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Panama Canal for Boaters who have taken your boat through US Federal Locks?


Smokeyham
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Hi,

 

This is a question for a pretty specific group......  I owned a boat and did a portion of America's Great Loop, taking the boat through the big federal locks on the Illinois, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers.   

 

If you have had such an experience how would you compare going through the Panama Canal.   I.e. did you still find it interesting and worthwhile?

 

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Interesting question.  I suppose in the most basic elements there is not a huge difference in any locks regardless of their size, all of the locks end up doing the same task of filling and spilling.  Probably the biggest difference in the locks on the inland waters of the US and the Panama Canal is the types of vessels you will encounter.  On the rivers you are going to find more barges and tugs while at the PC more seagoing ships. 

 

Perhaps locking through a PC Lock might be  a wee bit more adventuresome, often smaller pleasure craft are locked through with ships or other Canal equipment.  Once in awhile they will run a special lockage for pleasure craft (as in your pic) if there are a number of them.  From what I have experienced on locks in the US water is moved much slower when filling and spilling compared to the PC Locks.  There are certain areas in the PC chambers where the turbulence is not as pronounced, IMO it is more noticeable in PC locks.

 

The ease of traversing a lock in the US will not be found in the PC.  First of all it isn't free!  The present administration of the Canal is not thrilled to provide service to pleasure craft.  While they would never admit it publicly, the price they charge for a transit would certainly discourage you from doing so if you really did not need to get to the other side of the continent.  Depending on the size of your boat you would need either a Transit Advisor or a Canal pilot.

 

I think transiting the Canal whether it is in a large cruise ship or a pleasure craft is a total package, two oceans, the Cut, Gatun Lake all wrapped up in its history.   

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  • 1 month later...

We have taken our 38' boat through the locks on the Inland Waterways and the Okeechobee canal.  Once you get the hang of it...it is an easy process.  I have been in these locks with tugs and river barges and I can only imagine that the Panama Canal is similar with larger ships.  I would love doing that.

 

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