This is the continuation of the last post, in which Quester started her journey through the Atlantic locks.
Aboard Quester, off Isla Contadora, Pearl Islands, Panama
LINE HANDLING IN THE LOCKS
Before I continue the narrative, I thought I'd describe some of the mechanics of getting through the locks.
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| Thick blue lock-line (with giant and fateful bowline!) |
The procedure of lines handling through the locks is very interesting (OK, maybe only to some of the saltier readers. If not, jump to the next section!). Each boat is required to have four 50' one inch thick polypropylene "lock-lines" even though only four are needed for a raft of three boats. This is because not everything always goes as planned and each boat needs to be self-sufficient. If everything goes as planned, for an individual boat or a raft of three boats there are starboard and port lines for the bow and the stern. There is a requirement that the skipper be at the helm all the time, and that there be four line handlers in addition to the skipper. A number of the Oysters didn't have that many crew available for their crossing so they borrowed crew from other boats that were transiting on different days. Our hand, Joe, was one of those, so he had already been through the locks by the time we started - a big advantage as he could describe the whole process to us.
Once the raft entered into the lock the center boat's Advisor could control the direction of his raft by asking his skipper to steer one way or the other. The outside boats kept a "neutral", or straight helm. Or if more steerage was needed he would ask the outside boats to go forward or reverse, or each in opposite directions which could spin the raft on the spot.
On shore there were also four line handlers for each raft. They threw a small 3/8" line, called a messenger, with a ball, or "monkey's fist," at the end of it. There is quite an art to doing this accurately so multiple tries aren't needed. Ashore we saw practice areas with big circle targets and very high bars where the line throwers could practice. I'm sure they have contests with championships! The monkey's fist was small but heavy so you didn't want to get hit by one. The thrower would coil up the end of the line with the monkey's fist and circle it over his head once or twice and then heave. The monkey's fist ball would usually land between the two forestays just above our heads.
We would then tie the messenger line to a 2-foot diameter bowline loop in the long, thick lock line. When the boats were in the correct position in the lock, our lock lines would be pulled ashore (by the messenger) and looped around a large bollard. The line handlers on the boat would then be responsible for pulling the lines in as the boats were lifted higher in the lock or easing the lines out as the boats were lowered by the outflowing water.
Occasionally, this doesn't go as planned...
OOPS!
Our polypro lock-lines were brand new and very slippery. That meant that the thick bowline knot was subject to slippage. For extra safety each bowline knot is double checked by the Advisors, and then again by the shore handler when they pull the lock-line in from the boats. It had to have a very long 1' tail and be pulled as tight as possible. Jan and I were on the port bow of our raft on the second day as we went through the Miraflores Locks where we had visited the museum days before. Today there were hundreds of visitors lining all four balconies watching our Oyster boats go through the locks.
Wouldn't you know it, after all this my knot pulled loose in the last lock half way during our descent. It was awful to see my line fall from high above us into the water. There was much yelling and screaming and our advisor calmly called the lock controller, who immediately stopped the water flow while I hauled the line back in, re-tied my bowline, re-tied the re-delivered monkey's fist to our line, and played it out to the shore-side line handler. He put an extra splice in the tail and put it back around the bollard. The lock drained and we were finally in the PACIFIC OCEAN!!
I was reassured by our advisor that I had done everything right and the knot slipped only because it was new and slippery line. But still a little embarrassing with hundreds of onlookers in the gallery above us. Fortunately I don't think any of the canal-cams were aimed in our direction at the time.
CANAL TRANSIT
To continue the narrative...
After being lifted in the set of three Gatun Locks 84' above the Atlantic/Caribbean Ocean it was quite late in the afternoon. After de-rafting we swung around a point and dropped anchor in 70' of water, which meant 210' of chain. Quite different from the Bahamas where we would use about 30' of chain in 8' of water aboard Mystique! A pilot boat came and took our wonderful advisor, Neaftalie, away for the night and we had a nice dinner and went to bed.
Next morning at 6am Neaftalie was delivered back to us and we took off to the south across Gatun Lake 25+ miles to the famous Gaillard Cut section which was dug through the rock along the highest part of the canal and the Continental Divide. It was mind-boggling to see just how much land had to be moved to allow 100' wide tankers drawing over 25 feet to pass comfortably through the canal. There were a number of places where you could see evidence of landslides which would probably have closed the canal until dredged. There were areas of very thick jungle and areas almost mountainous, and the Canal Zone seemed to have little population except around the locks, Colon and PC. Excellent place for a prison, no?? And there it was the place where Manuel Noriega is living and will do so for the rest of his life.
The first lock on the downhill slide was Pedro Miguel, where we re-rafted and were lowered about 25' just before another small lake which took us to the Miraflores Locks at the visitors' center. We stayed rafted up through the lake.
The uphill locks are rougher than the downhill locks because the water is shooting into the lock from 25' above and creates quite a few whirlpools which jostle the boats around. On the downhill run, the water is being drained out from under the boats and there is almost no turbulence. The uphill run takes longer because they run the water at a slower rate for sailboats with keels which are meant to resist sideways motion through the water. The downhill run is just as rapid as the big ships get.
