LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN

Post was interrupted by break in internet connection
WE’RE IN THE GATUN LOCKS
I heard Ed get up about 8 am and begin shaving. Then the tooth brush. I opened the windows to see the Panamanian countryside with it’s lush jungle rain forest. The local naturalist is giving a narrative on channel 46 where the web cam from the front of the ship is shown. He’s doing a good job of giving info with tidbits and explaining what’s happening. Ed left about 9 to go to the gym and I decided to take some photos. As soon as you open the patio door, the humidity whomps at you. The camera fogged over and so I left it to equilibrate with the ambient environment.
The Panama Canal opened in 1914 and is the only place in the world where the pilot takes over command of the vessel from the Captain. The pilot issues commands to the mules (little trains that provide some of the power needed to move the ship in this narrow canal) via one way radio and the mules respond with whistles. The water rises in the locks at a rate of 2’ per minute.
Cabin temps
We have kept our cabin thermostat at the lowest reading and haven’t felt cold. We must keep the windows closed during much of the day or the heat burden becomes too much for the system.
I’m going to see if I can embed some photos into these entries. I know that my uploads of photos to picasa are working because I can see them myself but they are not linking to the blog page.
We are now exiting our last lock and are advancing onto Lake Gatun. The container vessel in the lock adjacent to ours has only a 2 ‘ clearance on each side of the Lake. There are flags put onto the ships that tell which direction it is going, that there is a Panama Canal pilot on board, and the number of your ship.