This morning I broke my two time tradition and woke up at 5am to see the transit through Gatun Locks located at the north end of the Canal on the Caribbean side. We could see the new bridge and new larger Canal as well as the remains of the failed French attempt at a non-lock style canal. The transit took about 3 hours to go through 3 locks that raised us 85 feet to the level of Gatun Lake and past Gatun Dam.
We didn't have to anchor so we proceeded sailing on Gatun Lake and through the Culebra Cut (essentially the continental divide) until we reached the Pedro Miguel lock which we easily transited into Miraflores Lake. It was a mile sailing across the lake to the Miraflores Lock. Then we were dropped us down to the Pacific Ocean sea level in two stages. It was pretty cool that someone took a webcam screenshot as it passed by the visitor center at Miraflores and posted it online. A short sailing later and we passed out under the bridge of the Americas with Panama City in the background into the open ocean amidst heavier rain showers. The total transit time was just under 11 hours.
The entertainment tonight was trio of ladies singing under the name Unique3. They covered a range of styles including rock, soul, and Broadway. Tonight we set our clocks back another hour so we are on Mountain time. Tomorrow is another sea day with lots of activities on board. Stay tuned.
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