Panama Canal
From CruisersWiki
Lighthouse (Talk | contribs) |
Lighthouse (Talk | contribs) (→Personal Experience) |
||
| Line 40: | Line 40: | ||
===Personal Experience=== | ===Personal Experience=== | ||
| - | + | (posted 7th Sept. '07 by member "JohnT") | |
| + | I use an agent where a lot of cruisers do everything themselves and thus save quite a considerable amount of money. The reason for using an agent is time - we are undertaking a delivery and the quicker we can get through the canal the better. I used Stanley Scott and he is kept updated as to the date and time of our arrival in Colon. Within an hour of our arrival we have been measured by the Canal Admeasurer and the relevant documentation completed and our certificate issued. This was done at the Panama Canal Yacht Club, where after I motored across the bay to Shelter Bay Marina as there was no room at PCYC for us. Stanley took care of both our immigration, emigration, cruising permit (needed by all yachts irrelevant if cruising or not), Zarpe and other documentation. I include immigration in this as we have two South Africans on board needing visas for Panama. We are supposed to have the visas before arrival but Stanley has a friend who "disregards" this requirement for, I am sure, a small fee, and just stamps our passports. | ||
| + | |||
| + | So, the cost to us was $1254.00, which included our transit fee, agent fee, immigration, emigration, cruising permit, Zarpe, one line handler with 4 lines and 6 tyres for fenders, two visas and an overtime fee of $20.00 as we arrived on Monday which was declared a public holiday to celebrate the start of work on the new deep-water locking system they want to complete by 2014. We did not pay a deposit of $850 which a cruiser would pay if they were doing all the running around themselves. | ||
| + | |||
| + | We arrived on Monday and started our transit on Wednesday, completing it on Thursday. Other cruisers I spoke to at Shelter Bay, who had done all the running around themselves, told me that they had been waiting for over a week for a transit and could not understand how we get to transit before them - all I can say is that I am sure some third world under-counter exchanges are made to "make things happen". | ||
| + | __________________________________________________________________ | ||
Revision as of 14:35, 19 September 2007
PANAMA CANAL
Background/History
Submit information here.
Canal Authority
Details & contact info.
Radio Nets & Comms
Submit details of HF/SSB Radio Nets and VHF call/operating channels.
Canal & Locks
Submit description of the canal and locks.
Documentation Required
Submit information on the documentation required by yachts for transit.
Preparation of Vessel for Transit
How should the vessel be prepared for transit?
Current Transit Costs
Submit latest costs for transit (quote date)
Agents
Details of agents and costs.
Marinas & Anchorages (East)
Details for east entry/exit
Marinas & Anchorages (West)
Details for west entry/exit
Forum Discussions
Links to relevant discussion threads on the Cruiser Log Forum
References
Books, etc.
External Links
Links to websites offering information on the Canal.
Personal Experience
(posted 7th Sept. '07 by member "JohnT") I use an agent where a lot of cruisers do everything themselves and thus save quite a considerable amount of money. The reason for using an agent is time - we are undertaking a delivery and the quicker we can get through the canal the better. I used Stanley Scott and he is kept updated as to the date and time of our arrival in Colon. Within an hour of our arrival we have been measured by the Canal Admeasurer and the relevant documentation completed and our certificate issued. This was done at the Panama Canal Yacht Club, where after I motored across the bay to Shelter Bay Marina as there was no room at PCYC for us. Stanley took care of both our immigration, emigration, cruising permit (needed by all yachts irrelevant if cruising or not), Zarpe and other documentation. I include immigration in this as we have two South Africans on board needing visas for Panama. We are supposed to have the visas before arrival but Stanley has a friend who "disregards" this requirement for, I am sure, a small fee, and just stamps our passports.
So, the cost to us was $1254.00, which included our transit fee, agent fee, immigration, emigration, cruising permit, Zarpe, one line handler with 4 lines and 6 tyres for fenders, two visas and an overtime fee of $20.00 as we arrived on Monday which was declared a public holiday to celebrate the start of work on the new deep-water locking system they want to complete by 2014. We did not pay a deposit of $850 which a cruiser would pay if they were doing all the running around themselves.
We arrived on Monday and started our transit on Wednesday, completing it on Thursday. Other cruisers I spoke to at Shelter Bay, who had done all the running around themselves, told me that they had been waiting for over a week for a transit and could not understand how we get to transit before them - all I can say is that I am sure some third world under-counter exchanges are made to "make things happen". __________________________________________________________________
