As announced, at 6am on Saturday morning, our new pilot,Franklin, arrived on board (on a tug boat)...he was coming from Panama city and had had a very early start! Heiner was in charge of breakfast and made enough pancakes to feed the hungry crew! We had Canadian maple syrup (brought along in our luggage) and even our pilot seemed to find the apple pancake - maple syrup combination delicious! Caribbean people love sweets! Pancakes were a hit!

We had a 4 hour long trip on the Gatun lake before coming to the Pedro Miguel and the Miraflores locks. Lots of time to sip our coffee admiring the landscapes and listening to our pilot who was very knowledgeable about the expansion of the canal and the ensuing ecological challenges!