[spn]

Yes. Mira Flores camera is down. It looks like they have the Centennial Bridge camera pointed towards the Mira Flores, so you can watch that one.

[spn]

The High Res Mira Flores camera is working. It looks like she's in the MF Lock now.

[spn]

Here she is in the Mira Flores Lock.

[spn]

Here is another photo.

[JerryR]

Looks like they waste no time closing the gates and changing the water level:

[JerryR]

Lowered.

[JerryR]

And she's off.

[arorts]

Hi:
Does anyone know how the lock system works? I'm totally clueless as far as the reason for changing water levels and all that..It's interesting to understand this type of things

Thanks!

[evorobert]

Originally Posted by arorts

Hi:
Does anyone know how the lock system works? I'm totally clueless as far as the reason for changing water levels and all that..It's interesting to understand this type of things

Thanks!

wikipedia?

[spn]

Originally Posted by arorts

Hi:
Does anyone know how the lock system works? I'm totally clueless as far as the reason for changing water levels and all that..It's interesting to understand this type of things

Thanks!

Here's a great graphic that I post on these threads to help illustrate the system. You can see how they have to raise the ships up to the Gatun Lake level and then lower the ships back down. (Wikipedia probably doesn't have this great of a graphic. )

[JerryR]

According to AIS, she's out in the Pacific now (near the middle-bottom of the attached pic).

Wow, just 8 more days to Port Hueneme and the long wait will soon be over.

[JerryR]

spn,

As you can tell, I signed up for a free account at AIS. My question is this: what do the color codes mean for the tracked vessels?

TIA.

[spn]

Originally Posted by JerryR

spn,

As you can tell, I signed up for a free account at AIS. My question is this: what do the color codes mean for the tracked vessels?

TIA.

It should only take her 6-7 days to get to SoCal, but maybe she's going into San Diego or LA first. I don't have that in front of me right now.

What do the color coded triangles mean?
Green - Vessel sailing at 0.5 knots or faster
Yellow - Vessel stopped or sailing at less than 0.5 Knots
Red - Ship sailed beyond coverage area or (rarely) have switched off their AIS temporarily. Or the signal was lost between 15 and 30 minutes ago and will be removed from the chart after 30 minutes.

[arorts]

Originally Posted by spn

Here's a great graphic that I post on these threads to help illustrate the system. You can see how they have to raise the ships up to the Gatun Lake level and then lower the ships back down. (Wikipedia probably doesn't have this great of a graphic. )

Thanks, that's a great picture!

[JerryR]

She's back to reporting on sailwx:

[tadow213m]

Does anyone know exactly what happens when our cars arrive, as in where they go and what procedures they go through before being delivered to the actual dealership? Also, how long does this process take?

[JerryR]

Originally Posted by spn

It should only take her 6-7 days to get to SoCal, but maybe she's going into San Diego or LA first. I don't have that in front of me right now.

For the journey from Panama to California, at what point will this vessel show up again on AIS?

[spn]

Sometimes she will show up on the West Coast of Mexico radar which spans the west coast of Baja. It depends on, ohhhh, I can never remember the name, something like troposheric waves and how radio waves bounce off the earth. Sometimes radar signals come in better than other times. Anyways, this happens at the Baja radar. Some days the signal is great, but most of the time that radar is dead empty. So, then you have to wait for her to reach San Diego.

[spn]

Originally Posted by tadow213m

Does anyone know exactly what happens when our cars arrive, as in where they go and what procedures they go through before being delivered to the actual dealership? Also, how long does this process take?

The cars will be taken off the ship and quickly inspected by a customs agent. I have also read that they are sometimes inpsected on the ship. They are driven to the BMW vehicle distribution center (near the port) for inspections, repairs of any damages, installation of after-market stuff, then loaded on a truck to head to your dealership. It can take a few days for the car to reach your dealership up to about seven days, sometimes longer, depending on where you live, how long it takes to fill the truck for your destination, how backed up the VDC is (how many other cars are already waiting processing at the VDC), etc. It is always variable. Generally, it takes a few days, though, especially for CA dealerships.

If it is a euro delivery car, this can take a couple weeks because the car was delivered to the owner in Europe and driven there. They have to be inspected more thoroughly. There seems to be other issues that tie up euro delivery cars, too. I am opting out of euro delivery on my new car because of the extra time it takes to process them when they arrive in CA.

[spn]

And, once your car reaches the dealership, it has to be inspected and signed off by a dealership technician. They usually wash/wax it prior to delivery. If your car arrives at the dealership by truck on the weekend, delivery can be delayed if there is no technician available (service dept closed) to inspect your car. Then you have to wait until Monday.

[JerryR]

Originally Posted by spn

They are driven to the BMW vehicle distribution center (near the port) for inspections, repairs of any damages, installation of after-market stuff, then loaded on a truck to head to your dealership.

What after-market stuff is typically installed at the VPC?

[evorobert]

Originally Posted by JerryR

What after-market stuff is typically installed at the VPC?

body kits such as the OEM aero kit