On The Canal
We were now on the canal. There was a similarity from day to day. The weather was generally cool and damp. The temperature never got out of the high 60s (Fahrenheit). I told people that the daily low at our home in Arkansas was warmer than the daily high on the canal. You can get some idea about the weather when you notice that the weather forecast gives the predicted sun, by the minutes, for each hour. The fields were very green. There were profuse flowers around all of the houses. The canal side banks were covered with flowers. My wife commented to someone about this and was told “those aren’t flowers, those are weeds!”
Our cruising speed was about two miles an hour. As we gained experience it increased three to four miles an hour. The maximum speed permitted on the canal is four miles an hour. It is impossible to average four miles an hour. You must not have any wake when you pass boats tied up to the canal side. Being the high season there were a lot of boats.
Steering a straight path down the center of the canal required constant attention. I have owned lots of boats so steering with a tiller was not an issue. But even going only two miles an hour a little inattention and the boat would be heading towards the canal path or potentially aground on the opposite side of the canal. With time it took less concentration and I was willing to increase my speed. My wife always thought that I was going too slow! The opportunities for (mis)adventure increased exponentially when there were boats moored on each side of the canal and oncoming traffic. But we only had a few scrapes and no angry shouting.
Every quarter of mile or so there was a bridge. The channel under the bridge might have been 4 feet wider or so than the boat, but it seemed narrower. And you couldn’t aim to pass under the center of the bridge because of the tow path. So early on I slowed a lot to go under and through a bridge. The other issue was that you might encounter a boat going the opposite direction. The boat to pass through first had the right of way, so it was fine calculation to determine how fast to approach the bridge. Sometime the other side of the bridge was completely blind and I would have to full reverse to avoid a collision!
Every few miles there would be a lock or flight of locks. Depending on the queue it might take anywhere from 20 – 30 minutes to a couple of hours to negotiate the locks. The guys would keep the boats secured waiting for the lock to cycle while the women would go forward and assist each other in operating the lock. That gave them plenty of opportunity to talk with other people at the lock.
The locks are narrow, only a few inches wider than the boat on each side. It is important to remove (lift) your fenders (the bumper hanging over the side of the boat) before entering the lock. The presence of the fenders can sometimes be enough to jam a boat in the lock! Karen saw someone who got stuck. It took four strong guys to get the boat released and that boat was the fourth to stuck that morning before 10:00 AM. Every time I entered a lock I felt like the pilot on a super tanker entering the Panama Canal.
With only one really obnoxious exception everyone we encountered along the canal was pleasant and helpful. There were a lot of conversations about where we were from and how did we find out about the canal. A few about Donald Trump!
See the pictures at: https://goo.gl/photos/UzXb1e3GEhhNGMaTA