Panama Canal Transit Info
As of right now (Sunday afternoon) Intrepid is scheduled to begin her transit of the Panama Canal on Monday, May 18, at 4:00pm Panama Time. This translates to 2:00pm PDT/5:00pm EDT and 2100GMT. Zac and Laurence are working out details today including arranging to acquire the extra lines (ropes) and tires needed for the transit.
The map above shows the lay of the land. Zac and Intrepid are in the upper left hand corner of the map in Bahia Limon near the breakwater. I'm not sure yet where Intrepid is to be at her appointment time - whether she will be entering the lock or in the 'lake' outside waiting.
The first set of locks that is entered is called the Gatun Locks. There is a web cam at the following link that shows current activity in that lock. Zac will give me a call here at home, if possible, when he has an idea of when they will actually be in the lock. The Panama Canal Authority Public Relations people have been most helpful and will do what they can to be sure that the web cams are on and on Intrepid! Very cool! They have also agreed to provide us with a copy of his transit for posting here on Zac's site.
http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html
After transiting the Gatun Locks, Intrepid will anchor in Gatun Lake for the evening. There will be a canal pilot assigned by the Panama Canal Authority on board Intrepid who will not drive the boat but will tell Zac where to go and how fast etc. There will also be 4 line handlers on the boat. The job of the line handler is absolutely essential for a safe passage through the canal. The amount of turbulence created by pumping 50 million gallons of water into a relatively small space can wreak havoc on a small sail boat if not properly secured.
Once through the Gatun Locks, the pilot will be picked up and returned to the boat the following morning to complete the transit through the next set of locks - the Miraflores Locks.
There is also a web cam at the Miraflores Locks. When we have a reasonable estimate of when he will pass through there we will let you know.
If you missed Zac's interview on Fox News Channel yesterday, it is now online at:
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerld=011008&stremingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=5091507&referralPlaylistld=playlist
Zac will be getting back to me with more info when he can but for now we wanted you all to have a preliminary heads up as to a transit time.
Cheers,
Marianne
posted by Zac at
9:12 PM
24 Comments:
Thank you Marianne. You are so good to make the time to keep us informed.Very interesting information.
I have just been looking at the website below and see that we ( UK ) are 6 hours ahead of the time given on the webcam.So perhaps those of us in UK need to be aware.
This is soooo exciting.
http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html?cam=Miraflores
UK friend
Having "followed" the last several months in text and photos - it will be awesome to see "live" video as Zac passes the locks! The Hi-Res cam at Miraflores (http://www.pancanal.com/common/multimedia/webcams/viewer-flash/cam-miraflores-hi.html) gives a superb image - several sailing boats passed thru (southbound) today - and in every case the smaller craft have been in the lock closest to the cam. Zoom your browser for best effect - the hi-res image can take it!
DD (UK)
There are 2 sets of locks and two web cams: Gatun Locks and Miraflores Locks. The first set of locks is the Gatun Locks so make sure you are clicking on the correct one tomorrow. Perhaps I will turn off the comment moderation tomorrow so we can trouble shoot together if necessary.
Marianne Sunderland
Did the Panama Canal ever had so many virtual visitors watching a sailboat go through LOL. Well it's Zac and I am sure every Zac Packer will watch. Hope they can handle the amount of people. Thanks to the Panama Canal Authorities to let us watch as things happen.
Axel
Awesome, Marianne! So look forward to seeing Zac & Intrepid going through the locks on the web cams -- technology is great! My kids will be super-excited, too -- I work with dams, locks, hydropower, so they hear me talk a lot about lakes & rivers & locks -- the idea of the Panama canal is fascinating to us all... Take care, peace, Your Oklahoma Well-Wisher
this is so awesome to get to see Zac in action transiting the locks.
is there a way the feed can be recorded for those who might not be able to watch it live?
not to nit-pick, but the pic of the locks, the compass is reversed, showing the Atlantic west and Pacific east.
Well, I agree...this is really exciting. I hope everyone is feeling that this is the last major transition before Zac will be homeward bound. I know there is much more sailing to do and not a moment to lose focus...but, it is exciting to really have him homeward bound. God speed and good luck to all!
