The Gulf of Panama and the Panama Canal
As the sky quickly brightened we could now see and not only feel how very calm the seas were today. The hazy mounds of Bona and Otoque Islands showed themselves to be clearly wooded as we closed the distance, and the bird life increased their activity in the area. The “Early Birds” swiftly embarked into the Zodiacs and away they went to watch brown pelicans taking their morning baths, frigates spiraling over tree tops, boobies both blue-footed and brown honked and squawked. The “Civilized” excursion after breakfast had similar sightings with the brief addition of pan-tropical spotted dolphins cruising past the islands, on their way to somewhere, in a hurry of course.
One of the most fascinating aspects of our morning location was the presence of a red tide covering a huge area in wide bands. As the current carried the red waters past the Sea Voyager at anchor, off the stern we hung our heads and watched as fabulous gelatinous creatures drifted by: Venus’ girdles of over a foot long, sea nettles of iridescent lines, the blue specks of pelagic nudibranchs, salps and jellies. We didn’t swim, but some of us did go out in the kayaks for some peace and quiet paddling. The planktonic life forms we studied for quite a while under the microscope, and in the end decided it was copepod city for the most part!
Another type of action took place in the late afternoon when the engines sparked to life off of Flamingo Island. We had finished our paperwork and inspections, and soon after the Panama Canal pilot came on board we went exploring under the Bridge of the Americas and cruised by the container docks of the Port of Balboa. Soon enough our partner for “locking-up” into Miraflores lock appeared, and slowly made her way into the lock chamber. We followed behind the refrigerator ship “Jorgen Laurtizen” from Ribe, Denmark, and we traveled under the call letters of NB25 X-ray Zulu, meaning we are northbound, number 25, and telling whoever in the know that our cargo is passengers and we are locked up with another vessel.
As we sailed into Gaillard Cut and followed the narrow waterway to the lake, the Sea Voyager passed under the new “Centennial Bridge” lit up above as if sailing across the star-studded heavens.
As the sky quickly brightened we could now see and not only feel how very calm the seas were today. The hazy mounds of Bona and Otoque Islands showed themselves to be clearly wooded as we closed the distance, and the bird life increased their activity in the area. The “Early Birds” swiftly embarked into the Zodiacs and away they went to watch brown pelicans taking their morning baths, frigates spiraling over tree tops, boobies both blue-footed and brown honked and squawked. The “Civilized” excursion after breakfast had similar sightings with the brief addition of pan-tropical spotted dolphins cruising past the islands, on their way to somewhere, in a hurry of course.
One of the most fascinating aspects of our morning location was the presence of a red tide covering a huge area in wide bands. As the current carried the red waters past the Sea Voyager at anchor, off the stern we hung our heads and watched as fabulous gelatinous creatures drifted by: Venus’ girdles of over a foot long, sea nettles of iridescent lines, the blue specks of pelagic nudibranchs, salps and jellies. We didn’t swim, but some of us did go out in the kayaks for some peace and quiet paddling. The planktonic life forms we studied for quite a while under the microscope, and in the end decided it was copepod city for the most part!
Another type of action took place in the late afternoon when the engines sparked to life off of Flamingo Island. We had finished our paperwork and inspections, and soon after the Panama Canal pilot came on board we went exploring under the Bridge of the Americas and cruised by the container docks of the Port of Balboa. Soon enough our partner for “locking-up” into Miraflores lock appeared, and slowly made her way into the lock chamber. We followed behind the refrigerator ship “Jorgen Laurtizen” from Ribe, Denmark, and we traveled under the call letters of NB25 X-ray Zulu, meaning we are northbound, number 25, and telling whoever in the know that our cargo is passengers and we are locked up with another vessel.
As we sailed into Gaillard Cut and followed the narrow waterway to the lake, the Sea Voyager passed under the new “Centennial Bridge” lit up above as if sailing across the star-studded heavens.
