Winlink at 10 Watts
and  Panama Canal Transit

This Media Release consists of five (5) parts:
1. This Page - Winlink at 10 Watts (See also MR 52);
2. Information about the Transit Date and Time;
3: View of the Live Panama Canal Webcams;
4. Photos of a recent Lock operation; and
5. PANAMA CANAL TRANSIT.
"Links" are also at the foot of each page.

LATEST NEWS: FOR UPDATES OF TRANSITS GO TO: Info about Transit Dates and Times

For yachtsmen on the high seas or in remote foreign ports Winlink is often their only lifeline to the outside world. In days of yore it might have been acceptable or unavoidable that mail had to picked up by hand at a Post Office when arriving in port. However, with today's international political and security situation it is vitally important to be able to stay in touch with the outside world and, especially, with family and friends and - if need be - with overseas diplomatic missions or search and rescue organizations. This was borne out all too well following the recent tsunami disaster in South and Southeast Asia.

Walter (DL7MEK) is the skipper of the sailing yacht "Atlantis" out of Hamburg, Germany. He and his co-pilot (or has he claims, his Admiral), Gisela are in the seventh year of a circumnavigation. They are the perfect cruisers. Rather than chasing the clock around the world they take their time and have a great interest in the countries that they visit and the local people they meet.

They write: "We are at Providencia. 13 N - 81 W. It is a wonderful, volcanic, hilly, fertile and remote island that is about 4 miles log and 3 miles wide. The biggest part of the island and the reef is a national park. A road goes round the island and we went around the whole circuit with our bikes. We had some beautiful views, overlooking the sea and the barrier reef that protects Providencia.

It has 4.500 inhabitants and a lot of them speak English very well. Everything is clean, the houses are well maintained and the people seem not so poor. The bay is well protected from the trades winds and good snorkeling possibilities are nearby. The best thing we found are many Mango trees in the forest on the island. The mangoes are ripe and delicious. We collected some pounds and made compote. I will also try to make marmalade. These are the real mangoes! A little bit stringy but a taste!!! Not comparable with the gene-manipulated and green-harvested mangoes which you can buy at the grocery store."

They continue: "We are (now) at Cayo del Este. It is a small island with white sandy beaches. It's a beautiful spot, especially if there is no wind like yesterday, today and for the next couple of days. Protected by a barrier reef there is a 5 mile long stretch of shallow water over sand and patches of coral. The water over the sand is turquoise and crystal clear with good fish. A couple of fishermen live there for a couple of months (of the year.)

We will wait here for the right wind to Colon. When we wrote the (earlier) email that we expected to be earlier at Colon we did not know about this spot. Further, the weather forecast changed from 15 knots of wind to 10 knots or less. So it is good for us to have more time on this island. Yesterday we were invited by fishermen for lunch. The meal was conch with rice and tomato salad. The meal was delicious and we gave them a bottle of whisky as a present. You know all fishermen like to drink and smoke. We feel close to the paradise."
 

Green Island in the San Blas Group	Walter bought a large crab	Native sailing craft

Then the trouble started with radio communications. Walter writes; "The central server of the ham organization, which runs the Winlink email system, was attacked by a virus. Therefore all authorized email addresses (that were on the system) will be deleted and those that are to be re-authorized have to be registered again. We sent this mail to you so that your mail address will be registered again at the central server for 180 days. However, If we receive no replies from our authorized addressees during the 180-day period those addresses will be deleted from the system."

Most transceivers used for amateur voice-over-radio communications are not capable of handling the sustained heavy load for more lengthy digital transmissions. It is therefore much better and safer to have special marine SSB (Single Side Band) transceiver that can better carry the sustained loads and remain on-frequency even when they heat up. Walter reports: "We had to send messages for 30 minutes with 100 watt and we ran the risk of destroying our transceiver,. From now on I will transmit at 10 watts only." Walter adds at a later stage: "The transmission with 10 watts works fine. I even have got connection with Great Falls, which is nearly 3.000 miles away. I connect mainly with HP2XBA in Panama; KN6KB Rick in Florida; NP2E in St. Thomas; and K4CJX Steve in Tennessee." It wasn't to last and the latest report received from Atlantis in Colon Panama reads: "The Panama PMBO (Winlink relay radio station) had no internet connection for the last few days, and we had some problems reaching another PMBO with our 10 watts of power."

