Transiting the Panama Canal (for the Third Time)
First of all, I want to clear something up really fast — yes, we’ve transited the Panama Canal three times. You read that correctly! It’s kind of a lot; most people never get to do it once, so it’s very special to be able to say we’ve done it this many times.
In this post, I want to walk through how transiting the Panama Canal worked for us this time, including the unique difference of something called “nesting,” as well as the excitement of being back in the Pacific.
The Briefing
Two days before our transit, there was a briefing for all the boats going through that weekend, and it was very interesting. Having done it before, we knew some of the basics, but there were several key things that would be different this time.
First, we’d be in the lock with 11 other vessels, and there wouldn’t be any big ships in the lock with us.
Second, we’d be doing the transit over two days, staying overnight in Gatun Lake with four other vessels on the same mooring (which was very interesting).
And third, we were going to be “nesting.” Let me explain that now…
Nesting
So, what is nesting? Nesting is when three (or so) boats moor together.
Pretty much, we would be in the middle, with a catamaran on our starboard side and a monohull on our port side. They would tie off to us, and we would be the propulsion — steering and moving us all forward.
We would untie while moving distances longer than a mile, but otherwise we’d stay rafted together.
Sounds easy, right? Well, thankfully, it actually was… for us.
Going Up
It’s Saturday afternoon, and we’ve left the marina and come out to anchor in preparation for the advisor arriving. Before this, we’d already had lines and fenders delivered and now had the lovely bright orange buoys sitting in the dinghy.
After a swim, lunch, and a bit of chilling, 4:30pm rolled around and the pilot boat approached. Before we knew it, our advisor was stepping on board with a big smile — meet Jamie. Before I even get started, let me just say: this guy was an absolute CHAMP.
Anyways, back to the process.
Once Jamie was onboard, we pulled anchor and followed three other boats toward the channel. We were going to be the second group of three boats.
It was around a mile and a half to the first lock, and we made our way over there. Unfortunately, we were a little early, and it turned into quite a traffic jam. The wind was pushing us toward the lock, but the ship in front wasn’t moving yet.
Thankfully, there were no issues, and we were soon nesting with the other vessels for the first time.
The monohull came onto our port side first. We threw our bow and stern lines (with loops in the ends), they secured them to their cleats, and then we tightened everything up nice and snug. One done — catamaran to go. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, and we were soon one big, happy cluster of boats.
We made our way into the lock behind the first group, who were also rafted together.
The thing about being the center vessel was that while we controlled the movement of the group, the other boats handled the lines going up the wall. Both did great, and we were soon secured, watching as the final boats slotted in behind us.
Now, time to go up.
The gate behind us closed, the lock filled with 10 million litres of water in a matter of minutes, and we moved on to the next lock.
This process happened three times… and then we were in Gatun Lake.
Overnight in Gatun Lake
It wasn’t long before we approached the big mooring that would be our home for the night. We tied off first, going side-on with bow, stern, and spring lines holding us in place.
Another catamaran came to the other side of the mooring and tied off as well. The key was having your fenders in the right position so the mooring didn’t scrape the boat.
Once both of us were secure, two more catamarans joined — one on our port side and one on the other boat’s starboard side. Basically, we became a big catamaran-and-mooring sandwich… and we were right in the middle.
Jamie left at this point to head home — we’d see him again in the morning.
Unfortunately, this part wasn’t as easy as it sounded. We (along with the other boat tied directly to the mooring) were up late into the night trying to find a setup that wouldn’t cause damage. At one point, a line even had to be cut before it ripped out our midships cleat.
We made it through the night, though, with no major damage. Still, if you have a choice — choose the outside. They slept great.
Transiting Gatun Lake
Some people think the Panama Canal is just a series of locks and a lake. Well, that’s true — but the “lake” part is huge.
The next morning, Jamie came back onboard before we finally (and only just safely) left the mooring.
Then it was a long motor — you’re not allowed to sail in Canal waters — hugging the side of the channel for several hours toward the next set of locks.
We had great entertainment, though. Jamie shared stories from his decades of experience around the Canal, and at one point a tugboat captain decided to show off, blasting a huge water jet into the air — much to the boys’ delight.
We left the mooring around 10am and reached the locks around 2pm, where we had a short wait and — you guessed it — another traffic jam as all the vessels caught up.
(Yes, we were near the front. Don’t be so surprised.)
Going Down
Soon enough, we nested again and made our way into the first of three locks taking us down to the Pacific.
Once again, everything went smoothly. We stayed straight as the water swirled and drained around us. We even got a great photo from visitors watching at the Miraflores Locks.
And then it happened: the final gate opened. We gave a big round of applause as we looked out at our favourite ocean and felt a real sense of coming home.
We unnested, said a huge thank you and goodbye to Jamie, and made our way out to La Playita anchorage.
We’d made it.
Key Takeaways
So, our third Panama Canal transit was a success. We were in the Pacific, and Happy Days was in one piece. A few key takeaways from this experience:
- You have to be in Canal waters to get on the waiting list
- It’s super expensive — even more than three years ago
- Nesting (12 boats at once) was new and unique this time
- The mooring situation was sketchy, but manageable
- They grouped boats smartly (2 catamarans + 1 monohull) for balance
- Having a great advisor makes a huge difference — Jamie was incredible
- Even the third time, we were still in awe of the sheer scale and mechanics of the Canal
Summary
The goal of this post was to give you an idea of what it’s like transiting the Panama Canal, and I hope I’ve done that.
It’s such a unique experience, and we’re so excited to see where the Pacific takes us next. We can’t wait to share more adventures with you.
Thanks for reading — and we’d love to hear your questions or thoughts, so drop a comment and let us know!