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Panama Canal Inspection and Ad Measure

Transiting the Panama Canal is a once in a lifetime experience. But it is also expensive, requires a Panama Canal Inspection with a lot of paperwork, and can be dangerous for your boat. We spoke to many cruisers, did a lot of research, and changed our minds several times before we decided to transit the canal and leave the Atlantic ocean. It is a big decision as very few boats come back to the Atlantic (there is no easy way to return).

Once you decide to transit the canal, you have to decide whether or not to hire an agent. After interviewing 5 agents, we decided to go with Erick Galvez. An agent can guarantee your bond so you do not have to put an $800 deposit down, will assist with all of the paperwork, schedule the inspection and ad measure, provide fenders and lines (required for transit), and be your advocate. Various agents charge different amounts, but Erick charges $350 and for us it is well worth it. He has been exceedingly responsive, professional, and helpful in all of his communications. See below for transit costs.

The first thing you need to do is submit a pertinent information on your boat to get a “Ship ID.” This includes boat specifications, speed under motor, and the last 10 ports you have visited. We submitted that information to Erick and a few days later he provided us with our Ship ID number – we are official.

After you receive your Ship ID you need to be inspected and measured (which is called “Ad measure”). In order to get your Panama Canal inspection you need to be in Shelter Bay Marina or the flats so the Panama Canal agent can board the boat. The flats are used as a staging area for boats preparing to transit the canal and the holding is not very good. So, we decided to go to Shelter Bay Marina.

Within an hour of arrival, Erick stopped by our boat to introduce himself. He went over a few basics for the inspection and instructed us on what to request for positioning during the transit.

The inspector arrived the next day and went through various documents. He asked us where we wanted to be located in the transit – we asked for “center chamber”. You don’t want to be near the sidewall as you could damage your mast. He asked if we wanted to tied to a tug and we held firm on the negative as the rub rail from the tug could damage our life lines and stanchions. He asked if we wanted to be nested and we said “sure.” Typically, they will put a catamaran in the middle and tie a monohull on either side. Great for us as we are protected in the center and are the power for controlling movement of all nested vessels.

He asked some interesting questions:

How much fuel will we have during the transit? (full tanks)
How fast can you go under motor? (6-7 knots is our comfort speed)
What RPM are you at to make that speed? (2k-2400)
How much fuel would you consume in 24 hours at that RPM? (192 liters or 50 gal)

Reviewing paper work with Panama Canal Inspector

The inspector reviews the process for transiting the Panama Canal. The day before the transit date, our agent will drop off our rented fenders and lines and the Canal authority will schedule our transit time. Typically, transits from Atlantic to the Pacific start at 1600 (and 0400 from Pacific to Atlantic).

An adviser boards every boat to assist with the transit and it is our responsibility to provide him with hot meals, water, and a working head (toilet). So, the inspector checked our bathrooms to ensure they were suitable. He also wanted to hear our handheld horn to ensure we had a way to communicate a warning.

Then it was time to measure the boat. He takes out a giant tape measure and while Matt holds one end at the bow he walks to the stern and says “49.7 feet do you agree?” What! No way, we are a 47 catamaran with no bow sprit, and nothing sticking off the sterns (the davits and dinghy do not pass the sugar scoops). He measured the slope down the stairs. The reason I am flipping out is because the transit cost jumps $500+ if you hit 50′ in length. But, he corrected it once on the dock and came back with 46.9′ which made me beam from ear to ear!

Ad measure for Panama Canal Transit

Our inspector does some more calculations to complete the paperwork:

Inspector calculations

And we are handed our official SHIP ID, Panama Canal Transit pamphlet and lockage request.

Official Panama Canal Inspection Complete

Panama Canal inspection complete. Job well done! We successfully completed the inspection, ad measure and paperwork and have a transit date of 6 March 2018. We specifically scheduled it a month out so we could have our friends fly in from the United States to transit the Panama Canal with us.

Successful inspection and ad measure.

Added notes:

Typical scheduling time from inspection to transit is 4-6 days, but with this busy season it is 2-3 weeks.
We over compensated and asked for a date 4 weeks out to ensure our guests had plenty of time to travel to Panama.

