Transit Procedure, Dates and Times
(Note: The estimated
Transit Dates & Times as at 27 March 2005 are as shown below in the second
table)
The Panama
Canal Authority operates a number of round-the-clock webcams that shows vessels
locking through the Gatun and Miraflores Locks. There is another webcam that
provides a view of the approach to the second bridge across the Panama Canal,
the "Centennial Bridge" at Cerro Luisa. (Note:
The webcam at Gatun Locks has been down since 20 March 2005 but the Panama Canal
Authority wrote: "Thank you for your letter.
Hopefully the camera will be fixed by Tuesday next week." (That would be
on 29 March 2005.)
Locking through for
recreational yachts traveling from the Atlantic to the Pacific side of the
isthmus is said to go in two stages. Stage 1 is late in the afternoon when these
small vessels are "up-locked" through the Gatun Locks and are than
kept on buoys overnight. Stage 2 is the trip that vessels are required to make
to Balboa by
"locking-down" the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks and reach the
destination before dark. Vessels that appear unlikely to be able to make the
trip within the time limit, that is, those that travel slower than 5 miles per hour are
prohibited from transiting the Panama Canal.
For uninterrupted
viewing of the three webcam pictures, comprising the Gatun and Miraflores locks
and the approach to the new Centennial Bridge, click on the link
here or the one on the bottom of this page. The
webcam at the Miraflores locks is the best and the one at the Gatun Locks can be
confusing (if it works at all). The Panama Canal Authority writes:
" If you wish to request a change in the Miraflores Locks camera's angle, please
send an email to
aep-osu@pancanal.com.
Such requests will be honored as time and circumstances at the Miraflores Locks
allow. Currently, we are not accepting requests for angle changes of the cameras
at Gatun Locks or Cerro Luisa."
An attempt will be made
to post on this website in advance any unexpected changes to the currently known dates and approximate times that SY
Atlantis is expected to make the transit through the locks and pass underneath
the Centennial Bridge. Tentatively that date has been set at 2 April, 2005 but
there is always a risk of changes depending on commercial traffic. (Hint: If the water in the lock rises our boat is being
lifted at Gatun locks to the higher Gatun Lake level. If the water level goes
down our boat is being lowered at Miraflores Locks towards the Pacific Ocean
level.)
LATEST NEWS:
At this stage TWO transits are planned:
(1) Walter &
Tony as line handlers on an Australian-flagged circumnavigating sailboat; and
(2) Walter,
Gisela, Tony and potentially up to three line handlers on Walter and Gisela's
circumnavigating "SY Atlantis".
Walter writes: "For our passage as
line handlers on Tuesday, 29 March 2005 on "Libelle" (the Australian sailboat),
we will leave the Flats (where waiting sailboats are anchored) between 6.00 and
7.00 p.m.
From the Flats we will go to the Gatun Locks and that takes is around 30 minutes
by boat. We will go through the three (3) stepped locking chambers and
that will take about one hour. Whether we can enter the locks immediately will
depend on the volume of commercial traffic. Sometimes boats go straight in and
sometimes they have to wait for up to 30 minutes. After we have passed the Gatun
locks, we will go to a mooring buoy and stay there overnight.
The next morning (30 March) we leave the mooring buoy at about 6.30 A.M. and
motor the 26 miles to the San Pedro lock. That will takes around 4 to 41/2
hours. Therefore, we will be at San Pedro lock at about 11.00 A.M. It's the same
there, if there is commercial traffic we have to wait, until that is taken care
of.
After passing the San Pedro Lock we have to go for only 15 minutes to the
Miraflores Locks. So we will reach these between 11.30 A.M. and 13.00 P.M. The
passage through the two (2) Miraflores Locks takes about 40 minutes. The trip
from the Miraflores Locks to Balboa anchorage is around 50 minutes. Therefore,
depending on the situation with commercial traffic we will finish the passage at
Balboa between 1 and 3 P.M.
As far as we have heard and experienced about 90 % of the sailing yacht transits
follow this schedule. Our passage with "Atlantis", currently scheduled to start
on Saturday, 2 April 2005 is likely to follow the same timetable." (If
we do have the opportunity and can see the location of the webcam at Miraflores,
we will flash a light in that direction in the hope that those who are watching
the transits on the Internet can identify us.)
| E s t i m a t
e d D a t e s a n d T i m e s
a s a t 2 7 M a r c h 2 0 0
5 |
| Location > |
At Gatun
Locks (Webcam down) |
At
Centennial Bridge |
At
Miraflores Locks |
| 1. Expected Date & Local Time > |
29
March 2005 - 19:00 - 21:00 |
30
March 2005 - 10:00 - 11:00 |
30
March 2005 - 11:00 - 14:00 |
| 2. Expected Date & Local Time > |
2
April 2005 - 19:00 - 21:00 |
3
April 2005 - 10:00 - 11:00 |
3
April 2005 - 11:00 - 14:00 |
|
To enable family,
friends and others with an interest to follow our transits, below is a
table that compares Panama time with US Eastern Standard Time; Coordinated
Universal Time; Western Europe (German & the Netherlands); and Australian Eastern Daylight Saving time:
| Panama |
08:00 |
09:00 |
10:00 |
11:00 |
12:00 |
13:00 |
14:00 |
15:00 |
16:00 |
17:00 |
18:00 |
| US EST |
08:00 |
09:00 |
10:00 |
11:00 |
12:00 |
13:00 |
14:00 |
15:00 |
16:00 |
17:00 |
18:00 |
| CUT/UTC |
13:00 |
14:00 |
15:00 |
16:00 |
17:00 |
18:00 |
19:00 |
20:00 |
21:00 |
22:00 |
23:00 |
| Amsterdam |
14:00 |
15:00 |
16:00 |
17:00 |
18:00 |
19:00 |
20:00 |
21:00 |
22:00 |
23:00 |
24:00 |
| Germany |
14:00 |
15:00 |
16:00 |
17:00 |
18:00 |
19:00 |
20:00 |
21:00 |
22:00 |
23:00 |
24:00 |
| Sydney +1 |
06:00 |
07:00 |
08:00 |
09:00 |
10:00 |
11:00 |
12:00 |
13:00 |
14:00 |
15:00 |
16:00 |
|
 |
Subsequent to the
transit and subsequent cruise to the Las Perlas Island group and return of
AussieWinlink to home base, a report with photographs will be posted as a
follow-up story.
.
To look at
the Webcam pictures click here > Webcam Pictures.
AussieWinlink
16 March 2005
| 
