One benefit of being perpetual travelers is the opportunity it provides to meet
new friends just about anywhere. During the past 15 years on the road, we've
formed friendships across North America... and even as far away as Australia.
And when those friends happen to be fellow full-timers, you never know where your paths might cross...
or where they might pop up unexpectedly!
Nikki: "Who's makin' my pancakes?" Jason: "And coffee! God! We've been in here forever!"
Peter: "How did THEY get in here?"
Jason and Nikki Wynn are a great example of that type of friend for us.
We've road-tripped with them out to Trona Pinnacles in the California desert...
shared time together in British Columbia... and hung out near Joshua Tree National Park.
Peter: "Hi!" Nikki: "Hello! Oh... it smells good in there!"
You've seen them in a couple of our videos... and you may have seen us in theirs, too.
Nikki: "Hey! Ready to go?" Group:
Making friends with fellow full-timers is great, but some RVers move on...
... to a completely different type of nomadic living.
That's the case with Nikki and Jason, who traded RVing for sailing when they bought a catamaran in 2016.
Now we're flying down to Central America to help them transit the Panama Canal aboard s/v Curiosity.
< intro music >
We had several days before the canal transit...
so, of course, Jason & Nikki took us sailing, swimming & snorkeling, too!
Joining us for the week was Jason's lovely mom, Mary, who we were so pleased to finally meet!
They even introduced us to some of the locals! 😉
Since our job as crew would be to help with the line handling and other chores as we transit the canal,
we wanted to be familiar with Curiosity's systems.
Nikki and Jason were generous with their time, teaching us lots about the boat, and sailing in general.
Of course, they documented our experiences, too!
And Nikki fed us like royalty!
Nikki: "Come and get it!"
Peter: "What are we having?"
Nikki: "We're having a Southwest salad with a little 'Agua de Guanabana'... guacamole... and tostadas."
Peter: "Sounds perfect!" Mary: "Yummy!"
John: "It's very international." Mary: "That looks delicious!"
Jason: "WOO-HOO!"
Transiting the canal required additional lines...
as well as extra protection for the boat...
both of which had to be rented.
In preparation for handling lines in the locks, we all had to be able to tie perfect Bowlines, without hesitation.
Jason demonstrates how to make this secure, fixed loop that's still easy to untie.
Mary: Peter: "Now THAT'S a Bowline!"
We all practiced to be sure we could do it.
When the lock workers catapult their lines to you...
you'd better be able to tie up fast!
Here's an overview of the canal...
We'll be sailing along on Curiosity... of course coming in from the Atlantic or Caribbean side.
We'll enter the Gatun Locks, where its three chambers will lift us a total of 85 feet
into Gatun Lake... where we'll spend the night.
The following morning we'll head to the opposite end of the lake where the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks
will lower us down to the Pacific Ocean.
Then Nikki and Jason will drop us all off in Panama City and sail off into the sunset!
Here are the basics of the actual passage: we start out near Colón, Panama on the Caribbean side
in the port of Cristobal which is right near the canal entrance.
We'll spin the map around so we can better show you the actual route we'll be following.
We entered the port to spend Curiosity's final night at anchor, before heading to a new ocean.
The entrance to the canal is over here beyond a large bridge that's still under construction.
Then there's a fork, with the left side heading to the new larger locks that opened in 2016.
We'll be heading to the right, to the original Gatun Locks.
Here's where we'll be raised about 85 feet (in 3 stages) into Gatun Lake.
We'll be using the locks on the right-hand side.
Each of the chambers is 110 feet wide and 1,050 feet long...
...just enough room for Curiosity to squeeze in! 😉
Actually, we shared each chamber with other small boats and large ships.
Each chamber will raise us higher and higher, until we reach the level of Gatun Lake.
We'll spend the night there before completing the transit... but first, let's check out what we've done so far.
Keep in mind that we were here to help, and handling lines took priority over handling cameras.
