At Sea

November 7th This was another day at sea and a time to take it easy and to hear Charle's presentation on the building of the Panama Canal. This was done with excellent slides, a great sense of humor while drawing from David McCullough's book Path between the Seas. The French under the direction of Ferdinand de Lesseps (builder of the Suez Canal) labored from 1881 till 1899 but ran out of money. There failure was due largely to (1) unwavering desire to build a sea level canal like the Suez (2) failure to defeat malaria and yellow fever and (3) inadequate machinery for the massive undertaking. Their failure to accept the fact that mosquitos were the cause of the deceases resulted in the deaths of over 24,000 workers. When the U.S. reactivated the project in 1903 several issues were still unresolved but the decisions to a build a locks-type canal, to eradicate malaria and yellow fever bearing mosquitoes and to apply newly developed technology led to completion of the canal in 1914.

Tonight was a formal night with everyone dressing up in dark suits/tuxs and evening gowns and enjoying a meal suitable for the occasion. Another great performance by the singers, dancers and stage crew followed our dinner.