Panama Canal

[Tony Morcom]

. Sailed with some deepsea men who had never been through it in 40 plus years at sea, what an experience they missed......

How right you are Ivan. Hardly in the same league I also did several transits of both Suez and Kiel. All three have their own unique attributes and are among some of the more memorable experiences at sea which gives me a thought for a new thread topic.

[Richard Quartermaine]

Doghouse Bar 2.jpg

.............P.S. what was that tape measure they gave out where you measured your penis with it and got some answer about yourself? (that was in the Doghouse???)

Jim, It could well be the Doghouse Bar. I got this in February 1947 as well as skull crushing hangover.
Those poor souls who worked on the Canal's excavation! Malaria, and everything else that went with tropical rain forests. They don't make them like that any more.
Cheers, Richard Q

[Ivan Cloherty]

Anyone who wants a real history of the Panama Canal should read

The Path between the Seas ( 1870 - 1914) by David McCullough ISBN 978 0671 24409 5

also for those interested in the West Coastof South America

Ploughing the South Sea (a history of the MN on the WCSA) by E.John McGarry ISBN 1 4208 2985 8

[Peter Trodden]

My first time through the Canal sticks in my mind (Blue Star.'63) I relieved my mate at the wheel to do my 2hr trick. Just left the Lock,west-bound and the Yank Pilot started with his helm orders, Left a bit, ok check her, now right a bit, ok, see that red and white Ranger on the hill side ? steer on that. I had done Pilot wheels thru the Suez and many up and down the Creeks in W/Africa but this was my first encounter with a Yank Pilot giving me un-nautical helm orders.
It took me by suprise, but I soon got use to his orders and layed back style.
ttfn.Peter.

[stewart morrison]

From what I remember & having taken slides of the canal on many occasions the memorial on the side is to the memory of 300 or so people killed during construction,hope this helps, cheers !

[John Arton]

Ivan
never got a lie in when we went through the canal, just a night on the pizz in christobal followed by a first transit at 0600.
As cadet I spent most of the transit running up and down taking soft drinks to the panama canal pilots.
On the forest product ships wev were restricted to daylight passage only and had to carry 6 pilots and also had to put up a $40000 bond. Reason being was that the original design of the ships were normal open hatch geared bulk carriers but the outfit that they were chartered long term to, insisted on them having travelling gantry cranes. As the hatches were of a set dimension to accommodate the standard sizes of timber, plywood etc. instead of narrowing the hatches or widening the whole ship, all they did was to flare the ships hull out from the load waterline to the main deck level to accommodate the crane tracks, this was only the length of the hatches so they were very strange looking ships. Pilots hated them as pilot ladders never sat flush against the ships side due to the flare. The reason for the bond was maiden voyage of the first of these, in the first lock when the fwd mule put a strain on the wire the panama lead just came straight off the deck, shot down the wire and nearly wrecked the mule, hence the canal imposing this bond on the ships at every transit.
You also stirred memories, I had totally forgotten about washing the whole ship down in the Gatun Lakes using the fresh water there. As an aside can anyone explain why tropical fresh water has a lesser density that ordinary fresh water.
We actually used to take fresh water for cabin use in the lakes as to make the draught after bunkering in Christobal we had to go through with absolute or no fresh water. If it was none we used to put some in the domestic tanks during the Gatun Lake passage. Ordinarily after transit we would tie up in Balboa and take on full fresh water before sailing. This was quite nice as by that time hangovers had gone and we had another chance of a run ashore as it took 8 hrs to take on full load of fresh water. So a full transit of the canal on our forest product ships would be
Arr. Cristobal 18:00 for overnight bunkering alongside
Start transit 06:00 next morning
Arr. Balboa around 18:00 (depending on traffic) tie up and start taking fresh water
omplete and sail around 04:00 next day for Port Moody, B.C., absolutley wrecked but with a grin as wide as the canal on your face and memories to boot.
rgds
Capt. John Arton (ret'd)

[Ivan Cloherty]

Stewart

If you read Path between the Seas, you will find that prior 1900, 30,000 people died whilst constructing the Canal, between 1900 and 1914 the figure was 6,000, these figures include deaths from various diseases, malaria being the main one

[eric fisher]

My trips through the canal were four. First was only one way East-West. Circled S.America then home from Punta Arenas, Magellan Strait. Second and third were both ways on the same ship 1949. The last was West to East homeward bound from N.Z. Also did quite a few through Suez, the last was N-S from UK to Japan 1950. Came home via BOAC, er, British Airways now from Tokyo- London c.1951. Also Kiel canal UK Stettin and back c1950. Great scenery--- on the banks on a Sunday afternoon a young naked couple caught, shall we say, canoodling. There was a scramble for the only pair of binoculars. Pity, we didn't catch them on the return from Stettin!!

Earlier about Panama, the US and Colombia signed a treaty in 1846 giving them certain rights to build the canal. UK and US were considering building across Nicaragua. US built a railway between Colon and Panama City in 855. Colombia and France agreed to build about 1878.Rights were given to the famous Ferdi...de Lessops of Suez fame. Trouble with corrupt politicians and theft bankrupted de Lessops in about 1889. Then US and French developers asked US Govt to buy the rights. Panamanians, rebels from Colombia, French advisors, and US Govt Agencies helped spark a revolt against Colombia and created Panama independence. As usual, interference secured the right to build the canal for US security purpose by the shortened distance of thousands of miles between the Atlantic and Pacific, as did the ousting of the Queen of Hawaii and her allegiance to the UK to pacify the US sugar plantation owners and secure the sealane to the East Indies.

Must not rant, so back to Panama. Yes many thousands died from Malaria, Yellow Fever and other tropical diseases building the canal which is about 50 miles long including the man made Lake Gatun which controls the Chagries River from flooding. Odd fact, that from the Atlantic to the Pacific, you have to sail eastward as you enter at Colon in the northwest and leave at Panama City in the southeast. Happy were the days, so so long ago. Eric

[John Cassels]

Seem to remember seeing lots of snakes in Gatun lake ... not a great place for swimming ?.

[Tony Morcom]

For all the canal fans I have just uploaded a new video documentary about the Panama Canal in our Video Section HERE