Finally went through the Panama Canal yesterday...

tabbyplague® · 2023-02-12T20:54:33.551Z

I spent quite a bit of time in Panama in my military career (Panama City and outlying areas) and had toured the Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side but had never transited the canal until yesterday. I gotta say it was a pretty cool experience to watch this marvel of engineering at work from the deck of a boat...

tabbyplague®

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Re: I count 2 old farts front right with sideways caps on

Feb 12, 2023, 8:57 PM

Naw - I think those are just two older dudes whose shaky hands probably have trouble putting their hats on straight.... About the only "gang banging" going on this ship is the fat old lady on a mobility scooter who lost control and about ran over some poor old man who could barely stand upright with his walker.

So far during this trip we've had two obese geriatrics, who must have over exerted themselves at the Lido buffet, keel over in the middle of the crowded dining area and had to be carted off the ship on a stretcher by the poor undersized Indonesian waiters. Looked like a bunch of ants carting off a 75 year old over-stuffed sausage... At least those old folks passed out while in port at Curacao and not Panama - I've seen Panama's public medical system in action and brother you don't want a slice of that "heaven"...

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In front of us is the first of two locks that would raise us up to eventually enter Lake Gatun. Notice the lock doors are closed with the water level raised for the big Japanese freighter (and a couple of sailboat strap-hangers) in front of us.

There are railroad tracks on both sides of the lock where locomotive "mules" take cable lines from the ships in order to keep the ships centered in the lock. Our ship (Eurodam) had only 2 feet of clearance between each side of the ships hull and the lock - those mules kept the ship centered so we didn't scrape the sides of the lock. The ships move through the lock on their own propulsion (mules do not pull the ships forward) with the mules matching the ships speed.

I’ve thought about a trip to Panama City before

Re: Finally went through the Panama Canal yesterday...

Yes - on the old fart cruise line: Holland America***

I count 2 old farts front right with sideways caps on

Re: I count 2 old farts front right with sideways caps on

My in laws and old lady left today on a Celebrity Eastern Caribbean cruise

That makes me wanna reach down, ’tween my legs,

Re: Finally went through the Panama Canal yesterday...

We are entering the Gatun Lock (Atlantic Ocean Side)

Re: We are entering the Gatun Lock (Atlantic Ocean Side)

USS Caron DD-970

That's my birth month

That thing was slimy . . . I've been in it.***

I was 9lbs and had shoulders like Kevin Mchale

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