Updated again -- (s)he seems to be updating on a reasonable basis!

 

Yeah, this is awesome. They managed to go 472 miles this past 24 hours. Must be that tailwind.

 

My OL finally updated to "in transit" -- that was a long delay!

 

So okay, I started snooping to see just what you can see at the Panama Canal and found this:
http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

Kinda cool but I don't know how you'd be able to tell what ship was going through there. Pretty hard to see other than the fact that there is a boat there. Anyone else have a better site?

Kathy

 

AISLive has a Panama map, but it's not available for free- I've looked a bit for a free one, but haven't come up with anything. There is a special Panama Canal map from Sailwx though: http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/panamacanal.phtml

 

I like that sailwx one. It's not a live picture but at least it shows what ships are in the area.

Kathy

 

Arrived back home yesterday and just checking in to see if all are still alive.

I will post some info and tips on tracking Figaro thru the canal if all would like, if one wants to actually catch her
on the canal cams you need to track her on AIS and watch the cams to predict when she will arrive at each of the three locks.

 

Hey Tharkun, welcome back! I don't have anything outside of the stuff that's already been posted, if you wouldn't mind sharing what you've got- it's always good to have more links to obsess over

 

I don't have any "better" sites for tracking, just some experience from tracking WW ships thru the canal over the last four months. WW ships seem to follow the same schedules so I can "estimate" day and time of the passage slot a ship will have. Once knowing that it is rather easy to follow a ship from entrance to exit of the canal, which "usually" takes from 7 - 10 hours depending on canal traffic.
So if you want to see Figaro going thru, plan on being awake early as she "should" head for the Gatun lock (the first of the three locks) in the morning between 5:30 - 7:30 PST.

 

Shoot, those are almost exactly my commute hours :(

I'll just be checking before I leave and once I get to work, but that should still leave plenty of time for the rest of the day.

 

Figaro is scheduled to arrive at the MIT port in Colon Panama on 10/12, and then should make her trek thru the canal on the morning of 10/13 Saturday.

 

Welcome back, Tharkun. Nice pix of Disneyland, btw. What you said is interesting -- I thought the boat went through the Canal the same day it arrives. So are you saying the 5:30-7:30 a.m. trek is on Sat morning and not Friday? That www.pancanal.com site I found is okay, but I wonder if I could even tell it's Figaro going through the canal. The pictures are pretty far away from the action. Is MIT the Miraflores lock? (oops...editing this to say it sounds like MIT is a port not a lock...)

 

Since we do not know what time Figaro is scheduled to arrive in port, she could show back up on AIS any time after late evening of 10/11 .
The link below is for the AIS maps of the canal area.

AIS PANAMA

The next port for Figaro is the Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) located in Colon Panama. Usually WW ships are at the dock from a few hours to as long as
10-12, there is no way of knowing the exact time she will leave the port. The MIT site has info and under the "Media" tab there is a photo gallery of MIT.

MIT



Once leaving the port she will trek back out past the breakwaters to the Cristobal Anchorage area and anchor there for the night. Usually the WW
ships have an early morning passage slot for the locks, so she should be heading in for the Gatun Lock between 5 - 7 am on 10/13. (PST)
So if you want to see her make the canal trek and catch some cam pics in the locks, it takes a bit of time to keep checking the maps and stay updated to her movments.
All of the times, dates and such are just my "best" guess from watching previous WW ships, so take that into account.

As for the canal web cams, both of the lock cams change directions during the day, showing either the north or south bound traffic. When the Miraflores cam is showing the
Pedro Miguel lock it can me rather difficult to determine if your ship is in that lock. The link for the canal page is below, under the "MultiMedia" tab are the cams and also
a "How It Works" info on the canal system.

PANAMA CANAL

I should be around when Figaro treks thru the canal and will try and give some advance notice of passing thru the locks.

 

Man, Tharkun, you are a wealth of information! I, for one, sure do appreciate it. Having never tracked a merchant ship before (why would I? ), this is kinda fun. I'll have to get up and watch Saturday morning, although I dunno if I'm that gung ho to get up at 5:30!

Kathy

 

Happy to be of help, but you really need to be awake early to catch Figaro at the locks, if you miss it, your Mini will not be discharged at Port Hueneme and the wait time starts over.

 

That would be HORRIBLE! More like they'd forget to take it off the boat and it ends up in Japan.

 

I was planning on finding a very, very angry fire breathing smiley in response Tharkun, but we could use a vacation to Japan for pick-up. I hear there's some great roads over there for the Twisties.

 

So hey, I just noticed that Figaro shows up on this map now: http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml

 

Looks like your Captain has been reporting since the 7th, good find.
If he continues it will help on estimating arrivial time to the port.

 

Oh MAN!
I'm on board- this is sooo cool.
I was (am) a confused noobie and wasn't even sure if we'd been loaded, I just assumed it was say "en route" or something...

Thanks for the information on how to check the bill of lading, Tharkun !

Russ R


PS -while we're all having a Seattle love-fest, does it count if I grew up in Lake Forest Park? (it's between Bothell and Lake City)

 

Tharkun, you are such a nice guy. Do you do this for every ship? So many of the posts are repeats...

 

Hi Corgwn/Russ! Welcome aboard the Figaro Loves Seattle thread!

Personally, I'd say Lake Forest Park counts, but I'm not sure who's in charge? I'd appreciate you not asking them if you find out, since I'm pretty sure I'd be ruled out...

What's your configuration?

 

It might be easier to ask where he's not helping out. Tharkun you're everywhere! Thanks again for all your help

 

Welcome, Russ! Congrats on your Mini being on the Figaro. Of course Lake Forest Park counts! I go through there all the time and we came really close to buying a house there a couple years back.

At the rate Figaro is going, it almost seems like he's gonna get there earlier than expected. I'm surprised how far he got overnight. He hasn't really slowed down much, but that will probably change I would think.

Kathy

 

We're now showing on the Sailwx Panama Canal map. We really have been moving!

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/panamacanal.phtml