The Panama Canal

You try to be nonchalant about the Panama Canal—just another canal, locks, been there, done that elsewhere—but you can’t. It’s a truly amazing construction that would be a huge job in 2012. But it was completed in 1914—pretty clever those Americans.

Christopher Columbus landed in Panama on his 4^th trip to the New World. The Natives told him about the “big water” to the west. He asked if there was gold and silver; they said no; he left. Balboa finally discovered the Pacific going across Panama in 1513. Ever since then, people have understood the importance of crossing that narrow stretch of land. First the Spaniards would load Incan gold and silver on a ship in the Pacific, send it north, traverse the isthmus via mule and load it on a ship in the Atlantic. The reverse would happen in the 1850s, when gold miners flocked to California. The French made the first attempt at a canal in the 1880s, under the lead of Ferdinand de Lesseps, who built the Suez Canal. Unfortunately, they lacked the techniques and were plagued by malaria and yellow fever.  After 20,000 deaths they abandoned the plan.

Building a Canal was Teddy Roosevelt’s top priority and he negotiated with Columbia (there was no country of Panama at that time) to give America the right to build and control forever. Columbia said no. So, while not well-documented, it appears that TR talked some revolutionary sorts into breaking away from Columbia and forming a new country of Panama (with or without American help, who knows?), which occurred in 1903. Construction began shortly thereafter and, after a few personnel changes, was completed by the Army Corp of Engineers, headed by George Washington Goethals, in 1914. The canal was returned to Panama in 1999.

The first decision was what type of canal to build. The Suez Canal was a sea-level canal—digging and blasting enough earth to allow ships to sail end-to-end without locks. But the Suez Canal, between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, worked at sea level because there were small similar tides at both ends. The tides in the Atlantic are larger and the ones in the Pacific are even larger. So it was decided that it couldn’t be built at sea level and would require 3 locks at either end, to raise or lower a ship 85 feet.

To supply the locks with a constant supply of gravity-fed water, the Chagres River was dammed in 2 places to create a large reservoir (the world’s largest) between the locks. The canal crosses an unbelievably dense jungle, where over 200 inches of rain fall a year, creating a good supply of water. The humidity is amazing—makes NC look like a “dry heat”!

The current locks are 110 feet wide and 1000 feet long. Ships up to 106 feet wide may traverse the canal—pretty tight fit! Our smaller ship had about 8 feet of clearance on either side. Each ship is attached to a series of “mules”—electrically-powered train-like devices that actually do the driving through the locks. There’s a pilot that boards the boat and directs the “mules”. Between the sections of locks are Lake Gatun and some narrowly-carved cuts through the mountains.

We entered the first lock on the Atlantic side at about 7:30 AM. Picture 1 shows the two ships ahead of us. (Ships can go in both directions, but for today, at least, ships entered from both oceans in the morning, passed in Lake Gatun and exited in the afternoon.) Picture 2 shows the “mules” pulling us—we had 3 on each side, 2 in front and 1 in back. Picture 3 shows us entering the 1^st lock, while the ships in front of us are in the 2^nd lock. Note the gates and road across the canal opening for us.  Picture 4 shows that there’s not much clearance.

We ate lunch while crossing Lake Gatun and now, in pouring rain, we’re in the final lock at about 4:00 PM. We should be docked in Panama City at about 7:00PM. Picture 5 shows us exiting the first set of 3 locks and entering Lake Gatun. You can see the ships that have preceded us and those waiting to head to the Atlantic.  Picture 6 shows the Culebra Cut—the most difficult area to blast. The mountain that was cut off is the continental divide in this part of Panama. Finally, picture 7 shows the ship next to us in lock number 5. You can see that we’ve already lowered, while she is being positioned by the mules.

In today’s world, there are many ships that are too large to transit the canal. The project to expand the canal is underway and scheduled to be completed in 2014. 6 new parallel locks are being constructed that will be 1400 feet long and 180 feet wide. Water-reutilization basins are also being constructed, along with massive  pumps, that will allow up to 60% of the water to be reused. Some of the narrow cuts along the current canal are also being widened to be at least 500 feet wide.

About 14,000 ships traverse the canal each year. The average cost for each ship is $54,000. The most expensive ship was one of the Disney cruise ships, which cost about $250,000. The least expensive sum ever paid was 36 cents, charged to Richard Halliburton in 1928, when he swam from one end to the other.

At Sea

It’s a cloudy, windy day in the Caribbean Sea as we sail toward the Panama Canal.  The picture  is the Miami skyline as we sailed by just after sunset. It’s hard to imagine that a week ago southern Florida was being severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy did not cause our flight to Ft. Lauderdale to be canceled. It did, however, impact 35 of our shipmates, who were on the previous sailing of our ship, which came though Sandy on its way from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale. Instead of going to Martha’s Vineyard and Charleston as they were supposed to, they headed far out to sea—taking the long way around. Given the size of Sandy, however, they were unable to escape its fury, encountering 25+-foot seas for the better part of 2 days.  It sounds like almost everyone was seasick and many people suffered falling out of bed. We are much more fortunate.

