I hope someone is replicating what William B. Van Ingen did a century ago. I’ve never heard of him before, but I like this sentiment of his related to the murals he did showing the construction of the Canal a century ago: “[a]ny success the paintings may have had, came, I believe, from an endeavor to see with the eyes of the man in the ditch.” Oh for what access he must have had. Getting access I know takes time. Hmmmm . . .
What I’ve seen so far, mariners transiting the Canal seem to love it . . . they wave and laugh and take fotos of local flora and fauna!
Especially fauna. All us folks along the Canal must be fascinating, and I check around and no one has indecently
exposed themselves, so it must be the sheer joy of seeing
a crowd that draws out the inner performer
in a mariner. This link for the Visitor Center provides lots of further links for Canal info.
For south-bound mariners, this is the end of the near-
encounter with crowds.
Some crews locking through, like that on D. P. McAuliffe (ex-Victoria, 1990, built in Houma, LA at Houma Fabricators), have to work
But for many mariners, passing the locks must be the closest thing to shore leave they get.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
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March 15, 2012 at 9:17 am
bowsprite
the ships are scrubbed down, suits all pressed…they seemed to be waiting for the audience: US! via your camera!
March 15, 2012 at 12:54 pm
doryman
It’s a party!
When I was last through the Canal, the US was about to hand over ownership. The occasional dampener on the frivolity was the American gun boat patrols, locked and loaded. The US military had recently blown apart a fine old neighborhood in Panama City and there were armed guards everywhere. In Colon we were warned to not leave the walled marina alone.
Old military dormitories were for sale for a song, wish I’d bought one. What a beautiful place!
michael
March 15, 2012 at 2:55 pm
mikoyan29
That looks alot warmer than the locks I’m gonna visit next week.