Early May after nine days on anchor in Shelter Bay we were cleared to enter the Panama Canal. I was taking part in a delivery of Kokomoko, a Leopard Cat 47 from New York to Sydney and the job was half done. The Pacific beckoned. Two local line handlers and a pilot had joined us. We would motor under the mighty Atlántico bridge, clear three east-side locks then anchor in the Lake Gatun around midnight.
Ingeniously, the first three locks elevated 35m above sea level with two smaller yachts lashed either side of us, Line handlers shortened ropes as the lock filled from the forward lock after the hydraulic doors closed behind us. We were the biggest boat, so it was our engines which moved the three of us forwards. I have often been through locks, but this was something else. We had a 100,000-ton tanker in front of us which was pulled through by locomotives – accompanied by manic VHF radio traffic in Spanish. The locomotives used a funicular to climb the steep banks but when the ship exited, it used its engines, buffeting us in its wake. It took about four hours to clear the first three locks and anchor in Lake Gatun where alligators made swimming unpleasant. It was midnight anyway. Next morning,
