I was in the Canal but I managed to get out of it. “Keep it up!” I say to myself. But seriously – crossing the Panama Canal is quite a pleasant experience.

After sailing through the oceans of paperwork (for example, you have to sign a document saying that the Canal’s employees bear no responsibility in case of any damages to the yacht... which are their fault), going to the harbour board and solving toilet problems, fitting additional fenders (tyres) on the sides, I set off from Shelter Bay Marina late in the afternoon. On the radio, I asked for permission to cross the main course of the boat traffic, and on its other side I waited for the crew and a pilot (not a tour guide! :)

When crossing the canal, you need to have 4 crew members to work at the ropes, and an assistant, who makes sure that everything goes right. At the moment when the gentlemen got on the board of Tanasza, and we were supposed to set off in the direction of the first sluice, I realized that I had no gears, they simply refused to cooperate with me – things have a mind of their own, don’t they? The situation is far from funny although I still can’t stop smiling at the fact that little Tanasza decided to play such a trick on me.

Fortunately, the best member of my crew, the best of the best I’ve ever had, (a really unique person) found the source of the problem, fixed what was necessary and... we set off. What a relief!

A very important issue – when passing from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, which is a distance of almost 80 kilometres altogether, a minimal speed of 5 knots is obligatory. Violation of this law means that your deposit of over USD 800 may be taken away. You have to be on time by the sluices, but the currents often slowed me down. I wonder how Richard Halliburton dealt with them when he swam across the canal in 1928?
The first sluice was sort of divided into three parts. Fortunately, at the same time a motorboat, bigger than me, was passing them. Its crew tied it to the wall and I could tie Tanasza to it. Therefore, I didn’t have to do the hard work at the ropes, when the level of water increased and created whirls.
At about 9 p.m. of the local time in Panama we were already on the Lake Gatun.
The crew ate dinner, which – Caution! - I prepared for them myself. They even had a cucumber salad. On the next day, at 5.00a.m., I already had a new pilot on board. In turns, either in rain or in scorching heat, we covered 27 miles in the direction of the next two sluices. The first sluice was relatively easy, the other one (and the last one on the canal, which we saw a video about) had a very strong current reaching 4 knots that pushed me forward too fast, additional whirls pushed me to the sides, whereas I had to wait for a tug boat. Tough luck!
The fight was justified, because little Tanasza hardly turns in the reverse gear – you can’t steer it when it goes backwards... despite all that, we managed to do it, the pilot was glad, and the tug boat helped the huge boat which entered the sluice right after me, and then it was ahead of me and tied itself to the edge, so I could moor to it. Its bow was about 15 metres behind my stern and when we were waiting for the sluice to lower its level and pour the water back, it really was impressive. The biggest boat that can go through the sluice can have the maximum size of 305 metres long and 33.5 metres wide... now, new sluices are built for even bigger boats –just imagine that!