Can't tell you how far it is but it just a wee bit before the Pedro Miguel/Miraflores locks.

Try Google Earth for the geography.

 

It looks like the Manon is going under the Centenial Bridge now!

http://www.seacruisechat.com/panamacanal/

 

And now entering the Miraflores Locks

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

 

It's pretty cool watching her ease down into the locks!

 

Manon is leaving Panamanian water for open seas... 2015 PST...

 

Woohoo! Is it still roughly 2 days ahead of the original schedule?

 

I'd say maybe 1 day earlier... I recall WW showing arrival at Hueneme on 7/16, now shows 7/15.

Which is about right... roughly 7 days from the canal to Hueneme, but it left the canal late in the day today... so 7/15 seems right on...

 

Thanks Maxshrike0! Yes, the original arrival was 7/16 at Port Hueneme. I'm hoping the Isolde will make it as quickly as the Manon. But I think it might run into a longer delay at the canal due to maintenance on the canal.

 

Hey Simson- I don't think you'll be hit by any delays... If WW says expected arrival at Hueneme is 7/23, my bet is on WW... I'm sure they take this into account in their scheduling. All of these voyages are set in advance...

Anyways, Isolde should get to the Canal on 7/14, and that's when the next "Condition 1" (full capacity) occurs. Trust in WW....

 

I am (for the most part ), they've been on the money so far. It's just my MOCD coming out . Thanks for the encouragement.!

 

So, we made it through the Canal on 7/7/07...should make for an entire batch of good luck MINI's, eh?!

 

The Cap'n of the Manon is calling out positions after the canal!

So Sailwx is showing position... Last report just off the coast of El Salvador... Very Cool....

Only about 2685 miles to Hueneme... I'd say Satuday 7/14 is a fair estimate of arrival....

 

hey all... i have a question... my MA finally called me today. he told me that the estimated arrival was 7/15 at port. my MA told me that my mini should arrive "by the end of the month." i was confused because it seems like a long time considering that san diego is considerable close to port... i asked him if there was a possibility that it could arrive in August, and he said he didn't know. but he claimed to be certain by the end of the month. i asked if there was a chance it could come earlier, and he said yes...

what do you guys think... should i be concerned or brush it off? for those that don't know my experience so far w my MA... i was getting the brush off from my MA when I asked to remove my bonnet stripes way before my car went into production...

 

Well, given his past brush offs, he's probably just being vague. (ie: sort of brushing you off). His answer though is probably strictly correct. You should get your mini before August, and yes, by the end of the month.

I think he's just being conservative in his estimate. If our mini's arrive at Hueneme this weekend, I'd expect 7 to 10 days to process them. Meaning, I'll be expecting my mini in Norcal the week of the 23rd of July! Maybe later in that week. That's my expectation. No, I haven't asked my MA. I guess I like my estimate, we'll see if I'm close or not!

 

howdyem,
Regarding the bonnet stripes, your MA doesn't sound like he understands the concept of customer service. If nothing else, you get to rate him at the post sales survey. I'm glad to see your MINI is finally getting close to arrival.

 

thanks maxshire and rover on your reponses. yah... i'm going to give my opinion after the deal is done.

rover... how long did it take for you to get your mini once it arrived at port hueneme. great looking mini btw!!!

 

Thanks, howdyem. My MINI arrived in Port Hueneme on 6/30 which was a Saturday evening. The cars weren't unloaded to be taken to the VDC until 7/2, Monday late afternoon. I guess they don't work on Sunday. My car got to South Bay MINI on 7/5, I think. I picked it up on 7/7.

 

Hmmm, a week from arrival to delivery in So Cal...so 10 days to 2 weeks sounds reasonable for us Nor Cal folks. So, possible delivery (depending on VDC & local dealers schedules) of July 26-30. Not too bad!

 

Seems to be making about 96-99 NM per 6 hours (about 19 mph) rather than 100-110.... Good news is she's hugging the Mexican coast rather than staying out in international waters...

About 1700 miles to go, still will get there by the scheduled 7/15 date...

 

Here's the current sailwx view of the Manon as of 7/11/2007:



In case anyone is interested, here are the URL parameters that I used to get this map.

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shi...N&duration=360


Replace the parameters accordingly:

• radius: map "zoom": higher number = farther away
• lat: latitude
• lon: longitude
• call: vessel call sign
• duration: number of hours of history to show

 

Now just south of the Baja Californian Sur (Mexico)...about 135 miles south of the tip... Still on schedule for a 7/15 arrival... although now she's slowed to about 18 miles per hour... I wonder if that has to do with hugging the coast vs. open seas?

 

maxshrike0 - You seem to really know/understand sea vessels. Why would the Manon be "hugging the coast"?

 

To keep our MINI's happy...like a bunch of cruisers watching the glaciers in Alaska!

 

Hey Scooter- well, thanks... But I'm really just fascinated by shipping for some reason. hmmm, my interest started when they shipped my first mini (max the first) on Titus. I never thought trans atlantic cargo shipping could be so interesting!

So, when Titus came out of the canal, the Cap'n did not call out position. So I guestimated based on the speed that type of ship could make. I got within a few hours of her arrival at Hueneme.

But Manon is calling out the positions... And I was surprised that she's hugging the Mexican coast. For some reason, I thought cargo ships would stay 200 miles off coast, in international waters... It avoids customs or surprise calls by various countries coast guard... Less crowded, deeper water...

But no, she's REALLY hugging the coast. Right now she's less than 4 miles off Baja! So, my guess is this: Hug the coast means shorter distance. But you have to go slower, probably due to shallower water and taffic- but slower also saves fuel... Fuel is king next to Time, so I'm guessing it's a favorable trade off...

But, then again, Manon is carrying Minis... Perhaps there's some tequila tasting going on and quite a party as LadyAquila suggested!

 

OK, she's about 210 miles away from Hueneme at ~13:30 PST... That's about 12 hours away! She should make port at Hueneme around 0100 PST July 15th! Like a clock... German punctuality... Precise... Right? WW rocks!