Interesting day at sea. One lecturer this morning discussed the Caribbean Sea and Christopher Columbus, who sounds like a bit of a bungler. He died, not realizing that he had discovered a new world.  He thought he had gone to the Fareast and just missed the rich part! Fortunately, others pursued the adventure following him, but it was almost 100 year later that the richness of the New World was appreciated.

We also have an astronomer on board, who talked about comets and asteroids and presented some amazing photographs. Many of the photographs are from NASA, which provides an astronomy picture of the day at apod.nasa.gov. Unfortunately, the lecture supported the theory that girls don’t enjoy science and math like boys. The Columbus lecture had more girls than boys, while the astronomy lecture had twice as many boys as girls. Sad…. This girl had a great time!

More when we get to Panama.

South American Adventure--Part 1

We travel to Ft. Lauderdale 10/31 to have stone crabs and then leave on a 33-day adventure to Buenos Aires aboard Seabourn's Sojourn. Part 2 will be in March when we fly to buenos Aires to complete the circumnavigation of South America. Let the packing adventure begin--current temperatures in Panama are in the 90s, current temperatures at the southern tip of South America are 50ish. Our itinerary for Part 1 is as follows:

11/1		Ft. Lauderdale
11/2		At sea (Florida Strait)
11/3		At sea (Carribean Sea)
11/4		At sea
11/5		Cruising Panama Canal
11/6		Fuerte Amador, Panama
11/7		At sea
11/8		At sea--cross the equator
11/9		Guayaquil, Ecuador
11/10		At sea
11/11		Salaverry (Trujillo), Peru
11/12		Callao (Lima), Peru
11/13		Callao (Lima), Peru
11/14		At sea
11/15		Arica, Chile
11/16		Iquique, Chile
11/17		At sea
11/18		At sea
11/19		Valparaiso (Santiago), Chile
11/20		At sea
11/21		Scenic Cruising Reloncavi Sound
		Puerto Montt, Chile
11/22		Castro, Isla Chiloe, Chile
		Scenic Cruising Gulf of Corcovado
11/23		Puerto Chacabuco, Chile
11/24		Chilean Fjords
11/25		Amalia Glacier
		Scenic Cruising Canal Sarmiento
11/26		Strait of Magellan
		Punta Arenas, Chile
11/27		Scenic Cruising Beagle Channel
11/28		Ushuaia, Argentina
11/29		Passing Cape Horn
11/30		Pt. Stanley, Falkland Islands
12/1		At sea (Atlantic Ocean)
12/2		At sea
12/3		Montevideo, Uruguay
12/4		Buenos Aires, Argentina
		Buenos Aires (EZE)-Miami (MIA)
12/5		MIA-RDU

03/03/12 Homeward Bound

 This wonderful trip is almost over. We dock in Los Angeles on Monday, 3/5/12, and make our way slowly back to the real world.

This is a summary of our trip:

·      Traveled 20, 028 miles by ship in 60 days.

·      Visited 18 islands: Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa, Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Rarotonga, New Zealand North and South Islands, Grand Terre Island (Moorea), Ile des Pins, Efate Island (Port Vila), Viti Levu (Suva), Tutuila (Pago Pago), Tabaeuran (Fanning Island), Hawaii, Oahu and Maui. We’ve also visited one continent—Australia. Tough to call: Tasmania is a separate island, but part of Australia….

·      Visited 10 countries: French Polynesia, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, American Samoa, Kiribati and Hawaii, USA.

·      Crossed the Equator and the International Dateline twice each.

·      Experienced a February with 30 days—leap year + the dateline.

·      Starting in LA, we crossed 7 time zones in each direction—one at a time—no jet lag!

·      Spent 29 days at sea.

·      Experienced 2 rescues at sea.

What did we do on our days at sea? We’ve had wonderful lecturers who taught us about a variety of things—the Polynesian migration, culture in the islands today, WWII in the Pacific, life in the coral reefs, cooking demonstrations, mathematics and music. We’ve used every excuse we could to have a party on deck: crossing the equator, serving caviar in the swimming pool, crew tug of war, sailaway parties as we left islands and dancing under the stars. We have been on a trivia team that is currently in last place—we have no Brits or Aussies, just Americans and Canadians. We have read a lot of books and enjoyed the company of many fine people. We’ve played 135 games of Spite and Malice, Rick has won 68 and Betsy has won 67, and the current scores Rick, 468  points and Betsy 442 points (low score wins)—although it could easily change in the next day and a half!

