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belizesailor · 20-04-2022, 08:15

It normally takes 8 hours or more, not including an optional overnight stop in Lake Gatun, to transit the Panama Canal in a "small vessel" like Good Karma (a Lagoon 38). Virtually transit the Panama Canal in about 5 minutes by watching this time lapse video!

Small vessels are routed thru the old canal locks, not the newer expanded locks. It is a marvel to watch these over 100 year old locks in operation. The old locks are essentially the same as they were over 100 years ago with only a few modifications.

When transiting from the Atlantic to the Pacific (North to South), the lock system first raises the vessel about 34 meters total to the level of Lake Gatun. After crossing Lake Gatun the vessel enters the Pacific side locks and is lowered down to sea level on the Pacific side. Sea level on the Pacific side can vary quite a lot due to large tidal height changes on the Pacific side (up to about 22 feet!).

The image below shows a cross section view of the Panama Canal lock system.

To watch the timelapse video click the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0ue85z7r76...20328.mp4?dl=0

Note: I have limited editing tools on my mobile devices, so the timelapse is a bit clunky. I may create a better version after I return home to more sophisticated tools on my PC. Example: I shot the first 30 seconds at the wrong frame rate so it is not very smooth. After the first 30 seconds it is much smoother.