Panama Canal Transit
By Suzy Carmody, s/v Distant Drummer
It was a bleary-eyed six o’clock in the morning and the sun was just brightening the Panama City skyline when s/v Mis Gale came along side s/v Distant Drummer to collect us for our Panama Canal adventure. My husband, Neil, and I had agreed to join our friends Gale and Slim as line handlers for their northward passage through the Canal from Balboa to Colon. We were keen to get some Canal experience before going through ourselves next year on board Distant Drummer, our Liberty 458 sloop. We first met Mis Gale in July 2018 when we were anchored in Bahia Ballena in Golfo de Nicoya, Costa Rica. As we headed south, we had crossed paths with them
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several times and were always happy to see Gale and Slim and share a few beers while swapping a few yarns. It was October 2018 when we caught up with them again in Vista Mar Marina in Panama and offered our services for the passage through the Canal. Preparation Full details of the documentation and procedures required to transit the Panama Canal can be found on the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) website, www.PanCanal. com/eng/. Many skippers choose to do the paperwork themselves, saying that it is not too onerous, but other www.cruisingoutpost.com
