Welcome To The Scot-Free Home Page |
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Places Fully Booked Galapagos, Cochins/Ski Lanka, Maldives, Crete
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Our dream for the last 7 Years has been to sail our own boat around the world. This dream is now rapidly becoming a reality. The first stage was to purchase a suitable boat, Scot-Free a 40ft Catalina was purchased in February 08 in Fort Lauderdale and our Maiden voyage was sailing her down the Florida coast and across down through the Bahamas to Providenciales. We are planning to join the Blue Water Rally leaving in August to be in Antigua when the rally arrives |
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We have been planning to join the rally for 7 Years. So we apologise to all our friends and family who have heard nothing but sailing for the few years And thanks for all your support |
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Debra Woolley Email debra@scot-free.net |
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Eileen Woolley Email Eileen@scot-free.net |
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Other places having people joining us Fiji For those who have not chosen yet the world is your Oyster
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The Crew |
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Click for Next Page |
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Current Position Sailing from Bonaire To Panama |
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Panama Canal |
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The Panama Canal is a 77 km (48 mi) ship canal that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific ocean and a key conduit for international maritime trade. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in the canal's early days to 14,702 vessels in 2008, displacing a total 309.6 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the canal had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 9,500 km (6,000 miles), well under half the 22,500 km (14,000 miles) route around Cape Horn.[1] The concept of a canal near Panama dates to the early 16th century. The first attempt to construct a canal began in 1880 under French leadership, but was abandoned after 21,900 workers died, largely from disease (particularly malaria and yellow fever) and landslides. The United States launched a second effort, incurring a further 5,600 deaths but succeeding in opening the canal in 1914. While the Pacific Ocean is west of the isthmus and the Atlantic to the east, the 8 to 10 hour journey through the canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic is one from southeast to northwest. This is a result of the isthmus's "curving back on itself" in the region of the canal. The Bridge of the Americas at the Pacific end is about a third of a degree of longitude east of the end near Colon on the Atlantic.[2] The maximum size of vessel that can use the canal is known as Panamax; an increasing number of modern ships exceed this limit, and are known as post-Panamax or super-Panamax vessels. Go to page 4 for previous experiences of this part of the trip........
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