Ok, that was more interesting than I expected.

I really, really hate it when Andrew is right about something.  Not that it happens very often, but I still resent those rare occasions.   Today we made a partial transit through the Panama Canal.  The entire purpose of this trip is today.  It is, in fact, the Superbowl (is that one word or two?) of this vacation.  One of Andrew's bucket-list items can now be checked as complete.  

Having built it up like that, I now have to admit that I was less than enthusiastic about seeing the Canal.  When I would tell people about this holiday they would enthuse "The Panama Canal!  Wow, that will be amazing!"  Will it? I would think to myself.  Doesn't the water just get higher and lower in various places?  Is that really such an engineering masterpiece?  Turns out, it will, it does and it really, really is.   Seriously, it took ALL DAY for us to go through the first set of locks, turn around in Gatun Lake, and go back through those same locks (thus the partial-transit).   And I stood outside and watched every. single. minute.  

For those of you who know as little about the PC (Yep, we're on a nickname basis now that I've been through.  I even have a certificate to prove it.) as I did before last night (they showed us a documentary on the ship), here's the 411.

The PC, or "The Big Ditch" as it was called by many, was finished in 1914 after 32 years of construction.  The number of men who died building it is estimated to be over 22,000.  They died from accidents, the jungle (snakes!), and other terrible things associated with hard, physical labor.  Mostly, however, they died from mosquitoes in the form of yellow fever and malaria.   Mostly, too, they were black men from the West Indies who were promised good wages and were then subject to terrible conditions that included starvation, poor living conditions, and so on.  Surprise. 

The Canal was conceived, of course, to make travel between the east and west coasts of the US faster by not having to go all the way around South America.  A month faster, no less!  The original plan was to dig a sea-level passage through the land.  After about 5 years of trying to dig through the solid rock of Panama, however, the idea of a lock and dam system was introduced.  And the rest, as they say, is history.  

The Gatun Locks, which are the three locks that we went through (twice) today, are on the Caribbean Sea/Atlantic side of the Canal.  The "chute" is just over 106 feet wide (32.3 meters) and each lock is 965 feet long (294.1 meters).  Our ship is, luckily or through good planning, just under 106 feet wide (32 meters) and 963 feet long (294 meters).  Yep, we just fit!  They did add some new wider and longer locks that were finished just this past fall, but we didn't go through those.  I guess they save those for the big ships. 

As we approached the first lock our ship were boarded by a herd of expert "guides" who work at the Canal and assume driving and navigation privileges for the duration of the passage.  Next, two tugs, (one on each side) guided us carefully in to the entrance of the Canal.  Finally, we were tied up to four train-like machines - two on each side of the canal and two bow, two stern.  Once we were secured, the trains drove along a track very much like those of an amusement park ride and pulled our ship through the process.  It looks something like this:  trains drag the ship past the dam doors, dam doors shut, water rises or fall (accordingly), dam doors open, trains drag ship to next section.  Lather, rinse and repeat.  See why I thought that would be boring?  

Why it wasn't boring, is that the sheer orchestration of all of these moving pieces (and HUGE moving pieces, at that) was nothing short of brilliant to watch.  The mechanics are amazing for 2017.  Even more so when you consider that the were conceived and designed more than 100 years ago!   Hats off to those brilliant people, and to those who gave their lives to that I could ooh and ahh about it today.  What a legacy.  

So, as a punishment for loyally following this blog of our journey, you will now be subject to a million pictures that will have you asking "Will it be amazing?  Doesn't the water just getting higher or lower?  Is that really such an engineering masterpiece?"  Take my word for it, however - yes, it will, it does, and it really, really is. 

Big ship in the east-bound lane (we're in the west-bound lane at this point).  Note the water level on the wall, as indicated by the darker section.  Now go to the next picture...

About 1 minute later.  It really happens quite quickly!

See the ruler - it's at about 60+ feet in this pic.

Now at about 48 feet about one minute later.  

View of other ships waiting to enter the Canal.  There were literally dozens of ships waiting on each side.  I had no idea it was such a super-highway!

Train-thingy running along the track on the opposite side.  In this case, it's keeping that ship (you see the back tip in the pic) from going forward in to the dam walls while the water level changes.  

Just fits! 

Train tracks.  

One of our two rear trains, and another ship going out of the Canal.  

Gratuitous product placement

Finished in 1913, but not officially opened until 1914.  Tricky.

Not sure why they need a lighthouse in the middle of the lock/dams, but it was pretty.  

Pretty green jungle in the background.  Full of all kinds of nasty stuff that killed 22,000 people. 

Empty section of the Canal - you can see the difference in water height where a ship just left.  

The end of the Gatun Locks and the start of Gatun Lake.

Gatun Lake - it's freshwater, fed from a river.  It gets some salt water mixed in from ships coming in, but is still considered fresh.  

The view behind us just as we came out of the locks in to Gatun Lake. 

Look at this behemoth coming through.  Talk about a tight squeeze!  It was like a floating building. 

Seriously - look at it!

The train drivers got to go up and down some hills, but very slowly.  

Just when you thought your commute was bad - these people have to wait for ships to pass and then for the road to be extended across the Canal.  On the upside, they don't have snow! 

Rainbow on our way out.  True to the jungle, it would rain for a minute every hour or so.