To go from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, you would have to go around South America. I mean, that was a long time.

Brief History

The French tried to build the canal in 1881 but stopped after a lack of funding and many deaths. The United States started in 1904 and finished in 1914. It took ten years to build the 51 miles (82 km).

Some facts

• Length
  • 51 miles
• Maximum boat length
  • 1,200 ft 9 inches (366 M)
• Maximum boat beam
  • 160 Ft 9 inches (49 m)
• Boat draft
  • 50ft (15.2)
• Boat air draft
  • 190 ft (57.91 m)
• Locks
  • Three locks up and three locks down
  • All three lanes
• Status
  • Open expansion opened on June 26, 2016

Now, the transit of the canal

I have never done this before, so it is a new experience.

I woke up at 6 Amish and went with my father-in-law to the front of the ship. It’s good that I found the way to the bridge a few days before. There were a lot of people who had the same thought.

People were lined up in Deck 16 as well. There were not that many on deck 17 because that was the sanctuary.

Here is the bridge

A picture of me and my father-in-law

One with the wife, her father, and I

It was pretty cool to see the boat go into the locks and then the ship rise and go forward. We did that three times. There was a bigger boat in front of us.

Once we got through that, we went through the lake (canal).

It was a rainy day. I even jumped on my team meeting and showed them the view of it. It was nice.

We got to the other side and had to wait about an hour to go through the locks to the Atlantic side. We did the same thing. My wife, father-in-law, and I went up front and watched us enter the Atlantic. We also had a visitor who was moving along with us.

Yeah, that was a Croc.

Nov. 2, 2023

It was the day we were in the Atlantic Ocean. It was day 11 of this 16-day voyage. I am not complaining at all.

This was an incredible adventure, for sure. I can mark this off of my bucket list.

Thoughts

I would do it if you want to go to the Panama Canal. Let’s hope there isn’t any civil unrest so you can see what the city offers.

Just the ability to move from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean is a 51-mile journey instead of a long trip around South America.

My hat goes off to the men who pulled this off. Just the fact that they did this from 1904 to 1914. It was a pretty big feat.

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