We’ve eaten far too much! Pictured here are the amazing breadsticks Seabourn makes (I have the recipe!). The ship makes 4200 a day! Together, we’ve eaten approximately 350! The chef has amazed us with fish—he has shopped in each port and we’ve eaten some wonderful local fish—Betsy couldn’t eat the Parrot Fish, though—they’re too pretty…. We’ve also eaten a lot of other stuff that we don’t get everyday at home. One of the restaurants is a tasting restaurant, so we’ve eaten a few things, such as octopus, that we have never tried before. We dread the scale and feel South Beach coming when we get home!

Of the 450 people on board, 122 of us have been here for the full 60 days—others got on and off in Auckland and Sydney. The 122 of us are called the Navigators and we have been treated to many special events, beautiful bouquets and little presents. The picture of us is at the final Navigator dinner. We were given Rick’s shirt and my sarong and told to wear them to the dinner, where we were presented with orchid leis and treated to a wonderful Hawaiian feast.

It’s time to return to normal life, although there’s also some sadness at leaving our “home at sea”. We’ve already signed up for our next adventure. Next winter, in 2 pieces in November and March, we will circumnavigate South America. We have been truly blessed to have this opportunity. Thank you for traveling with us.

02/28/12 Lahaina, Maui Island, Hawaii

Our last port, our last tour, our last tender trip to shore and back…. (sigh).

We visited Lahaina on the island of Maui. Our 2 prior days in Hawaii were cloudy and drizzly and we couldn’t see any of the mountains/volcanoes. Today was sunny and beautiful and Maui lay open before us (picture 1).

 We spent a good deal of time today whale watching (picture 2)—right off our balcony and from other locations on the ship. Every time we looked out we would see 2 or more whales. Humpback whales come from Alaska in the winter to have their babies. The vast majority of whales are here by Thanksgiving and they stay until sometime in March. Adults are approximately 60 feet long and weigh up to 80 tons. The newborn calves are 10-12 feet long and weigh hundreds of pounds. While the calves are growing, the mothers keep them close to shore. They have to be taught how long they can stay below water and then pushed up to take a breath when they need to—all of which can be accomplished easier in shallow water. In addition to spouts, we saw tail waves and flipper waves. We didn’t see a full breach, but they were having a good time.

Our big excursion was to the Maui Ocean Center, where they have a wonderful aquarium that focuses just on sea life found in Hawaii. Picture 3 shows a unicorn surgeonfish and yellow tang, both of which are indigenous to this area. We saw seahorses, octopus, sharks, rays, puffer fish, green sea turtles and many other species—all shapes, sizes and colors.

We had local Mahi Mahi and a Maitai for lunch and bought our last T-shirts.

We’re on our way home. We’ll do a final post before we arrive in LA 3/5.

02/27/12--Honolulu, Island of Oahu, Hawaii

On our day in Honolulu we took a tour called “The VIP Pearl Harbor Tour”. It not only included a visit to Pearl Harbor, but it included all the sites that were important on 12/07/41. During this trip we’ve had several lectures on the WWII War in the Pacific and this put together the last pieces of the puzzle and finished teaching us how much we didn’t know about “the great war” that affected our parents’ generation so significantly.

The first thing to understand is why it was important for Japan to knock out Pearl Harbor. They were at war trying to take over China and they wanted to develop an empire that encompassed, not only China, but all of Indochina and many islands in the South Pacific. The purpose for this: natural resources—they didn’t have oil, coal, tin or iron ore. They knew they couldn’t take all these nations as long as the US was so powerful in the Pacific. The mastermind of Pearl Harbor, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, knew that the only hope of success was a surprise hit. He knew that in a prolonged war the US would win—and we did.

The Japanese fleet of 33 ships, including 6 aircraft carriers, left Japan on 11/26/41 and crossed 4000 miles of ocean in total silence, north of the standard shipping lanes. Included were 5 submarines that carried 5 midget submarines that they hoped would sneak into Pearl Harbor and torpedo our battle ships. 183 of their planes arrived at the island of Oahu about 8:00 that morning and immediately took out planes on the airfields, so no planes could take off to defend the ships. They then hit the harbor, sinking or beaching 12 ships and damaging 9 others. A second wave of Japanese planes that hit half an hour later attempted to take out dry docks and repair facilities, but fortunately, by then, we had some planes in the air and were able to minimize the second round of damage. The US lost 2390 military and civilian personnel that day and permanently lost 3 battleships (USS Arizona, USS Utah and USS Oklahoma). The remaining ships were salvaged and returned to sea in record time. Fortunately, the 2 US aircraft carriers stationed there were out of port and undamaged.

Should we have been better prepared? The consensus seems to be yes. A senior staff member at the Japanese Consulate had been sending coded messages to Japan for some time. The code had been cracked and the numbers were increasing in frequency prior to 12/7. And yet, the Admiral and General in charge of the Navy and Army at Pearl Harbor were never apprised of this. Additionally, on 12/7, 2 events occurred that could have gotten us in a better defensive position prior to the attack..

