Location: Panama City, Panama
Hello from the other side!
It’s been a HECK of a day, but we are officially through the canal. Or, as coined by watch team 2, the Panama Crack. We began the day with a late wake-up (gift from the heavens) and Nick’s epic southwest brekkie. Cleanup followed, and it was back to the grind per usual. With an oceanography quiz down and an official canal pilot aboard, we were ready for round 2 of locks.
In a lightning-fast sweep, we coordinated amongst ourselves to get fenders (gigantic, tough balloons) lining Argo’s sides as bumpers. Our “nestmates,” a powerboat and a catamaran, tied themselves to us until we were one big floating happy family of vessels. Things got really real when we saw the last boat to join our crossing approach – it was no little dinghy, let me tell you. With all the boats lined up and ready, we set to cross the second half of the continent, this time descending as the locks drained rather than being lifted. The process was highly intense and didn’t allow for very much wiggle room (literally). In our teams, we managed fenders, coordinated with our nestmates, worked with the dock line workers, and constantly adjusted and planned for slack and taking in as Argo and friends descended down locks.
We began the entire process at roughly noon, and it was basically all hands on deck until six – but the sunset over Panama City and the sight of the Pacific as the last lock opened made it all worth it. Due to the nature of the task, we had to perform, stopping for lunch wasn’t exactly an option, so our 10 minute Pringle break in the afternoon turned everybody into extra happy campers. In the end, lunch turned into linner, which we promptly wolfed down the second we had our hands on it. All in all, epic day in the crack!!!
SIgning off, Pacific side 🙂
Giselle