Panama Canal

[John Arton]

Watching very interesting program on Nat Geo called Panama Canal Revealed which shows how it operates etc. and is all about how it was built and the new canal locks that are being built to increase the traffic numbers.
Interestingly the biggest canal built before Panama and Suez was the Manchester Ship Canal and there was some interesting insights into its building. For example the engineer in charge basically invented the bucket dredger to get the job done in time and when the canal flooded half way through its building he invented the floating bucket dredger.
Prog. is well worth looking at though do not know when it will be repeated.
rgds
Capt. John Arton (ret'd)

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Cap't John.
Going through the Panama Canal was probably one of the highlights of my life at sea. I was amazed at the engineering and the seemingly easy [to a country boy] way they lifted thousands of tons of shipping more or less over a mountain. There was a video on site of ships passing through the canal but I was unable to play them, I will have to try again.
Cheers Des

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[John Albert Evans]

John

Ive been through the Panama Canal a few times. A lot of people think thats its a straight line built canal like the ones we have in this country and not as it actually is. I took a picture of that big memorial carving in the rock, on my Kodak Brownie 8 pics per roll of film ,my how cameras have chamged, (Still got it somewhere the picture not the camera, i took in in the late 1950s.) i think it depicted the place where the both sides met when they were building it.
I'll look out for the program on Discovery as its bound to be repeated.

JAE

[Les Woodard]

It sure is a great sight to see and like many have been through it a few times. What amazes me about the Panama Canal and other structures of that decade is the forethought that went into the planning. For them to be still viable with todays larger ships and numbers. Could you see any governments of today designing and building something that would cope with future traffic in years to come. Just glad that they where not around when these ideas where activated on otherwise they would still be forming commitees to look into it all LOL.

[Frederick Lacey]

My amusing memories of going through the Canal are getting the first timers to save up all the stale bread to feed the Mules as we went through,

only to find they were trams to guide us through the locks, their faces were a picture, good times.

Fred.

[John Albert Evans]

I must confess that I was one of them as well, it when I was Galley Boy.[CENTER]

JAE

[John Arton]

Went through Panama quite a few times. As a cadet on the forest product ships I cannot remember much of the transit as I was always hung over, reason...we always bunkered in the Cristobal end, arriving always at 1800 and sailing 0600 the next morning. Due to the nature of the ships construction we were restricted to daylight transits only so always had a night on the pizz in Christobal and ended up staggering back at 0500 just prior to sailing.
Later went through on various other ships including Panamax bulkers and was able to marvel at the engineering feat of it all.
As for foresight, the guys who designed and built the MSC had tremendous foresight when you think it was built in the sailing ship era with steam just coming in and today can take ships that would have been considered impossible to build that big in the days when the canal was designed.
I always enjoyed the MSC as it basically the birth place of the industrial revolution to gether with the chemical industry. The swing bridges are still operated by the original water powered hydraulics and the Anderson lift has been restored and is some feat of engineering. That plus being able to perv into bedrooms of houses lining the canal around the Chester Road, in one a very smart young lass alwyas appeared naked at her bedroom window if you were passing around 0700 when she arose from her slumbers.
rgds
John A

[Jim Brady]

Who remembers passing some place where it had a sign which said a name with U.S Penitentiary, we always believed it was an underground prison but now I imagine it was just the grounds of a prison.It was always a night in Cristobel (was it the Dog House ) and then an early morning start through the canal.As Pantryman I had a right work up as it was cold meals right through,the galley was closed down as it was supposed to be to hot to work.In PSNC you had to use your imagination and come up with different salads and cold meats etc,what was the cold jelly soup called the name escapes me for the moment,was it Consome Royal or something like that.Happy days I would'nt have missed it!!!
Regards.
Jim.B.

P.S. what was that tape measure they gave out where you measured your penis with it and got some answer about yourself? (that was in the Doghouse???)

[Ivan Cloherty]

Must have had a different apprenticeship to most of us oldies John in the 1950's. No way any of us cadets in PSNC would have been allowed to sleep in, just the opposite, went we weren't on "Stations" then we were on hoses in Gatun lake washing the ship from truck to keel (Metaphorically) and stem to stern and if time permitted all carpets were taken from cabins, including passengers and washed with water from this fresh water lake. Really high pressure on the hoses to get as far up the masts and funnel to get rid of all the salt gained on passage, saved soogying and the ship was ready for painting. Those crew (not cadets) not on duty went swimming whilst at anchor in the lake with some diving off the wing of the bridge (never sailed with a master who objected to this) some performed really good dives of Olympian standard, most just jumped.

Last sailed thro in the 1960's did numerous transits and it never failed to entrance, would like to do it again before I sail off into that ocean sky. Sailed with some deepsea men who had never been through it in 40 plus years at sea, what an experience they missed.

Rgds Ivan

[Kenneth Kenny]

Went through P/M Canal on the Pizarro,Santander,P.S.N.C.ships,in the M/N.The greatest was as a passenger on the Adonia ex Sea Princess six years ago with the Wife,any exseaman should if they get the chance go for it.what a life.Ken.