[gk1]

I once got to experience the other end of that: Being on a ship while it's going through a tiny canal. In my case, it was the Kiel Canal in Germany.

(When you're standing on the deck of a ship, you can't see the small gap -- between ship and land -- unless you stretch your neck over the rail and look down.)

So imagine this: You've spent many days on the open sea, with nothing but water in every direction. It's become so normal to you that you forget there's other life out there, beyond the steel hull.

Then one morning you wake up from a deep sleep and step outside, and... You're surrounded by land! You can't see the canal beneath you, but you can see the beautiful park you're in, with joggers, mothers with strollers, and couples holding hands.

It's very bizarre, and I'm not sure I'd get used to it either.

[tcopeland]

Even transiting the Panama Canal in a smallish (210 foot USCG medium endurance cutter) is kind of weird. One day you're underway making way in the Pacific, the next day you've got mules pulling you through locks.