Tall Sailboats Transiting the Panama Canal

Several months ago, I received an interesting e-mail from a Lingua Franca reader advising that there would be a unusual gathering of tall sailboats at the entrance of the Panama Canal.  They were a special fleet of large sailboats celebrating an international bicentennial event in remembrance of  the  Spanish Colonial era of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries.

This is what she wrote:

“Velas Sud America 2010”,  is an international bicentennial celebration event in remembrance of  the  Spanish Colonial era of discovery in the 15 and 16 centuries  Tall ships sailing around America, each of them representing a different nation.

The epic journey  started on February 7 when the ships left port in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ships are among the largest tall ships in the world, their crews totaling around 1,000 sailors.

The organizers of the event, The Chilean and Argentinean Armada, led by Commander in chief of the Chilean Navy,  Admiral Edmund Gonzáles Robles, and Admiral George Omar Godoy.   The tall ships will make a short visit to Panama on their route,  and are expected to transit the Panama Canal from May 12-13. They will continue with a five months voyage via Cartagena,Colombia, to finish at Port Veracruz, Mexico between June 23-26.

Even though they won’t dock in Panama upon arrival, you can still get a chance to see them anchored in the bay waiting to make their entrance to the Panama Canal.

Velas Sud America is America’s most important nautical event and one of the biggest internationally. When Latin America unites for 136 days to celebrate independence as the ships travel the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, including what in the days of sail was the “notorious” Cape Horn  southernmost point of South America and the feared route before the building of the Panama Canal.”

I booked a tour to photograph the gathering of the sailboats at the Balboa Anchorage, but when I got to the piers at Amador, I found out the tour had been canceled due to rough weather.  However, I was lucky that some of the sailboats were on their way to transit Miraflores Locks.

Immediately I rushed over to the Miraflores Locks, about three miles from where I was, and lo and behold, there were two sailboats making the transit to the Atlantic Ocean.  Below are some of the pictures I shot that rainy morning.  It was a most impressive sight.

Photograph of a large Brazilian sailboat transiting through the Miraflores Locks at the Panama Canal. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

A closer view of a tall sailboat inside the chamber of Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

This pictures shows two sailboats inside a chamber of Miraflores Locks at the Panama Canal on the Pacific Side. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Notice the locomotive assisting the vessel inside the chamber. Their role is to keep the vessels in the middle of the chamber and avoid scraping the cement walls of the chamber. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

A transit from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean takes about eight to ten hours.  Night transits are the best due to the cool breeze and the reflection of the canal lights on the surface of the channel’s waters.  The Panama Canal is the place to be.  Good Day.

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