So after you watch this, be sure to check out Jason and Niiki's video for lots more footage (at gonewiththewynns.com)
No vessel is allowed to transit the canal without a certified canal advisor on board.
We got two... one of them being a trainee.
At about 5:00PM, the passage begins as we exit the port and pass the new bridge under construction.
As we approach the Gatun Locks, we have one final stop to make.
We've been assigned to raft up with this monohull sailboat for the trip up the flight.
You can see they've got as much extra protection on their boat as we do.
It's all hands on deck to firmly lash the boats together for the trip up to the lake.
Once the boats are secure, the real excitement starts
as we approach the first set of locks.
This is where everyone's heart started racing just a little...
...as we're coming along the left side first...
... and we prepared for the lock crews to pitch the lines over to us.
We not only had to be sure to catch them...
... but had to quickly secure them to our rented lines...
...tying yet another bowline!
Once their lines and ours are secured together, we slowly cruise toward the first chamber
under our own power, as the lock workers walk alongside holding the other end of each line.
Since we're running along the left side, our boat is the only one tethered to the workers on land so far.
But as we're getting ready to enter the narrow area just before the lock itself,
the crew of the monohull on our right is about to get their lines pitched over to them from the right shoreline.
So they'll have to make really quick work of tying them off.
It's their lines that protect us from hitting the lock wall, and our lines that protect them.
Entering the chamber, the workers have to walk uphill alongside us.
When we reach the correct position in the lock, we're instructed to feed our lines out as quickly as we can.
The smaller lines that they threw over to us are only used to pull our larger lines over to them...
... since the small ones aren't strong enough to safely hold the boats in place.
It's a bit of a frenzy to get the lines fed out the first time, until you know exactly what to expect.
Once they get hold of our rented lines,
we see exactly why we had to tie Bowlines with large loops in them.
They'll drop the loops over the huge cleats at the top of the lock,
and it's up to us to manage the tension from down here.
Obviously, getting rafted up with another boat makes it easier to transit, with half the number of lines to handle.
But we depend on them to protect Curiosity from striking the concrete wall...
... and they depend on us!
Now that we're securely tied in place at the bottom of this thousand foot long concrete pit,
we just wait for the gigantic doors to close behind us...
... giving us a final glimpse of Atlantic water.
Panama Canal lock doors average over six feet thick.
Obviously we're in the chamber with more than just the boat we're lashed to...
there's a cargo ship up front and a huge tugboat right ahead of us!
Now that we're securely in place, we posed for photos as we wait for the show to begin!
The water starts to swirl...
and rise...
and the boats begin to move around in the current.
As we get higher and higher, the lines need constant tending...
as the walls that towered nearly 30 feet above us when we arrived... are now dropping at a steady rate.
Or, more precisely, we're rising up to the top of the wall as the chamber fills with water...
which is fed completely by gravity... no pumps are needed!
It was really exciting to see, and we were all running around watching,
filming, handling the lines, and sharing the experience.
It's hard to believe that this was built over a hundred years ago, and is still so amazing to witness today!
The ship and tugboat are moving into the next chamber.
As soon as they're far enough forward that their wake won't cause us little guys any problems...
... we get the signal that it's time to go.
We have to rapidly pull our lines back in,
again, keeping only the smaller lines connecting us to the lock workers
as they walk alongside us at all four corners.
As we enter the second chamber...
they have to climb the stairs alongside to get up over our heads again.
When we get into position, we'll slack the lines allowing them to pull our Bowlines up and over the cleats again.
Now we wait for the washing machine to start the second cycle.
Let's back up and show you the aft camera view (30x speed) as we exited the first chamber.
How amazing are those doors?
And how cool are these railings that pop up on top so lock workers can cross over them?
We hadn't realized until we watched this time lapse footage
that the water moves up and down quite a bit at the end of the cycle, until the chambers are equalized.
That probably accounts for the wait until the doors in front of us open.
