Panama Canal Part 3: Gatun Locks

It has been a busy week this week, we have a major problem on the project at work and we've had 7am teleconferences with our Italian counterparts every day. Today I got a nice email from Rainie with comments on my blog which inspired me to get going sorting through the pictures and telling the story here again! Thanks Rainie!

The rain continued through the last part of Gatun Lake and our approach into Gatun Locks. We went to Deck 4 (which is covered) to watch the approach. We waited and waited to approach the lock first. While we were waiting we were able to watch another ship come in beside us. From the row boats rowing out to catch the lines, to seeing the ship pull tight up to the inner barrier, it was very cool to see. These captains and pilots are very good at what they do to be able to manuever these great ships so carefully!

One we had approached and were up against the barrier, we waited and waited again for a long time. It appeared we were waiting for the locomotives to come back from the other end of the canal, because once they raced back to the lake side of the locks we were hooked up things moved pretty quickly into the first lock.

We went back to our Deck 7 aft viewpoint once we were in the locks, getting the umbrella from the room to ward off the rain. It was getting dark, both from the rain and the time of day, it was cool to see the lights reflecting off of the water. It was an interesting look, but made for more challenging photography. Right before sunset the sun came below the clouds and we had some beautiful light on the buildings and the jungle nearby! One of my favorite photos from the canal is this one of the lighthouse and the locomotive as we moved through the lock. To me it just captures the canal - there is no where else in the world you could get a shot like that!

Patrick and Brandon went back inside during the second lock, but I stayed into the third until I could no longer get good pictures and hold the umbrella by myself. By the time we finally exited the locks, it was around 8:30pm and it had taken us approximately 12 hours to travel through. We were able to see one of the man-made wonders of the world, on a beautiful ship, the three of us together. The experience of a lifetime, that is for sure.