Panama Canal -- More Scenes

The Panama Canal has a remarkable lock system.

(File Photo)

We had quite an audience as the ship approached the Pacific Ocean.

Finally, the PILOT can leave the ship and turn over the vessel to it's captain.

Panama Canal Transit

Each ship's captain must turn complete control of his ship over to a highly trained Panama Canal pilot for the 8-10 hour transit through the entire canal.


The drivers of the $2 Million dollar "mules" are quite dedicated and are vital to the operation of the entire lock system. Each unit is a complete work area. Once the driver is on board, that is his home for the day. This ensures an efficient operation of the lock system.

Panama Canal -- Atlantic to Pacific Oceans

Familiar sites on the Panama Canal.

Tugboat ready to assist.

Another ship waiting to transit.

Hardworking "mules".

Exiting narrow locks.

Building the Panama Canal was an even greater challenge than building the Suez Canal.

The following video shows the great difficulties encountered by the builders.

(49 minutes)

Experience Panama - Seven Wonders Of The World -- 49 minutes (BBC)

 

The building of the Panama Canal -- French and American contributions

(Not suitable for very young children)
Click on Box (Lower Right) after film begins.
This will increase the size to full screen.

San Blas Islands, Panama

Our ride is here!

Due to space considerations, I opted for the one with the orange roof.

One of the 378 San Blas Islands.

If the ship were not stopping at the San Blas Islands, I would not have taken the cruise.

Plain and simple.

I have a strong attraction to the people who live here and the work they do.

All of the ladies do excellent work, but this one is special.

Her work is exquisite.

I spent a lot of time talking to these ladies.

This reminded me of some of the villages in Orissa Province (India), where an entire village works on one kind of industry.

As you can see, the ladies wear their handiwork as well.

The item below is one of those items which had been worn by one of the ladies.

I think that gives it extra charm.

The more colors used increases the value, due to the difficulty in making the item.

I enjoy working on applique as well.

(Two of my Baltimore Applique quilts.)

FLORIDA -- Fort Lauderdale

The ship sailed towards Florida.

All large ships are relegated to the shipping lanes quite a distance off-shore. It would be nice to take scenic photos of the beautiful coastline as one proceeds southward, but not even a telephoto lens is helpful.

The next big port was Fort Lauderdale. We had not planned to leave the ship in Fort Lauderdale, as we had been there before.

(file image)

A reminder of times past.

My husband had spent 20 years on submarines.

Approaching a major port.

Before the Captain had a chance to speak, we should have known that something was about to happen. (Notice the white house has shutters in place.)

.......and the yellow house.

...and the choppy waters in the causeway.

One of several beautiful waterfront homes.

The Captain announced that we would be spending very little time in Fort Lauderdale. He apologized that time on shore would be very limited, but he had to get the ship underway ASAP because of an incoming storm, the 19th of the season, named SANDY.

At that time the passengers were not aware of the potential seriousness of the storm.

We left expeditiously.

Goodbye, Fort Lauderdale.

(Yes.  We moved out of the storm's way. Below are some of the scenic homes along Boston waterfront after Sandy made her way to the Northeast. Are they not different from the earlier photos I took when we were leaving Boston?)

(file photo)

See additional Sandy storm images HERE.