We are a go for transiting the Panama Canal tomorrow and if you want to follow along, here’s what you need to know:

Our Canal Advisor comes aboard at 3 PM EST tomorrow. Once he is aboard, we will proceed to the first set of locks. We will be going through three locks tomorrow. Locks are essentially a water “stairway” that will raise us up to the level of Lake Gatun. Once in the lake, we will moor overnight. I expect that it will be nearly dark by the time we are through the three locks. Then, on Friday morning, we will proceed across the lake and then go through the three locks on the Pacific side, emerging in the… PACIFIC OCEAN!

How Locks Work

We’re going to attempt to livestream the process, but we’ll see how long the phone battery holds out. That will be on Facebook, so if you aren’t following our Sailing Meraviglia page, head over there and give us a follow so you can tune in.

Not into that? You can also see us on the Panama Canal Authority’s livestream as we transit the locks. We’ll post on FB when we go through each lock, so you can tune in to the livestream and see the action. There are two parallel sets of locks, so we’ll try to post as to which one we’re in. Please note: the Authority’s webcams are not video-just a series of stills that change as you refresh the page.

Ropes and fenders get delivered today. Our three volunteer line-handlers arrive today, so we’ll have time to “show them the ropes”. (See what I did there? I’m a comedic genius.) Our one professional line-handler will arrive tomorrow at mid-day. And then we’re ready! Hopefully the rain and thunderstorms will give us a break, but they have been pretty consistent for the last week-we’ll see.

Happily, we’ll be transiting in company with another boat. We’ve gotten to know Taras and Emily over the last few days and they are transiting on their boat, Fortuna, with us. Our two boats will be “rafted” together. We’ve never rafted before, so it will be a new experience. What could go wrong, right?

Enjoying a meal with Taras and Emily