When Harriet and I decided to trade the Atlantic for the Pacific and, return to NZ after 20 years in the US, we kept the rounding of Cape Horn at the bottom of our cruising bucket list. Especially as there’s a safe, enjoyable, fascinating way to swap the Atlantic for the Pacific – or the Pacific for the Atlantic – and it doesn’t involve an 8,300 nautical mile detour. The Panama Canal, a 47-mile-long journey through history, is a cruising milestone that opens both oceans to long-distance exploration. Life is short, so why not take the shortcut?
LOTS OF HELP
For Kiwi cruisers reaching the canal zone for the first time, as we did in mid-December on our Dolphin 460 catamaran (we began our transit from Colon, on the Atlantic side), there’s and follow that up with a multitude of books and websites that look at more recent developments, such as the 1977 transfer of the canal from the US to Panama and the 2016 opening of a second set of locks to handle the mammoth Panamax and Neopanamax vessels (up to 366m long, carrying up to 14,000 6.1m containers). While you are waiting your turn to transit, we recommend checking out the Agua Clara Visitor Center in Colon or the Miraflores Visitor Center and the Panama Canal on the Pacific side in Panama City, a modern, cosmopolitan city.