Walter and Gisela are now in Colon at what is a very significant stage in their cruising life. Among the major cruising events are passing the Capes of Good Hope and Horn, at the southern tips of Africa and South America, respectively. Another momentous occasion is to pass the Rock of Gibraltar to enter or exit the Mediterranean. That had already been accomplished by the Atlantis crew several years ago. The other comparable events are the transits of the Suez Canal in Egypt and the Panama Canal in Panama. The latter allows the transit from the Atlantic to the Pacific sides of the Americas and saves cruisers the 8,000 mile and hazardous roundtrip around Cape Horn. Walter and Gisela are now ready to make the Panama Canal transit after having spent a year in the Caribbean. AussieWinlink is invited to take part in the transit and then cruise the Les Perlas island group in the Gulf of Panama. AussieWinlink's interest, apart from the pleasure of accompanying a great cruising couple and experiencing the cruise, is in the performance of Winlink operating under what appear to be trying conditions.

Here are some interesting graphics showing the location and hydraulics of the Panama Canal:

The Panama Canal is located on the isthmus near Panama City	Panama Canal and lakes and Les Perlas archipelago

Making the transit from the north (Atlantic side) to the south (Pacific side) of the American continent requires: (1) up-locking the three locks at Gatun; (2) crossing Gatun Lake; (3) down-lock the single lock chamber at Pedro Miguel; (4) cross the smaller Miraflores Lake; (5) down-lock the two-chamber Miraflores Locks; and, finally, (6) reach Balboa for a stop or for those in a hurry to continue into the Gulf of Panama.

Diagram showing Panama Canal locks and lakes system Courtesy: www.tylersterritory.com/

The Panama Canal is an engineering marvel that cost a fortune to build, caused political turmoil and cost many lives because of the excavation risks and malaria. A description of the canal is given on the Panama Canal Authority's website. It reads:

"The Panama Canal is approximately 80 kilometers long between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This waterway was cut through one of narrowest saddles of the isthmus that joins North and South America.

The Canal uses a system of locks compartments with entrance and exit gates. The locks function as water lifts: they raise ships from sea level (the Pacific or the Atlantic) to the level of Gatun Lake (26 meters above sea level); ships then sail the channel through the Continental Divide.

Each set of locks bears the name of the town site where it was built: Gatun (on the Atlantic side), and Pedro Miguel and Miraflores (on the Pacific side).

The lock chambers - steps - are 33.53 meters wide by 304.8 meters long. The maximum dimensions of ships that can transit the Canal are: 32.3 meters in beam; draft - their depth reach - 12 meters in Tropical Fresh Water; and 294.1 meters long (depending on the type of ship).

The water used to raise and lower vessels in each set of locks comes from Gatun Lake by gravity; it comes into the locks through a system of main culverts that extend under the lock chambers from the sidewalls and the center wall.

The narrowest portion of the Canal is Culebra Cut, which extends from the north end of Pedro Miguel Locks to the south edge of Gatun Lake at Gamboa. This segment, approximately 13.7 kilometers long, is carved through the rock and shale of the Continental Divide.

Ships from all parts of the world transit daily through the Panama Canal. Some 13 to 14 thousand vessels use the Canal every year. In fact, commercial transportation activities through the Canal represent approximately 5% of the world trade.

The Canal has a work force of approximately 9 thousand employees and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing transit service to vessels of all nations without discrimination."

Elsewhere the publication states that the use of the canal by vessels saves a 8,000 mile roundtrip around the hazardous Cape Horn. It requires 52,000,000 gallons of fresh water to handle the transit of a lock full of vessels, that often is just a single container ship but regularly also includes clusters of smaller vessels including tugboats, barges and recreational yachts.

If you are interested in attempting to view S/Y Atlantis' Panama Canal transit via the Panama Canal Authority Webcams go to this link > Webcam Information.

AussieWinlink
16 March 2005

Copyright © 2002-2008 AussieWinlink. Material may be quoted with acknowledgement of its source. Last modified: September 28, 2008