HOW THE PANAMA TRANSIT IS GETTING EASIER

Transiting the Panama canal was an epic milestone for Andy and Julie Pag. It required practical seamanship, bureaucratic navigation and help from onboard guests

The journey started two months before our transit date, logging on to the website of the canal's Small Craft Service, ASEM, to register the boat, and request a transit date. I wanted to be sure we reserved a specific date as we had guests joining us for the transit and their schedule didn't give us much flexibility. The website requires you to upload photos of your boat from various angles. It's glitchy and slow and I had to make a few calls to the helpline to get it to work.

In some ways the site was harder to navigate than the canal itself.

In the past, the only option to pay for the trip was depositing a chunk of cash at a bank in a sketchy neighborhood of Colón, with expensive ATM fees. It is now possible to do it by bank transfer, but because many retail banks have restrictions on sending money to Panama, ASEM provide details for a bouncing money transfer which routes money via New York.

I found a simpler and cheaper way was to use my Wise account, an online bank and exchange service, that can transfer cash directly to the Panamanian account. ASEM don't publish the full details of this account, and getting it took a few more calls. The cost of the transit is just over $3,000 USD for any boat under 65ft. However, you get about $1,000 back two months later if you don't cause any delays or need assistance in the canal. The new system means there's very little reason to use an agent anymore.

Once paid up, we uploaded the receipt to the website and the next day called the scheduling department to confirm our date.

READY AND WAITING

A few days before the transit we arrived in Shelter Bay Marina to prep for the journey. There's an anchorage just outside called The Flats but in practical terms the marina charge so much for mooring a dinghy and picking up passengers that it's a false economy not to come in for at least one or two days despite their high prices.