Home » Panama » DYED IN THE WOOL - AND THE 15 CAN TRANSIT…

Or is that……died in the wool…..some kinky kiwi sexual asphyxiation fetish….and what inspired that thought?…..I'm just recovering from the 15 can transit, yes, I’ve pulled it off, right thru’ the far canal in a yacht!

Where were we?…..I think leaving Bogota was last up, I’m still trying to summarise the last 6 months in south America, so hard to get my thoughts aligned, so much was there.

DYED IN THE WOOL - AND THE 15 CAN TRANSIT…

Bill Shum
2006-08-21 17:16:49

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looped around the backside of the car tanker easing her into place, these little trains come in at $2 million each!, there are lots of them, but something like 40 big ships go thru’ each day (24/7/365) at an average of $200,000 or was it 400,000? Now I’m confused, but a sh*t-load of money whatever….and we are like little acorn boats, dwarfed by this monster, I can see crew members on it, way above, and people on the observation deck of the Miraflores Locks, where I had stood 6 months ago, wishing I could be down here, fantastic.

There’s a fascinating contrast between the highest-tech equipment, ships, trains, modern buildings etc and the locks themselves, down where we are, the sides are something like 40 feet above us, the walls are more like Aztec or mayan ruinas, and they are a hundred years old, this is exactly the same wall since inception, the scars and scrapes from thousands of ships, like ancient runes, Aztec syntax, old rusty ladders set into the walls, great hooks and bollocks indented, many never used any more….we have snugged up against the other yacht which, in turn, has tied itself to the tug so we don’t need the long lines, easy bub, then the doors start to close, this is something out of George Lucas’ brain, dark and foreboding, absolutely mediaeval, monstrous steel structures, soundless altho’ I reckon I can hear an ominous grinding and rumbling, gigantic cogs and turnscrews cranking, glinting brassy colours on higher wear parts, huge rivet heads accentuate the strength……apart from the black, shiny hydraulic piston (one of the few modern additions in sight), this is exactly the scene as 100 years ago, down here in the depths, its darker as the doors seal, it’s a long way to the top, then the water starts slowly rising, gently, gently, then faster, the flood gates are opened, the water is boiling and swirling around us, I wouldn’t want to fall in here!….gradually the horizons extend, we come level ...