Now we head into the third, and final, chamber in this first lock flight...
and if you thought that the other doors were cool, wait till you see this!
Up we go for the final time, to a total height of 85 feet above sea level.
When the chamber is finished equalizing, and the front gates open,
we motor out onto Gatun lake for the night,
disconnecting from our monohull buddy boat shortly after exiting the locks.
The whole process took less than 2 hours...
and we're only a short distance from the buoy where we've been assigned to moor for the night.
So there's plenty of time for one of Nikki's yummy dinners!
First thing the next morning we're ready to complete our transit.
We spent the night right here on one of two special buoys, so our canal advisors know right where to find us.
Today we'll be crossing Gatun Lake...
... before heading into the narrowest part of the canal.
We'll then come to the Pedro Miguel Locks.
There a single chamber will lower us 31 feet.
Just up ahead we can see the Miraflores Locks.
On the right is the new channel for larger ships.
Miraflores is a two-chamber flight, which will lower us a total of 54 feet.
The final descent will bring us back down to sea level.
Once we exit the second chamber, we can sail right out into the Pacific Ocean.
As we cross the lake, we see ships heading the other way... just to keep the cosmic balance!
As the canal gets narrower, ships get closer and closer as they pass by.
In this area, we can also clearly see the cuts along the shoreline,
making it obvious that this waterway is man-made.
After rafting back up with the monohull sailboat for this final section,
we've pulled into the single chamber Pedro Miguel Lock, and this is the view to the stern.
Going down is a bit different than going up:
instead of starting off in a giant pit, it looks a lot more like a typical narrow channel.
But this time, we're all the way at the front of the chamber...
and they'll be pulling a MUCH larger ship in behind us.
Not only is it cool to see how completely this ship fills the width of the lock...
but check out the tugs (called "mules") on each side.
Obviously there's no way that four guys strolling along the bank could keep that ship centered...
so these little locomotives team up to do the job.
On the way down, we have to handle the lines differently, too...
since the walls are getting higher, we need to let line out as we go...
still keeping good control of our position to protect the boat on the other side.
Once the doors open, we buzz ahead of that big ship. But we know we'll be seeing him again soon.
Now we motor the short distance to the Miraflores locks.
In case you're wondering, it's motors only in the canal...
... they have a tight schedule to keep, so this is no place for a leisurely sail.
As expected, as soon as we get settled into the first chamber,
that big ship came right up behind us... even closer than last time!
It may not seem intimidating watching on video,
but we've heard stories about how close ships can get to small boats in here...
so we were happy that he didn't get too close... and even happier that they had all those leashes attached to him...
just in case!
After we go down a level, we'll head into the second chamber and he'll snug in right behind us again.
The pounding rain storm that was moving through didn't seem to bother anyone...
... and the whole process went just as smoothly as before.
Is it my imagination,
or is that ship parking closer to us every time?
We're on our final descent.
Apparently the outer door is strong enough by itself,
since the inner door isn't all the way closed.
Maybe it only has to be closed when they're going up?
Here it comes...
our very first view of Pacific Ocean water!
And we're on our way...
... leaving that big ship behind for the final time...
and heading off toward new adventures!
This calls for a patented Gone With the Wynns "Chambong Celebration!"
John: "To our hosts..." Peter: "To our hosts, Nikki and Jason for having us
Peter: "...on board this amazing trip which is beyond anything we could have imagined!"
John: "Incredible experience! Thank you so much, guys, for making this possible!"
PETER: "Thank you, Nikki & Jason!" JOHN: "And for the CHAMBONG!"
Thanks so much to Nikki and Jason (and Mary, too!) for sharing such an amazing experience with us.
And for all the hospitality!
Be sure to check out their video of our Panama Canal transit!
And join them at GoneWithTheWynns.com
If you liked this video, please give us a thumbs up 👍🏼 and subscribe!
Safe travels! And thanks for watching!