The Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) calls any vessel under 125 ft a handline boat, and runs a separate procedure for it. You register on the ACP small-craft portal, upload photos and dimensions instead of a physical measurement, pay a toll set by length band plus a scheduling fee, an inspection fee, a security charge and a refundable buffer deposit, and then wait for a date. On transit day an ACP advisor boards, you need four line handlers plus the skipper, four 125-ft lines and big fenders, and you lock up into Gatún Lake and down the other side, usually over two days southbound and one day northbound.
The three questions people ask are the same every season: what does it cost, do I need an agent, and how long will I wait. The honest answers are: a four-figure sum that the ACP revises each 1 January, so confirm the current tariff with the ACP before you budget; an agent is optional but saves time and handles the deposit; and waits stretch in the peak months of January to April.
This collection will cover the step-by-step transit, the full cost breakdown (tolls, inspection, security fee, buffer), agent versus do-it-yourself, admeasurement and inspection, line handlers and the four-and-four rule, what transit day looks like, scheduling and peak season, and catamarans, rafting up and centre-chamber lockage. Both ends of the transit have a Yachty Guide page: Shelter Bay Marina on the Colón side, and Flamenco, La Playita and the Balboa entrance on the Pacific side.
If you are coming from the US, there is no Florida equivalent of a canal transit. The nearest live page is the Florida to Bahamas boat trip guide, which covers the same habits of clearance, timing and paperwork.