Grey and Nova played a show in stormy weather conditions, and the next morning we raised anchors and set sail for Cristobal, the Atlantic entrance for the Canal.
The seas were very choppy and I held on for dear life. Our talented Captain, Ben Blankenship, was not in the least phased by the swells, maintaining composure and calm as he kept drawing on his tobacco pipe while on the wheel. It must be the name, the Blankenships have sailor blood. I, on the other hand, am not an experienced sailor, this was all new for me, and luckily I quite loved being on the ocean, swells or not.
We arrived at night and set anchor by the entrance to the canal, in the company of another hundred or so ships all waiting for the protocols to start the voyage across the isthmus. Most of the ships were enormous container ships and oil tankers.
While anchored for a few days I got to work. Fixing all kinds of small things on the Arka that had broken, were about to break, or needed some attention. Turns out ships are always decaying; inevitable being that they are steel and wood vessels in corrosive salt water. It was very hot and humid and sometimes tricky to work in very small ship crevasses, but I loved the challenge, and I dare say I had fun too.
Finally we got the go-ahead to pass through the Canal, with our Panamanian pilot onboard. We left in the afternoon, and ended up mooring to a buoy in the precarious manmade lake Gatún. The whole Canal is a bit unstable, relying heavily on pumping out excess water, mowing back the jungle, and keeping up the aging concrete. There's a great passage in Alan Weisman's book "The World Without Us" on just how quickly and violently the landmass would rejoin without the constant preventative maintenance done by humans.
They moored us to another sailboat and squeezed in a container ship behind us inside the locks. All together we went through six locks, three up and three down. It took us two days to get through the Panama Canal, with an amazing overnight in the crocodile filled lake Gatún.
While in the lake, we had some down time to celebrate the passage as well as entertain haircuts before entering the Pacific side. Here I am grooming our fearless Captain Ben, while Nova attends to Grey.
Between being a hairdresser and resident welder on board, I enjoyed excellent sustainably sourced food thanks to Portuguese Chef Pedro, a truly talented cook and food activist. I learned sailor knots from my dear friend Claire and sweet French sailor Yann. I enjoyed laughs and tea time with Sarah and Claire, both representing England. Shop talk and music was exchanged with punk- electrician Aaron from Switzerland, with more musical accompaniment from Grey and Nova. Nova, I will miss our fancy coffees in the galley! It was truly an international crossing.
And here we are on the Pacific side of the world. The container ship above is not even that big...
Below, my parting shot, one early morning in Panama City, on my way back to Winter in Taos. I am excited to rejoin the crew of the Arka at some point and continue helping keep the boat afloat and looking good.
Until we sail together again! Á Bientôt Arka Kinari!
