We are currently at 4° 42′ 35.31″ N 87° 9′ 47.01″ W, en route to Auckland, New Zealand. We gained an hour tonight.

We didn’t know what time we’d be leaving Balboa on Saturday. It all depended on the cargo operations, which apparently were taking longer than expected. We started pulling away from the dock a little after one in the afternoon. The port is right at the entrance of the canal (just south of the Miraflores Locks), so once we passed under the Bridge of the Americas, our long journey across the Pacific was underway.

Saturday night was the bosun’s birthday (the bosun is the boss of the main deck), so we joined the crew for another party. We stayed up late singing karaoke and enjoying some treats they procured in Panama—as well as some more fish they caught off the side of the ship.

With all the excitement from transiting the Panama Canal, we took things pretty easy on Sunday. Sleeping in, reading, writing. The Pacific seems to be a little rougher than the Atlantic and Caribbean so far, with a noticeable rising and falling of the bow. No seasickness—yet.

Update: Eric Rewitzer used my photo above as the basis for a painting entitled Looking Port.

Want more? Check out Stephanie’s related post, Bye Panama, hello Pacific Ocean.