Busiest time of the year to transit:

We came into SBM just as the ARC (Atlantic Rally Crossing) of 38 boats completed their transit.
Carnival is scheduled to start in a few days and Panama will shut down for the 4 day celebration

Panama Canal Expenses: $1,504.00

$800.00 Transit fee for boats 49′ and under (50′-80′ cost is $1300)
$350.00 Agent fee
$ 54.00 Transit inspection
$130.00 Transit security fee
$ 75.00 Fender and line rental (real fenders and not tires covered with trash bags)
$ 60.00 Bank fees
$ 35.00 Check out fee
The above does not include the marina fees for 8-9 days (approx. $1k), fuel, extra food/beverages to feed line handlers, stay at Balboa Yacht Club on the other side ($500)

Sailing from San Blas to Colon

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Parting is such sweet sorrow, especially when you are leaving the San Blas islands. We have thoroughly enjoyed spending the last few months exploring this amazing and beautiful island chain but it is time to head to Colon. The overall sail to Colon is about 80 miles and we decided to break it up into two days.

The first day we sailed to Portobello which was 58 miles. It was a lovely day, bright, blue sky, 2-3 meter waves, 20-25 knots of wind, beam reach. We hoisted our main to one reef, rolled out the jib to 1 reef and were on our way. It was lovely and so peaceful. After about four hours, the wind dropped to 15-20 knots so we unfurled the jib. We averaged 7.1 knots in speed, but with a few good waves we had a max speed of 11.3 which was fabulously fun.

Portobello has many derelict boats afloat and over 6 semi-sunk yachts so it is a bit unnerving trying to find a place to drop the hook. Especially because there are not that many shallow spots, most of the anchorage is 10+ meters deep. We drove around a bit, attempted to stick the hook several times before finally dropping next to our friends on “Heritage” in 11 meters of water. After we dropped 90 meters of chain, we headed in to shore.

On the way into town, we passed our friends on “KDans“. We had seen this boat in Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba but we had never officially met them in person. We swung by, they invited us up for a chat and they mentioned they had seen us in St. Maarten and the BVI. Small world. Super nice people. Unfortunately, they had been struck by lightening the week prior and had to be hauled out in Linton Bay to do repairs. They told us that 5 boats had been struck by lightening which is frightening. We heard of a boat being hit in the San Blas as well. Always a fear as you lose all of your electronics, fridge, freezer, depth, autopilot, GPS, everything.

The last time we were in Portobello, I stopped by Iglesia de San Felipe where the Negro Christo is located. The church was closed, but it still demanded your awe as you passed by.

Iglesia de San Felipe

However, the first time I visited I was not able to buy rosary beads so I wanted to go back to purchase one. The rosary beads are special here because they are purple (see post on Portobello).

Purple rosary beads from Iglesia de San Felipe

We grabbed some dinner and on our way back to the dinghy dock, ran into an English speaking family from a boat called “Gallivant.” We chatted briefly with them and determined we would see them in Shelter Bay as we were both heading that way.

The next day we headed to Shelter Bay in Colon. We enjoyed a leisurely morning as the sail was only 20 miles away. Now, which sails to put up? With winds blowing 15-18 knots, 2 meter seas and a wind direction of 140-160. The jib was unfurled completely for the first 30 minutes and determined that we could throw the spinnaker up. Sweet!

Transition with the spin up and just before we took the jib down.

Flying the jib as we hoisted the small spinnaker.

We made excellent time, making 20 miles in a few hours, average speed 7.1, max speed 10.7. Our friends on “Una Mas” left from another bay when passed them. We hailed them on the radio and told them we’d meet them at the marina.

Matt got lucky and caught a large yellow fin tuna which made for several yummy meals.

As you enter Colon you immediately start to see many huge container ships, cargo boats, and large vessels that have just transited the canal or are staging to go through.

Cargo Ships, Shipping Containers and large Vessels outside of breakwater.

The shore is peppered with huge cranes to offload cargo.

Cranes off the coast of Colon, Panama

Continuing on through Colon, you come upon the breakwater where you enter for the Panama Canal and Shelter Bay Marina. We were given strict instructions on how to proceed through the breakwater to avoid the big ships and keep Sugar Shack safe. We hailed the Canal authorities 8 miles out that we were in transit to Shelter Bay and then again at 2 miles out. Upon entering the breakwater, we hailed Shelter Bay to notify them of our pending arrival.

Panama Canal Entrance – breakwater.

I took this image from the internet (owner unknown) but it showed the entrance to the breakwater (see green and red circles at top center). Then we followed the green diagonal line (toward left lower corner) and to the brown circle with the red arrow which is Shelter Bay Marina.

Entrance to Panama Canal breakwater.

The dock master asked us to head to the T-head on C-Dock. Luckily for us, the marina had provided a map of the breakwater channel and a map of the marina so we knew exactly where we were going. You enter passing the large ship dock (slanted dock lower right) and we are at the end of the next dock. Not in the image as this was take before we got there.