Unclebob, the picture is correct! Zac will be travelling from West to East to go from the Atlantic to Pacific... its seems strange, but thats how it is with the twist in the land there.
Marianne, will Jen be on board with Zac and Lawrence tomorrow? Or is Zac actually havng to do these miles alone too? I'd love to see Jen's pictures while it happens.
Alan
@ unclebob The compass isn't backward. The land bridge kind of twists there, so that the Atlantic entrance is actually NW of the Pacific entrance. Check it out on Google Earth, just search for Panama Canal if that's confusing.
I only know because someone else mentioned it as a trivia question here a couple of days ago, so I looked it up.
Still praying Numbers 6:24-26
Mouse in Whittier
www.myspace.com/mouseonamotorcycleBuy "Death and Coffee" here!
this is so exciting, I will be on the web cams looking for Zac. Hopefully Zac packers won't overwhelm the bandwidth....
@unclebob, it appears that the maps are the correct orientation. the atlantic side is west of the pacific end.
Alika
More about East and West.
It is easy to think of
the Canal directed
east to west. But it
isn't. It is west-to-east.
The map tells the truth.
Our minds are playing
games with us.
A Zacpacker mentioned
something to that
effect in a tongue-in-cheek
comment a few days ago.
Regards,
Mike.
Things are getting
exciting here!!
Thanks to Zac and family.
It must be the "California"
in them all! A great blog!!!
I, too, was confused by that picture. I never realized one had to go *southeast* to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific. So then I looked at the canal on a larger map to get a sense of context and sure enough, the canal is not where I thought it was (i thought it was more like the border with Colombia). Hopefully I'll be able to check out the webcam tomorrow!
Here's a great animation on how the canal works. Click on 'transit' to see what happens during the passage:
http://www.pancanal.com/eng/general/howitworks/index.html
Peculiar Press Release by Mike's sponsor, Totallymoney, about Mike and Zac:
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2009/5/emw2428554.htm
Marianne, thanks for the suggestion to turn off the moderation, so we all can communicate directly during Zac's passage through the canals. The Gatlun camera seems to be not as clear as the Miraflores one, so we may get a better view when he comes through the other end.
How exciting that he has been able to get a time to pass through the canal so quickly! I hope that wasn't an additional expense for your family!
Marilyn in Woodland Hills
Ditto what they said!!! I'll be at work @5, but will catch Zac
Tuesday at the next set of locks Tuesday! What a thrill to actually see Zac live after following him all these many months!!
Thanks Marianne!
Anita
Waterloo, NY
Captain SV "Wombat"
Good read from start to finish about what Zac is going to be doing today:
http://www.karlbuhl.com/Central%20America%20Logs/Log39_PanamaCanal.htmRegarding Zac's new sail. I would suggest that he repair the old sail as well, and keep it on board "just in case"
Great information Marianne. It's very exciting times here on Zac's Blog.
A huge THANK YOU to the Panama Authorities for all this extra work so we could be part of Zac's Panama Canal experience. Muchas Gracias!!!
Have a great Panama experience Zac & Laurence.
We'll Be Praying for a safe passage!!!
Float Through those Canals,
Douglas Pistone
MDR, California
Thanks for all the great info!! I may have missed this but has anyone mentioned how long the transition will take from Gatun to Miraflores?
Thank you Marianne, for all your efforts, Oh, this is sooo great!..Can't wait to see Zac and Intrepid crossing the locks...hope we can all join in.
Lots of love and prayers sent.
Betty E., Lomita, CA
I can't seem to get a "live web feed" from the site on the blog today. Any suggestions?
Just a clarification. There are 3 sets of locks to transit. 1st is Gatun locks, then Pedro Miguel Locks, and finally Miraflores Locks. All of these show up on Marianne's map.
@anonymous 5:02am
I actually had tears of laughter at every part of that account... hysterical - well written!
:-D
anybody spot Zac yet on the first lock? I refresh my screen every few minutes for the last hour and kind of have a rhythym going now - but don't see him yet.
Joe Howell/Valparaiso Florida/Watching from the UK
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