The "It's Show Time, Sick or Not!" Story

It was an ordinary day. 5:00 AM and still dark. The day we have been waiting for. The reason we went on a Panama Canal cruise. Today we traverse the Panama Canal! I feel terrible. Stuffy nose, sore throat and achey all over. Carol is worse. She can't even get out of bed. Holy S#*t! Hey, I came all this way to see the canal and I'm getting out of bed. Got dressed, grabbed the camera gear, gave Carol a kiss and headed to the top of the ship. The whole topdeck is already covered with people. Hundreds of them! I had scouted out my spot a few days ago and found only a few people there. It is overcast, but not raining. Maybe 25 ships with all their lights shining created a carnival atmosphere. Everyone waiting to get through the canal. Cruise ships always go first, since they pay the biggest fees. The fee is $100 a stateroom and with 2,000 tourists and about 1,000 workers, the ship had a hefty fee to go through the canal. The Harbor Pilot is already on board and taking the ship towards the Miraflores Locks. These are the locks that lead through the canal from the Pacific Ocean. By the time we reach the locks it is daylight. The canal opened on August 15, 1914 and on May 12, 1963, with the installation of fluorescent lighting, began operations round-the-clock. On December 31, 1999 the United States turned over operation of the canal to Panama. They have estimated that sometime during October of this year that the 1,000,000 vessel will have transited the waterway. The canal's three locks, each with two lanes, operates as water lifts to elevate ships 26 meters above sea level to the level of the Gatun lake, and then lower them back to sea level on the opposite side of the isthmus. Water is obtained from the lake in order to raise and lower the vessels as they go through the locks. Expansion of the locks to add a third lane in the future will allow for longer, wider ships to pass. The new locks will be 427 meters long and 55 meters wide, the size of four football fields. We pass under the Bridge of the Americas which crosses the canal on the Pacific side and can see the first lock ahead. As we enter the first lock, the gate behind us closes and water starts to life the ship. Four electric train engines, two on either side of the ship with heavy steel cables connecting the ship to the engines, keep the ship moving and in the center of the canal. They are using both lanes this morning to transport from the west to the east. Our sister ship, the Inifinity, is on the right of us and already heading into the second lock. There is at most, 8 to 10 inches of clearance on either side of the ship. Unbelievable to watch! We pass the Miraflores locks and head to the Pedro Miguel lock. Another passenger tells me that I can sit in comfort in the 11th floor viewing area, since it is almost empty. I head to the elevator and find a front row seat in air-conditioned comfort. Wow, they didn't tell us about this place. An hour later we have passed that lock and head into the Gatun Lake. We travel slowly through the lake and by mid-afternoon have reached the Gatun Locks which will take us through to the Caribbean Sea. Throughout the day I kept a check on Carol and she manages to sit with me for some time on the balcony of our stateroom so she can see the canal crossing also. As we depart the canal on the Caribbean side the sun is setting behind us and casts a long shadow on all the ships lined up to pass through from the east to the west. The day has been remarkable and I have survived. Carol is back in bed and I am glad we have another day at sea tomorrow so that we both can recover from our journey through the canal. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Panama Canal photos from the top are: getting ready to pass under the Bridge of the Americas, entering the first of the Miraflores locks with the Infinity to our right, watching as our lock fills with water and the ships in front of us are exiting into the next lock, one of the electric engines that guide the ship through the locks, a view of the closed lock gate and the water levels on either side of it, and a freighter on our right is exiting the final Gatun lock into the Caribbean Sea.