Helsal II transits Panama Canal on way to Transpac

by Matt Burton on 23 May 2003 After finishing second place in the Racer/Cruiser I class in the Antigua Sailing Week regatta earlier this month, Helsal II is now on her way to Los Angeles for the TransPac race which commences on 4 July, 2003.

I've had a lot of great moments since the current voyage on Helsal II started back in January. Sailing across the South Atlantic and into Rio, visiting the island of Fernando De Noronha off Brazil, snorkelling over shallow wrecks in Barbados and competing in 2003 Antigua Sailing Week, but yesterday was one of the biggest of them all, taking the boat through the Panama Canal.

For those that don't know much about it, the Panama Canal is the only method of crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean other than rounding Cape Horn at the bottom of South America. Opened in 1914, it consists of a series of locks, that raise you 26mts to the freshwater Gatun Lake where you wind through the Panamanian Jungle for 25 miles then get lowered down the other side again.

15,000 vessels a year transit the canal with the main traffic being tankers, container ships and bulk carriers.

We were very lucky that after arriving in Colone we only had to wait 4 days to get our spot. During busy periods yachts can be forced to wait up to 2 weeks. There was a mountain of red tape and paperwork to get through, plus payment of our USD$850 fee (for vessels 50-80 feet).

Saturday 17th May was our day and they told us to be ready at 4.15am when our pilot would arrive. He actually arrived at 5.00 and we headed off shortly afterwards towards the first set of gates, the Gatun Locks. The Gatun Locks consist of three chambers and takes about an hour to get through. We were nested with a 44feet French yacht, Stardust, rafted on our starboard side. I would effectively be driving both boats through the locks. We also shared the chamber with a 600foot American tanker called the Sheila McDevitt.

There was one anxious moment when we excited from the first chamber to the second. We had control of both lines on the port side and the aft one on the starboard, with the French crew controlling the starboard bow.

After the chamber had been filled and the gates opened the French line handler let the bow go way too early, before we had any way up. The bow rapidly fell away to the port side concrete wall. I jumped on the rev's to power the bow back again, but with the extra 12ton of boat tied to my starboard side it took a bit of muscle to bring her back. I was very conscious of then coming back away from the wall at an angle that wouldn't allow the stern swing to smack the concrete. Our stern came within 2mtrs of the wall and I reckon it took about 10 years off my life!

The other 2 chambers went very smoothly and we exited the locks into the Gatun Lake. This would be the first time Helsal II had been in a freshwater lake. We then had a leisurely motor to follow the channel for 25 miles. Looking more like a river it winds it's way through the jungle. The channel also takes you through a man made valley called the Gaillard Cut. The whole time large ships are passing us in the opposite direction. At this part of the canal there is not enough room for 2 ships to pass side by side. Our 32yr old pilot, Louis, who was now playing tour guide, said that large Crocodiles are often sited on the banks, but we didn't see any.

Once across the lake we nested with Stardust again and entered the second set of gates, the Pedro Miguel Locks. There is only one chamber in this lock, then a mile further on to the last set, the Miraflores Locks. There are two chambers in the Miraflores Locks. At these locks there was also a small grandstand full of tourists watching us go through. There was a voice on a PA system saying 'Before you right now are some yachts who are crossing the canal....'. We waved to them and they eagerly waved back!

Once the final gate was opened we exited the Canal and were now in the Pacific. All up it took about ten hours. An awesome experience with some spectacular scenery.

For photos of the Panama Canal transit and additional infomration on Helsal II see our website http://www.helsal.com