SO HERE WE ARE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN, just like that!!
This post was sent from the Pearl Island archipelago in Panama Bay. It is probably our last Wi-Fi until we reach the Galapagos in one to two weeks, depending on whims and winds.
Once the raft entered into the lock the center boat's Advisor could control the direction of his raft by asking his skipper to steer one way or the other. The outside boats kept a "neutral", or straight helm. Or if more steerage was needed he would ask the outside boats to go forward or reverse, or each in opposite directions which could spin the raft on the spot.
On shore there were also four line handlers for each raft. They threw a small 3/8" line, called a messenger, with a ball, or "monkey's fist," at the end of it. There is quite an art to doing this accurately so multiple tries aren't needed. Ashore we saw practice areas with big circle targets and very high bars where the line throwers could practice. I'm sure they have contests with championships! The monkey's fist was small but heavy so you didn't want to get hit by one. The thrower would coil up the end of the line with the monkey's fist and circle it over his head once or twice and then heave. The monkey's fist ball would usually land between the two forestays just above our heads.
We would then tie the messenger line to a 2-foot diameter bowline loop in the long, thick lock line. When the boats were in the correct position in the lock, our lock lines would be pulled ashore (by the messenger) and looped around a large bollard. The line handlers on the boat would then be responsible for pulling the lines in as the boats were lifted higher in the lock or easing the lines out as the boats were lowered by the outflowing water.
Occasionally, this doesn't go as planned...
OOPS!
Our polypro lock-lines were brand new and very slippery. That meant that the thick bowline knot was subject to slippage. For extra safety each bowline knot is double checked by the Advisors, and then again by the shore handler when they pull the lock-line in from the boats. It had to have a very long 1' tail and be pulled as tight as possible. Jan and I were on the port bow of our raft on the second day as we went through the Miraflores Locks where we had visited the museum days before. Today there were hundreds of visitors lining all four balconies watching our Oyster boats go through the locks.
Wouldn't you know it, after all this my knot pulled loose in the last lock half way during our descent. It was awful to see my line fall from high above us into the water. There was much yelling and screaming and our advisor calmly called the lock controller, who immediately stopped the water flow while I hauled the line back in, re-tied my bowline, re-tied the re-delivered monkey's fist to our line, and played it out to the shore-side line handler. He put an extra splice in the tail and put it back around the bollard. The lock drained and we were finally in the PACIFIC OCEAN!!
I was reassured by our advisor that I had done everything right and the knot slipped only because it was new and slippery line. But still a little embarrassing with hundreds of onlookers in the gallery above us. Fortunately I don't think any of the canal-cams were aimed in our direction at the time.
CANAL TRANSIT
To continue the narrative...
After being lifted in the set of three Gatun Locks 84' above the Atlantic/Caribbean Ocean it was quite late in the afternoon. After de-rafting we swung around a point and dropped anchor in 70' of water, which meant 210' of chain. Quite different from the Bahamas where we would use about 30' of chain in 8' of water aboard Mystique! A pilot boat came and took our wonderful advisor, Neaftalie, away for the night and we had a nice dinner and went to bed.
Next morning at 6am Neaftalie was delivered back to us and we took off to the south across Gatun Lake 25+ miles to the famous Gaillard Cut section which was dug through the rock along the highest part of the canal and the Continental Divide. It was mind-boggling to see just how much land had to be moved to allow 100' wide tankers drawing over 25 feet to pass comfortably through the canal. There were a number of places where you could see evidence of landslides which would probably have closed the canal until dredged. There were areas of very thick jungle and areas almost mountainous, and the Canal Zone seemed to have little population except around the locks, Colon and PC. Excellent place for a prison, no?? And there it was the place where Manuel Noriega is living and will do so for the rest of his life.
The first lock on the downhill slide was Pedro Miguel, where we re-rafted and were lowered about 25' just before another small lake which took us to the Miraflores Locks at the visitors' center. We stayed rafted up through the lake.
The uphill locks are rougher than the downhill locks because the water is shooting into the lock from 25' above and creates quite a few whirlpools which jostle the boats around. On the downhill run, the water is being drained out from under the boats and there is almost no turbulence. The uphill run takes longer because they run the water at a slower rate for sailboats with keels which are meant to resist sideways motion through the water. The downhill run is just as rapid as the big ships get.
SO HERE WE ARE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN, just like that!!
This post was sent from the Pearl Island archipelago in Panama Bay. It is probably our last Wi-Fi until we reach the Galapagos in one to two weeks, depending on whims and winds.
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| Spinnaker run to Islas Pearlas |
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| Massive land removal |
Why polypropylene lines? So they float if dropped accidentally?
ReplyDeleteDunno. They're cheaper, probably, and every boat has to buy (or rent) a set.
ReplyDeleteMakes for better blog posts, at any rate.