Spanish Roots, Coast to Coast

From the time of Vasco Nuñez de Balboas discovery and naming of the Pacific Ocean in 1513 explorers dreamed of and searched for an easy route between the oceans. In North America it was the anticipated Northwest Passage. In Central America it was across the isthmus through Nicaragua or Columbia.

The Spanish had 2 routes in Central America and 1 across Mexico which were used to ship their gold and treasure between the oceans. Each route across the Isthmus was protected on the Caribbean by a fort San Lorenzo for the Chagres River and overland passage and Portobelo for the Camino Real overland route.

The distance across the Isthmus is less than 50 miles, but jungles, disease, terrain and wild animals made the crossing a challenge. During the wet season, April through December, it is only worse, but the rewards from Inca gold were worth the risk even after the required quinto (20%) payment to the Spanish crown.

In 10 years between 1550 and 1560 over 200,000 tons of silver were shipped through Portobelo alone. Pirates and privateers, licensed by their own governments, the royal enemies of Spain, plundered and harassed Spanish shipping and her isolated forts.

The search for a fast, safe route started in earnest with the Panama Railroad but soon transitioned into the grande enterprise of the French engineer Count Ferdinand de Lesseps. He had built the wondrous Suez Canal and planned for a similar sea-level canal through the Isthmus.

His investment company was founded in 1880, and de Lesseps purchased an exclusive right to build a canal from the government of Columbia. About 22,000 laborers died before the company failed in 1889. The French government also collapsed, and de Lesseps and his son Charles were each sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Fort Portobelo

The U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt dreamed of a 2-ocean navy and of American control of the seas. But the Columbian government refused to agree to U.S. terms even though the Americans had bought the French rights from Philippe Bunau-Varilla of the Compagnie Nouvelle, who owned the agreement with Columbia. The U.S. had paid $40 million for those rights, and Roosevelt intended to build his canal.

I took the Panama Canal! Teddy would brag later, but it was the combined genius of Chief Engineer John F. Stevens and Colonel William C. Gorgas, MD who made it happen. Stevens would resign in 1907 and be replaced by Colonel George W. Goethals, who saw the canal to completion.

The scale of the work was massive. It is difficult for me to process numbers in millions or metric tons, but when I stood on a small boat looking up at the Gaillard Cut where the Panama Canal passes through the Continental Divide, I was amazed that it was done in the early 1900s with only trucks, steam shovels and trains. On a typical day 160 trainloads of material were hauled away. Twice a day work stopped for blasting, and then the shovels moved in to take the loose dirt away. At times, 52,000 pounds of dynamite were used in a single blast.

The World's Largest
Floating Crane

The genius of the design required creating Gatun Lake at 85 feet above sea level and a series of canal locks to impound the water and to raise and lower shipping through the canal. The Chagres River and other watersheds feed the lake and provide the 1 million plus gallons of water required by each ship transiting the Panama Canal. There are no pumps to move the water. It is all gravity fed. The ships are propelled by their own power. Tugs and mules, the small electric engines along the locks, are used to position the vessels while in the locks.

Years ago I went through the locks on the Columbia River, and I was impressed. But they were babies compared to these monsters which have doors that weigh 662 tons and are 7 feet thick. The hinges alone weigh 16.7 tons each. The worlds largest floating crane was shipped to the canal so it could raise the lock gates for repair or replacement. It is stored in Balboa and looks like a giant red and white skyscraper with 4 dangling chains!

Fourteen thousand ships pass through the canal each year. The average fee paid to transit the canal is $90-120 thousand. The man who chose to swim the canal was charged less than $5.00, but no one crosses for free!

We cruised the Panama Canal in a small, air-conditioned boat with about 50 other passengers, enjoyed a brunch snack, a buffet lunch and the narration of our naturalist and historian, Jimmy. Our boat passed the Coral Princess, which dwarfed our much smaller boat, in the Miraflores locks. As we rose 50 feet, they lowered an equal height! We were accompanied through the canal by a classic old wooden boat of 1927 vintage originally built for Al Capone.

Jimmy told us about a superstition that any couple who touch the inside walls of a lock simultaneously will be bonded forever. I guess Judy is stuck with me!

We sailed under the Centennial Bridge, which reminded us of the Sundial Bridge in Redding. Water birds flew out of the jungle lining the canal banks, and I watched for caimens and alligators with no success.

Coral Princess Enters the
Locks at Miraflores

No, really! It happened!

Then something that could never happen on a large cruise ship happened. I was invited to come up to the wheel house and take control of the boat! It was only for a moment, but I have the picture to prove it!

Teddy Roosevelt was right! The world of commerce needs the Panama Canal. The U.S. no longer controls the Canal Zone. It was given back to the Panamanians on December 31, 1999. The transition was rocky but successful, and now Teddys Big Ditch provides jobs, income and opportunities for over 2 million Panamanians.

The canal is being expanded to allow passage of larger ships than the Panamex-class ships which barely fit through the locks now. The Panamanian government is also taking steps to control the deforestation which is affecting the watershed supply of water to the canal.

The Panama Canal remains an engineering masterpiece and a monument to the workers who died during its construction. Our transit took us about 5 hours, but it was the adventure of the day, and it was only day 2 of our 9 day tour.

Read more of our Panama adventures in future Diggers. Ever see a gold frog or a Harpy Eagle?!