Today was the shellbacking ritual, which was wicked cool! Unfortunately, the details are secret and exclusive to Shellbacks, so I can’t really go into them here. However, I can say that it was an awesome day! We are now steaming along to Panama, to go back through the canal and return to the Atlantic, and head to Aruba! Everyone’s really excited to get to Aruba, since it’s been the port most people have been looking forward to.

Yesterday I had watch again 1200-1600, which actually ended up being sort of fun. About 15 minutes after I took the helm they started a series of man overboard drills, so I got to have plenty of practice with the ship’s handling and rudder control. I learned a lot of things about being the helmsman that I most likely would not have otherwise been able to learn and do. It was really exciting and a lot of fun being the one to make the ship maneuver and make the tight turns!

Yesterday was exam day for the first half of Sea Term. Everybody by this point has had a rotation of license training (either deck or engine) and a rotation of non-license training (either MSEP or Emergency Management & Business). There is a final exam for each major’s training, so testing is done halfway through cruise, and again at the end of cruise for the other half of training received. Today I had the Engine exam and the MSEP exam.

Today is our last day in Golfito. Everyone’s had a good time, but I think we’re ready to be on our way. At the moment, however, most people are focused on the Super Bowl just a few hours away. We’ve been told, as I posted yesterday, that a projector is going to be set up on the helo deck so we can watch the Super Bowl as one big group, which should be a lot of fun!

I’m writing this post from a place called the Maritime Bar in Golfito, which provides free Wifi. At the moment it’s probably in the 80s with 100% humidity since it’s pouring rain. There’s a gentle breeze coming through this open-air restaurant, which is also rustling the palm trees and other plants around. Bob Marley is being pumped out of the stereo here, and there’s a gorgeous 180 degree view of the bay and the ocean.

Yesterday was my last day of engine training. We learned about various measuring tools, and about basic electrical wiring by building an extension cord. We learned more about electricity in class yesterday afternoon, as well as about various instrumentation. On Tuesday my group was in lab the entire day, working with black iron pipe and making a picture frame out of aluminum stock. The picture frame was my favorite lab because we got to work with so many different tools and have a useable finished product.

Yesterday was my first day of Engine training. My group spent the morning in the classroom reviewing boiler operations and the systems within the engine room that we need to know for our exam on Febrary 4th. In the afternoon, we were doing labs. We have a list of activities we need to complete during Engine training that are spread out over the three days. Yesterday my group learned how to sweat copper pipe, join lengths of soft copper pipe using flaring and compression fittings, and join PVC pipe using various fittings.

Yesterday was our last day in port in Panama, and what a time it was! The past four days have been incredible. The weather alone has been a nice treat, and we’ve had tons of fun in and around Panama City. I spent a lot of time in a part of town known as the “Causeway”, a more upscale peninsula a few miles long lined with shops and restaurants, and many Maritime cadets.

It’s about 2315 as I’m writing this, and we’re currently passing through the part of the Panama Canal known as “The Cut” - the man-made portion after the Gatun Lake. We finished going through the Gatun locks around 2100 and have been steaming along ever since. We couldn’t have asked for better weather! The temperature and humidity are perfect, there isn’t a cloud in the sky so the stars are amazing and the moon is almost full, and there’s no wind.

We spent today anchored in the waiting area right outside the entrance to the canal. We’ve been in the company of about 30 ships of all shapes and sizes, from ROROs to small sailboats. I was mistaken in my post yesterday regarding the schedule for going through the canal. We are weighing anchor between 1630 and 1700. We are expected to get through the first three locks by about 1900. We should exit the canal into the Pacific around 0130 on Thursday, and be fully docked by about 0300.