Posted: August 20, 2015

The Panama Canal Transit will be one of the great memories of your sailing career. You’ll get up-close-and-personal experience with the huge machinery of the locks, cruise ships, container ships, tropical waterways, and get a different perspective on the magnitude of world commerce.

I’ve transited the Panama Canal three times and (also drawing on the expertise of many others) here is an overview of what you’ll need to do and what you should expect. The rules and procedures do change from time to time so no matter how you have planned ahead, when you arrive in Panama for a transit, you’ll need to check with local sources for updates to this information (and see the links at the end of this article).

Transit Background

The Panama Canal links the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Even though we think of the Caribbean as being east of the Pacific, looking at the map, you’ll see that the canal runs largely northwest-southeast and the Caribbean end of the Canal is actually west of the Pacific end. Accordingly, we won’t speak of “eastbound” or “westbound” because it’s just too confusing, rather we’ll use “from the” Caribbean or Pacific side.

From the Caribbean, you’ll enter through Limon bay with the City of Colon and the port of Cristobal on the east side. Then up a set of three locks (“Gatun Locks”) which will raise your boat 85 feet to Gatun Lake—across the lake to Gaillard Cut (aka “Culebra Cut”)—then down one lock (“Pedro Miguel”)—then a set of two locks (“Miraflores”) and out past the La Playita Marina/Anchorage to the Gulf of Panama in the Pacific Ocean. Click Here for a flyover video via Google Earth. The route is about 45 nm long and will take one or two days depending on the speed of your boat and the timing of your transit. If you are scheduled for an early start, you may make it in a single day. For two-day transits, you’ll stay overnight at the designated anchorage. Two of my transits were completed in a single day from the Pacific side but it was a long day, preparing to get underway at 5am and arriving at 9pm.

The business of the Canal is to move freight but under the agreement which ceded the Canal to Panama all vessels must be allowed to transit. As such, although you can transit the Canal in almost any powered craft meeting the minimum requirements, and although the fees may seem high to you, the economics of Canal operations make yachts secondary, to be scheduled around the higher-paying ships.

All of the waterways of the Canal are controlled. In the approaches to the canal, you will be in radio contact with vessel traffic control—“Cristobal Signal Station” on the Cristobal/Limon side and “Flamenco Signal Station” on the Pacific side—on VHF 12 or 16. Also, you’ll have an “advisor” from the Panama Canal Authority (“ACP”) on board (or a “pilot” if your boat measures more than 65 ft.) when you are in the canal itself. You may not stop to sightsee for extra days within Gatun Lake, for example, and you may not lower your dinghy at any time.

Preparing for the Transit

There’s considerable preparation needed for your transit. On the administrative front, you’ll need to get the appropriate permits/documents, and pay the fees. As a part of this process, your boat will be measured to determine the transit fees which are based on length and inspected to make sure it meets the minimum requirements. All of this can be handled through an agent and/or with the assistance of your marina—or you can go it alone. It can also be initiated in conjunction with the processes of checking into Panama and obtaining your cruising permit so all the paperwork can be handled in a few taxi trips.

The best places for preparations are at Shelter Bay Marina on the Caribbean end and La Playita Marina on the Pacific end. If La Playita is unavailable, you can anchor out and dinghy into the dock at La Playita or get a mooring buoy at the Balboa Yacht Club. We moved from La Playita to BYC for a few days before our transit because they have a water taxi service which is preferable to a dinghy for transporting the dock-lines, tires, and line-handlers. On the Caribbean side, you can anchor out but the Colon dinghy landing no longer exiss so the anchorage is less useful.

You need a minimum of four line-handlers in addition to the master aboard during your transit; and you’ll see why in the “During the Transit” section below. If using an agent, they can recruit line handlers for you and they will typically be off-duty Canal staff. Alternatively, you can put out a radio call on the cruisers’ net and recruit other cruisers awaiting their turn to go through the canal. TIP: I suggest you volunteer to be a line-handler on another boat transiting before you take your own boat through so you can get comfortable with the process as I did.

You will probably rent the fenders (tires in garbage bags) and the four hand-lines which must be at least 125 feet long and 7/8” diameter with a 1-meter eye spliced in one end. Now consider how the lines will lead on your boat. When you are in a lock with the water lowered, the lock walls will be about 40 feet above the waterline so your lines will be leading upwards from the deck cleats. As the boat is raised about 30 feet, the angle will change and you don’t want the line to foul your lifelines or damage your brightwork either. If you have open chocks (as we do) you’ll need to consider an alternative method of leading the lines. Fortunately, on our boat, we have snatchblocks of sufficient size so we could lead aft lines to the primary winches.

For a quick preview of the Canal Transit route, watch the Google Earth video here. Be sure to alert your friends back home so they can watch your progress through the canal on the Canal Web Cams and if you have an AIS transceiver on board, they can also monitor your progress on a map here.

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Locking down with a ship coming in astern. Sure hope it stops!

Minimum Requirements To Transit the Canal

• Able to maintain speed of 6 kts. (8 kts is the actual requirement but to my knowledge this requirement has not been enforced). Slower boats may need to arrange towing.
• Holding Tank(s)
• VHF, Horn, Compass
• Safe area for pilot to board
• Anchor ready to use
• Four Hand lines: 125 ft. long, 7/8" diameter, 3-ft. eye spliced in one end
• Fenders adequate for the rough lock walls