regulations. It cost the Jewel almost $500,000, prepaid. Larger ships that have to use the expanded canal lanes (opened in 2016) pay twice that amount.

The guide ropes were delivered to our ship by rowboat. They have tried various other methods including shooting them out with a cannon of sorts, but the old-fashioned rowboat works the best. These lines connected us to eight “mules”, four on each side of the canal. These are electric, 50-ton, $2.3 million train engines that just keep the ship centered in the canal; they do not pull the ship. At one point, Tony and I saw the ropes go slack on one side, and heard and felt the Jewel getting scraped before being re-centered.

The USS Iowa that we toured in Los Angeles before boarding the Jewel came through the locks and only had 11 inches to spare on each side. The Jewel has 24 inches of side clearance. The measurement units marked in tile along the walls are all in English rather than Metric because the US built it. Our local guide used English units as well.

In 2023 a drought brought transit limits down to 22 ships per day, and they are currently running with 32 ships per day. The capacity is 45-50. Here in the Miraflores Locks, each step up is 27 feet and requires 26 million gallons of water to fill the lock in, about the time it takes to fill a bathtub. This is fresh water that moves by gravity from Gatun Lake through culverts underneath the locks.

The latest equipment added to the canal is a floating crane that can lift 350 tons. It was holding a gate for repair when we passed it.

The locks are impressive to see from the inside and to watch the speed at which our ship rises or falls. Gates at Miraflores Locks are the tallest as the Pacific side has 16-foot tides to deal with while the Atlantic side Gatun Locks only experience 1-foot tides. Each lock that we enter, two sets at each ocean, is 110 feet wide, 42 feet deep, and 1,000 feet from gate to gate. Twenty-one rivers were diverted to make the Gatun Lake which is 27 meters above sea level. Entire towns were moved or abandoned. The latest, larger locks are 180 feet wide, 60 feet deep, 1,400 feet long with rolling rather than swinging gates and water saving basins built beside them. Larger ships pass through three sets of locks at each ocean.

And finally, after about eight hours, we were in the Atlantic Ocean! Canal de Panamá is an impressive feat of engineering and a safer, shorter journey than rounding Cape Horn, the Everest of sailing, with its notorious winds and storms. What a fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime experience!