Shelter Bay Marina. Photo courtesy of charterworld.com

As you enter the marina channel it appears really narrow as it is shallow mangrove area to the left and boats/docks to the right. Matt had to turn Sugar Shack around and head in stern first so that the port side of the boat would be on the dock.

With a little help from the marina and another cruiser, we arrived with no issues.

Sugar Shack docked at Shelter Bay Marina

Did you note the beautiful fender covers?

Dressing Up Our Fenders

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Every boat has fenders, so what makes them special? Sugar Shack came with lots of fenders – really big ones! It’s always good to have solid fenders and the bigger the better. Fenders are used when entering a marina, pulling up to a dock, and any time you need protection for your boat. We’ve pulled them out when a boat was dragging and coming down on us, we’ve used them for fun and games (think “wrecking ball” when you see image below).

Wrecking Ball on the Seas.

In San Blas, we have 3 fenders out on the side of the boat so the pangas, ulus and dugouts don’t damage our boat when they come to sell us fruits, veggies, lobster, and molas.

The fenders have been working great and have protected our hulls from many potential impacts. However, as the fenders get used, they get dirty. When they are dirty, they transfer that dirt and other marks onto the hulls. Which sucks. So, we have been meaning to do fender covers for a very long time. Matt purchased and brought 50’ of blue fleece over 6 years ago along with two more large fenders. The felt has sat under our master bed ever since.

Until, I got a bug up my butt and decided to do something about it! Matt and I worked on several patterns for the A4 fender which are giant balls (well, funny shaped balls). We have 4-A4’s and 1-A5. Many months ago, we tried our hand at making a fender cover using old sunbrella for the A5. And, although it works, it is hideous.

A5 ugly fender cover attempt #1

We learned several things, sunbrella sucks as a fender cover, and our measurements were way off. So, the key was in the pattern. We made several patterns using shower curtains. They are cheap, easy to draw on, cut quickly, can be stapled, and gently manhandled into a form. Unfortunately, it took us a few tries to get what we thought was a decent pattern. We wrapped it around our A4 and then went to work with the fabric.

First, tracing the pattern on the fabric. Traced the larger pattern which has the ½” hem and then traced the actual panel inside.

After cutting the fabric, we sowed the panels side to side forming a giant circle. Then the top and bottom hems were sewed. We placed the cover, inside out over the ball. It was close, worked, but not tight enough. So, we pinned each seam making the cover form fitting, took it off, sewed it up and voila.

A4 Pattern and final product.

Since the first one was so big, we decided to make a new, smaller pattern. Each ball has 6 panels and there are 4 balls. With each fender, the covers got better and better. The 4^th ball is on the side of the boat for the pangas.

Once the hard covers are done, we moved on to the “easy” F4s which are tubes for lack of a better description. Super easy.

We cut 28”x27” piece of fabric (almost a square), hemmed the top and bottom. Then we wrapped it on the fender, inside out so we could pin the final edge.

Gently scoot the fabric off without popping the pins, then sew her up. You want them to fit like a glove so that they don’t slip off during use. Once the cover was completed, we had to squeeze it over the fender – it was very much like putting something on over something unmentionable….

F4 Covers Complete

The four A4s and eight F4s look great and are now well protected. The only unfortunate thing is that we ran out of fabric before I could cover the last remaining A5 which happens to be the largest fender and the one we use the most ☹

Instead of enduring the ugly A5 with dirty sunbrella, I decided to use blue sunbrella scraps to make a new A5 cover. It would not be the same as the others, but it will be closer in color and look a lot better – or so I had hoped.

The sunbrella fabric is not as forgiving as the fleece and does not “mold” to the round shape of the fender well. However, I was determined. I did my measurements, added 2” and went to work. Cut out 6 panels, pinned then sewed the sides and tried her on. Hmph….too short, it did not reach all the way around. No problem, I added another panel. Tried again and it fit all the way around. Good news. I sewed the top and bottom hem, turned it inside out to try on again, and YUCK.

Matt jumped in as I was on the verge of panic and adjusted it a little. Several side seams needed to be taken in and then it looked rather good. But, in order to take in the side seams I had to take out the top and bottom seams (for Pete’s sake!). So, I removed the top and bottom seams, sewed my new side seams, resewed the top and bottom seams and it is what it is.

A5 Complete

Boat project: Fender covers complete!

Completed fender covers.

Useful, yet unusual helpful sewing items:

Shower curtains for patterns
Chalk for outline
Binder clips to hold material

The Adventures of Sugar Shack

– Sailing Aboard a Catana 471

Tag Archives: living on a boat