Vacation Pics - Panama Canal

[Hoss]

First, I must pay tribute to TheBoss



Now some pics of the Panama Canal



The first pic is a map of the canal. Take about 8-10 hours to get through the whole thing.

next two pics show you the water at a low level, and then after filling the lock. It's a difference of about 30 feet.

Then a picture of one of the "gates" - they are 75 feet tall, what you see is about 40 feet, the rest is under water.

Final pic is an oil tanker that just finished getting through the locks.

I have more and will try to get them full size tomorrow.

Take care y'all!

Hoss.

[Colione]

Cool pics Man! I have to fight to get a weekend off never mind travel like that.

[Boss]

Gotta love that Jeep! I need IRONHEAD to fix me up!

Nice pictures Hoss! Water looks low indeed!

[Hoss]

Cool pics Man! I have to fight to get a weekend off never mind travel like that.

It was a 15 day cruise from LA through the Canal and ended in Florida...got back on Wed. Took my entire year of vacation, but was worth it.

[Hoss]

.... Water looks low indeed!

They can fill or empty the chamber in about 5 minutes. It's freakin' amazing when there is a huge oil tanker in there and the next thing you know the tanker is 30 feet lower and moving to the next lock....

Awesome!

[toorglide]

those locks n dams are an amazing engineering feat, i used to work the mississippi from new orleans to st. paul mn. .....was always my favorite leg of the trip, especially when we had to break the line up to get several barges through, sometimes it took days to get them all through and retethered and back on our way...alot of bikers work the river......at least they did back in the 80's

[95sportychick]

That's awesome, love to see it some day for sure!!

[MrMarty51]

I`d like to see "anything" besides the yellowstone one day.:gee

Nice too see them pics. for sure.

[StoneCrab]

That's pretty damn neat! Thanks for posting up.

[Ironhead]

sweet, I never understood lock systems. It was explained to me that they have to have them because the water level on one side is higher than that of the other.....
my thoughts, if you just get rid of the locks, the water would eventually level off itself between both sides wouldn't it? :)

[wndchsr]

Cool pictures.

[B-Man]

kewl pics, Hoss!!!

[Hoss]

sweet, I never understood lock systems. It was explained to me that they have to have them because the water level on one side is higher than that of the other.....
my thoughts, if you just get rid of the locks, the water would eventually level off itself between both sides wouldn't it? :)

OK Ironhead, I'll do my best to 'splain it (I saw it on TV during the cruise!!)

When you enter the canal you are at "sea level" and go through a series of 3 locks. You are elevated 85 feet.

You then go through an ~10 mile lake (it's the largest man made lake in the world - 37 cities were flooded to create it). The lake is above sea level. Without the locks, all the water in the lake would flow into the ocean and no more canal from ocean to ocean.

After the 10 miles, you go through another series of 3 locks that lowers you 85 feet, back to "sea level" and off you go!!

The land where the man made lake sits is above sea level - or else the oceans would have connected without having dug the canal - make sense?

[Hoss]

Here are some more pics from the vacation

First one is the "little mules" used to keep ships in the middle of the locs. Its a locomotive. It doesn't push or pull the ships, just keeps them from hitting the sides. Large ships require 8 locomotives. 2 on each side at the bow and 2 on each side at the stern.

The blue water is Aruba - beautiful beaches there. I don't have too many pics cuz I got drunk and forgot to take pictures while I was there. :drunk

Last pic is a salt water crocodile - look carefully.

The other pics just show the constant drudging of the canal 24/7/365 to keep it deep enough for the ships.

[Dixiecrat]

Looks like a great trip Hoss, What does a trip like that cost ?

[steveston]

Thanks for the cool Pics Hoss....engineering feat for sure...especially on such a large scale...

[Hoss]

Looks like a great trip Hoss, What does a trip like that cost ?

I paid ~$4300 for me and my wife (total) - plus the tab on the boat, which was another $1700