Page 32 of The Hitchhiker in Panama
Eivind chuckled. “Actually, the boat will pass you a loop, just like we will pass to the tugboat. So you just have to feed the line under the lifelines and put the loop around the cleat. It is really easy.”
“Oh.” My shoulders slumped in relief. “That is easy. Okay.”
“Plus, once my line is done, I will come over and help you.”
Manny called out from the cockpit. “That’s the big ship going in with you.”
A cargo ship came in from the ocean. One tugboat was in front of it and another behind.
Nervousness forgotten, I gasped. “Oh my God. It’s finally happening!” I grabbed Eivind’s arm and shook it. He laughed. We watched the ship pass by, listening to the engines of the tugboats and watching the army of crew on the decks going about their jobs.
Jonas called out to us. “Time to go!”
Fifteen
Eivind took off for the bow again, and I went with him to watch him work. When Jonas gave the signal, Eivind grabbed a remote from the locker underneath us. He pressed a button, and the chain started to retract into the boat. The clacking was the links of the chain hitting the crank.
Jonas and Eivind raised the anchor, and we motored toward the canal.
I stayed out of the way while the big fenders were moved to the port side of the boat. Soon we approached the huge concrete gates and entered the first lock that would lift us up. We got to our stations, with me in the starboard stern, close to Jonas. Eivind waited across from me, on the port side.
My heart pounded as Eivind and then Elayna threw the lines to the tugboat. Then Eivind pulled on his line, wrestlingEikcloser. He strained, biceps bulging and causing my heart to stutter.
“Eivind!” Jonas called. “Cleat off!”
Eivind wrapped the line around the cleat and secured it. He walked forward to where Elayna was still pulling her line in.
“Gently,” Manny said to Jonas.
Together, Elayna and Eivind pulledEikinto place and tied her off. Jonas and Manny walked the side, checking fenders and lines before Manny radioed in for the next boat.
Eivind joined me, and we watchedStarry Horizonsenter the canal.The boat approached us from behind, pulling up close.
It wasn’t so much a throw as a pass. Amy swung the line toward me while the boats were less than a meter apart. I pulled the loop outside the lifelines and hooked it onto the cleat. Amy took up the slack and pulled it tight. The boat slid toward us sideways, gently nudgingEik.
David and Jonas shook hands and grinned. They walked the length of the boats together, both checking the lines and fenders, making adjustments as needed. When they gave the okay, the advisors for each boat radioed in.
I had met David and Amy, but not the rest of their crew, who, like me, had flown in to participate in the canal. We made introductions all around, shaking hands over the rails of our two boats.
The advisors of the two boats talked together, the radio crackling between them. “Okay, guys, the gate is closing.”
Both crews slipped to the back of their boats to watch the gate close. It moved quietly; if Manny hadn’t said anything, I might not have noticed.
We all waited, fidgeting on the decks. I glanced down to where the water swirled beneath us, and pointed. “Look!”
“We are up two feet already,” Manny said.
“What, really? It’s so quiet.”
The water continued to swirl and formed a little whirlpool behind us. I kept my eyes on the measurement marks on the side of the wall, and sure enough, the water level rose.
“This is so cool,” I said. I may have been geeking out a little, but everyone else around me grinned too, even Jonas.
A squawk on the radio signaled the lifting was done. We waited for more movement. Finally the engine of the big ship in front of us throttled up, and a storm of backwash kicked out from under its stern.
EikandStarry Horizonsswayed backward as far as their lines would let them. Both crews scrambled to their positions, checking lines and fenders. WithStarry Horizonsbeing pushed back, my line was slack.
The advisor on the catamaran gave David instructions while Manny did the same for us.
