Has been living in Panama for three years.  For the past year he has resided on a 60 foot sailing boat moored on the middle course of the Panama Canal.

He has researched a variety of jobs from teaching English as a foreign language, writing for an English language newspaper, and creating Panama's first health and physical fitness magazine.  He's ready for a change.

Escape From America Magazine has invited Jack to become a contributing writer working on some of the more hard-to-believe, strange-but-true stories that will give the magazine more postmodern appeal, we hope.

The Panama Canal opened its gates in August of 1914. Few ships since have opted to circumnavigate South America via the Straits of Magellan or the Beagle Passage because of time factors, weather, and ocean surface dangers. The only cruisers that take that route are the ones that want that unusual experience.  That means that 99% of the world’s cruisers that need to get from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, or from the Pacific to the Atlantic, must transit the Panama Canal. When cruisers transit the Panama Canal, they must first make arrangements with the Autoridad del Canal de Panama, that’s Panama Canal Authority in English, or more commonly known as the ACP.  The ACP sets fees, assigns the captain’s advisor, and schedules transit times.

What Do Line Handlers Do?

Line Handlers handle the lines that go from the cruising vessel to the canal locks.  There are four Line Handlers on each cruising vessel – two on the bow and two on the stern.  When the vessel transits a lock, the vessel must be kept in the center of the lock, and this is done by lines and those that handle them – a Line Handler.  Imagine a square hammock with a rope at each corner holding the hammock steady and centered.

There are three sets of locks along the 50-mile stretch of the Panama Canal.  They are, from Pacific to Atlantic, Miraflores,

Where Do You Go To Become a Line Handler?

Line handling doesn’t require training.  All it requires is the ability to catch a half-inch leader line when the lock workers throw it to you (by the third time), tying the vessel's line to the leader line to be hauled  back to the lock worker, then tying the other end of the vessel's line to the cleat of the vessel.  After that, you should stay relatively alert during each of the three 45 minute lock passages.

Captains go three places to look for Line Handlers – the Balboa Yacht Club at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, the Pedro Miguel Boat Club next to the Pedro Miguel Locks, and the Cristobal Yacht Club on the Atlantic side. 

Line Handlers aren’t as plentiful as you might think, and it’s not because the pay isn’t good enough.  Line Handlers get between $50 and $100 per transit, depending on the Captain and the size of the vessel.  If you were to make a week of doing a transit a day, you’d build up a reputation as an experienced Line Handler and a sizeable nest egg that could take you to the next country or easily make back return air fare to your place of origen.

Cruising captains prefer the company of fellow travelers, and there aren’t that many travelers in Panama to fill the need for Line Handlers.  Also, as often as not, there are good probabilities of signing on with the vessel as a crewmember and continuing on with the vessel to other ports.