·      At 6:40 that morning a US ship spotted and sank one of the Japanese mini-subs and reported it to headquarters, but central command request visual verification of what sank because they thought it might be a whale.

·      At 7:00 AM a radar station spotted a large number of planes flying in the direction of Oahu and reported it. They were told that this was OK because a number of bombers were expected from California, but no one flew out for visual verification.

Today, the National Monument is called World War II: Valor in the Pacific. It includes the memorial at Pearl Harbor over the sunken USS Arizona (pictures 1 and 2), plus an excellent Visitor Center and several other ships and memorials in the surrounding area (including the USS Missouri, where the Japanese surrender took place in September, 1945). It also includes sites in the Aleutian Islands (where Japan actually did control a couple islands for a short period of time) and California (where Japanese-Americans were interred).

We also visited the “Pineapple Pentagon”—the command center for the war in the Pacific (picture 3). There we were taught about the patch designed for all who served in the Pacific (picture 4). You’ll notice there are 12 stars, 7 in the Big Dipper, 4 in the Southern Cross and 1 for the North Star—12/7/41. The red arrow in the center represents blood shed in the cause and the surrounding white for the purity of purpose.

If you look at a map of Oahu, you’ll see that Pearl Harbor is a perfect location—small entry to the harbor, with lots of room for lots of ships. To watch the movie from actual film clips and then stand at this very peaceful place and try to imagine what it was like at this exact spot on 12/7/41, is inconceivable.

We had lunch at the Officers’ Club, visited the air base where all our planes were lined up and destroyed by the Japanese and finished up at the Punch Bowl—the National Cemetery where many of the men are interred. The USS Arizona blew up and almost half of the deaths occurred there. These men remain buried in their ship. Interestingly, the survivors of the Arizona have the option of being cremated and having their ashes lowered into a crack in the Arizona, to be buried with their shipmates. About 30 men have done so. There are believed to be only 14 survivors of the Arizona remaining.

02/26/12 Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii

 We had only 4 hours in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, so we did a quick local tour. We were here years ago and enjoyed seeing some familiar sights. The first thing you notice about the big island is that everything is covered with lava rock (picture 1). There are 3 volcanoes on the island. Only one, Kilauea, is active today and has been spewing lava into the ocean for 20+ years—the most active volcano in the world.

We visited a local coffee company to taste the world-renowned Kona coffee. Rick, being the only coffee drinker in our family, thought it quite good and bought some to take home—even at the average price of $35 per pound. Peaberry coffee is $10 per pound more expensive and represents the berries found at the tips of the tree branches. Kona coffee is so expensive because the berries are hand-picked only when they turn red/pink. The same tree may be visited 5 or 6 times in a season to pick ripe berries. Coffee plantations in other parts of the world pick by machine and pick only once, getting ripe and unripe berries. Our guide was quick to point out that even at $35 per pound it was cheaper than Starbucks!

 Then we visited Pu`uhonua o Honaunau (try saying that fast!) National Historic Park. Traditionally it was a Place of Refuge for defeated warriors or those who violated sacred laws. If caught, these people were put to death. If they were fast and made it to the refuge before their pursuers, their life would be spared, they would be forgiven and allowed to return to normal life. The site was beautiful and has been reconstructed to accurately portray what life was like in the mid-17^th century (pictures 2 and 3).

What were some of the sacred laws? My favorite was that women were not allowed to eat bananas. One day a woman was eating a banana, when the volcano suddenly erupted. The gods were obviously angry with what the woman had done, so she was put to death and the practice forbidden, so they would have no more eruptions from the volcano. Another was that men and women could not eat together because an earthquake occurred once.

This is a good time to talk about the Hawaiian language. Originally, the alphabet consisted of 12 letters, including a, e, I, o, u. From these letters, over 40,000 words were created—most showing an abundance of vowels. What can you expect when vowels make up almost 50% of the usable letters? I have an additional theory. Like water, there is a fixed amount of vowels on earth. Some languages (German and Vietnamese come to mind) use fewer vowels, while Hawaiian uses up the excess vowels.  By the way, the little “ ` “ that is used in some words emphasizes that the vowels on either side must be spoken—you can’t just bunch them into one sound

Our final stop was at the Painted Church—a lovely little church with magnificent paintings on the walls and ceiling. Some present a lovely native landscape, while other paintings showed columns and ornate decorations that might be found in other parts of the world. Interestingly, there is a door to the church, but that wall is open in several places to the outdoors—wonder what happens when it rains? (pictures 4 and 5).

Final fact to ponder: around the world, more people are killed by being hit by falling coconuts than by sharks—about 150 a year.