Panama Canal: Andrew 23 06 17

This is a duplicate of a post made to the old website for those that are still there and not here.

I shot these in 2009 on a Panama Canal passage aboard a cruise ship leaving Long Beach CA and sailing to I do not recall. The last images I have are from Jamaica for this trip but it could have ended up in the Dominican Republic.

On a cruise ship you have no control over anything, time of day, weather, sky conditions, view possibly being blocked by the hoard on board or ship parts. You have do the best you can under the circumstances. That may involve trying to get to different parts of the ship in a hurry.

Ok, enough with the excuses.
I processed these this morning from the original raw files. They may or may not be any better than my previous results from 2009!

Andrew

Entering the first lock from the Pacific side, the Miraflores

Nice trip .... I'll enjoy traveling with you here but I'm not getting on a ship, especially the new ten story hotels on the water! .. Not sure why I'd want to be on the water on one ... so I'll enjoy these travels with you ... Looks like the audience here is thinning out.. I'll have to evaluate what I"m doing and why I'm here, ... soon ... I saw my specialist and he had no answers, said goodbye and sent me home .. Hope you do better with your back and hope it is better .... Great to see the Dr. after the event recedes ...

WhyNot

Nice you are able to relive the trip through your photos.
I have lots of trips we've taken captured in pictures that no one ever looks at - but - I sure don't have the RAWs from back then.
Don't know that a cruise of the Panama Canal interests me, but ...
Wings Birding Tours has a trip this November to the Canopy Tower in Panama that looks interesting.
Probably won't go though, I've just booked us to the Texas Rio Grande Valley for 10 days or so in December (self guided tour).
It would be fun though ...

Lovely Andrew good to have memories you cn look back on to enjoy 😊

Thanks WN.

Frustrating to wait to see the specialist and to sent away with no answers! You would think he/she would run some tests to and get to the root of the problem!

The back is no better, but also no worse, so the latter part is good!

Andrew

Jim, we went on several excursions and saw lots of birds. That said, excursions on a boat on small waterways really is not likely the way to see hard to find birds. Guided trips are likely the answer but you have to be dedicated to the pursuit to do that! Cruises have good points and bad points. I don't like large ships and prefer the smaller ones. The trend now seems to be larger and larger. I will not be going on one of those. Lots of food, usually pretty good to excellent if you choose well, the premium dining areas are excellent, you don't have to worry about booking accommodations, and there are things to do or just lounging about with a book. They tend to be good value for the dollar, especially now, post? covid. You do not see the areas like you would if you stayed there though so that has to enter your considerations.

Andrew

Thanks Paul. It seems like a long time ago now!

Andrew

That's because it IS a long time ago. 😀

Cool shots. Boats and water and everything that goes with that always interest me.

Oh, we just did that transit just two months ago! On Celebrity's Radiance of the Seas, just small enough to go through the old locks, the new ones just to the south look to sterile. Looks pretty much the same as your transit, but that bridge at Miraflores is largely disassembled:

Yeah, not many options for composition on a cruise ship. The more popular vantage points were crowded, but I managed to find a few that let me get shots like this at Gatun Locks:

A really fascinating trip...

Edit: posted wrong rendition of 4624, bad inserts in the text...

Glen,
Shockingly I had not even realized that was a bridge! I was too busy looking at the ship and locks! On our passage the construction of the new canal was still underway. From the section I saw I thought it was all on the north side of the old canal. We did get off the ship at Gatun Lake though so I have no idea what was on the other side. Nice to see your image of the locks there. Both canals are visible in that image. Is that looking west with the Centennial Bridge in the background?

Andrew

Thanks Charlotte.

Andrew

Actually, looking east from Gatun Lock to the Atlantic bridge, completed in 2019. It replaced a ferry that ran from Colon proper to the other side.

I've got a better image that includes the one of the new locks, complete with transiting ship. I'll find and post it later today...

I see DPreview have been taken over Andrew by Gear Patrol ?

Not a great picture of a new lock, but best I could do from the ship in the old lock:

I did get a decent picture of a ship in the new route where it came close to the old route:

The new lock gates slide in and out of pockets, no hinges. They don't use the mule locomotives, they have two tugboats accompany each ship. Progress...

I like the pictures, Andrew, but I would not get on a ship for that long a time. Long Beach to The Maritimes, or did you sail up The Saint Lawrence? After WW2, my Dad used to say, "I joined the navy to see the world. And what did I see? I saw the sea. Rich

Thanks Rich. We got off somewhere in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic I think, and flew home from there. Fifteen days on board and two or three in Long Beach. We were away for 18 days total. The longest I have been away from home ever, excluding the time in the CAF. That doesn't really count though.

Andrew

Interesting the way the new locks work Glenn. Sorry I misspelled your name earlier!!!! The new locks must be wider giving more clearance on the sides for the ships to be pulled through by tug boats. The old locks used four mules in front and another four at the stern. Clearance was very tight!

Andrew

Our ship had two feet between it and the old lock walls. My wife made sure we booked an itinerary that transited the old side. They were using four mules total.

No worries about the spelling; I'll answer to a lot worse😆