Canal Drama
Our Panama Canal transit from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean went smoothly until the second day. On board our Norseman 447, Third Wish, were my husband, Jeff, our two crew Tom and Nick—both good sailors—Omar, our Panamanian line handler, and me.
Omar told us he had been working in this position for seven years, doing around three trips per week. Line handlers are paid by the trip, not by the time spent transiting the canal, so they want to get into port as quickly as possible— which explains how we came to grief later.
On a canal transit, boats must engage a canal agent who supplies the line handler(s) and a compulsory canal advisor, or pilot, who unlike the line handlers, will not stay on the boat if a two-day transit is necessary. The advisor also doesn’t handle lines, but directs the skipper and shoreside line handlers, and communicates with the Canal Authority.
On the first day we went through the two sets of locks just beyond Panama City and then stopped for the night in Lake Gatun near
