03/13/2006 - Balboa Yacht Club

Hello Everybody, we are in Balboa anxiously waiting our transit of the Panama Canal which is set for March 21st. Our view from the boat is of the big tankers coming and going through the canal zone. These big monsters have to pay around $30,000 for their transit compared to the $1,000 fee that a small yacht such as our own has to pay. The huge passenger ships have to pay up to $150,000 in excess of that. The canal averages 30 of these huge ships a day. That´s an easy $1 million per day! Wow! The transit takes a minimum of 7 hours, but if you have any delays or have to overnight in Lake Gatun, it could take 24 hours or more. To see a live web cam of the canal, click on www.pancanal.com

We are on a mooring which is located smack dab underneath the Bridge of Americas.


The club has a 24 hour launch service which provides us with transporation from our boat to the dock and back. Showers, restaurant, free wireless internet, water and fuel for the boat are all at the yacht club. Taxis are nearby so we can provision for the next leg of the trip and marine stores and hardware stores and shopping malls are plentiful. Panama City is huge!

Adios, Cathy, email to cathyannpruette@yahoo.com