This is what

the whole trip was about. The Panama Canal.

Started by the French in 1880, but they ran out of money, after its independence in 1903 the Panamanian Government negotiated with the with US and they completed the building of the canal on August 15, 1914.

We entered the Canal at the Miraflores end, the Pacific, the ship negotiated 3 sets of locks, we then sailed through the Gatun Lake and exited by the Gatun Lock, the Caribbean side, the journey time took 12 hours.

The ship in the picture is a tanker, she is going through the parallel set of locks, as you can see there is not much room between the side of the ship and the side of the canal. The ships go through the locks under their own steam, they are guided by 'mules' mechanical engines on railway tracks. These are attached to the ships with large ropes, and they keep the ship central in the lock system.

It was fascinating to watch all this taking place. The Panama Canal locks are open 24 hours a day, and on average 40 ships go through the locks. If you miss your timed slot, you have to wait for a vacant spot before you are allowed through. Whilst we were waiting our turn, we noticed a couple of tankers at anchor, they had obviously missed their slots, and were waiting, and I suspect the Captains of the respective ships would not be happy, as they would be losing money.