The anticipation on the ship was tangible as everyone was up early and eager for the event of the cruise. The moon was due to start covering the sun at 08.43, and continue on that path until it completely hid it at "totality" at 09.44. Despite the rough seas and miserably dark overcast sky, everyone was out on deck by quarter to 9, us included.
But as I said, the sky was miserably dark and overcast - ever so often the clouds would part slightly and show us a vague outline of the sun, and everyone was full of hope. We were all armed with our silly eclipse specs, photographers had covered their camera lenses, and everyone waited.........
And then the clouds parted. Just enough to see it - there.... the moon was starting to move into the sun's path. Using our silly specs we could see the dark shape of the moon, edging into the sun's path and blocking the rays. And then it was gone again.
But the clouds repeatedly parted, acting as filters so that we didn't need the specs. And each time the moon was covering more and more of the sun, until the sun began to look like the moon, a bright, bright crescent in the sky, getting thinner and thinner - smaller and smaller until there was just the tiniest sliver.
And then the clouds covered the scene again. People waited and the world went dark........... Properly dark, as if it was night time. Quite weird.
And just as everyone was about to give up hope the clouds parted to show us the eclipse. The dark circle of the moon outlined by the bright light of the sun. Quite a spectacle! I didn't take any pictures, but Peter managed. Here's the one I stole off him.
After such an event, the world returned to normal. People swapped camera stories, Peter started getting ready for his class and everyone started to notice that the rough seas that I mentioned at the start of this post were getting rougher.
I managed to help Peter get his class ready, but I had to come downstairs and lie down by midday, as did a lot of other passengers. But it eased off and by 5 o'clock I was back upstairs and hungry. We made do with half a tube of Pringles until dinner time.
After another delicious steak dinner we listened to Derek Aidoo, the Cruise Director in the Darwin Lounge. He's actually a very good singer, and obviously enjoys it. We're due to visit Husavic in Iceland tomorrow and down for escorting a whale watching excursion. I am so looking forward to it.
But as I said, the sky was miserably dark and overcast - ever so often the clouds would part slightly and show us a vague outline of the sun, and everyone was full of hope. We were all armed with our silly eclipse specs, photographers had covered their camera lenses, and everyone waited.........
And then the clouds parted. Just enough to see it - there.... the moon was starting to move into the sun's path. Using our silly specs we could see the dark shape of the moon, edging into the sun's path and blocking the rays. And then it was gone again.
But the clouds repeatedly parted, acting as filters so that we didn't need the specs. And each time the moon was covering more and more of the sun, until the sun began to look like the moon, a bright, bright crescent in the sky, getting thinner and thinner - smaller and smaller until there was just the tiniest sliver.
And then the clouds covered the scene again. People waited and the world went dark........... Properly dark, as if it was night time. Quite weird.
And just as everyone was about to give up hope the clouds parted to show us the eclipse. The dark circle of the moon outlined by the bright light of the sun. Quite a spectacle! I didn't take any pictures, but Peter managed. Here's the one I stole off him.
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| Total Eclipse, from MV Voyager 20 Mar 2013 |
I managed to help Peter get his class ready, but I had to come downstairs and lie down by midday, as did a lot of other passengers. But it eased off and by 5 o'clock I was back upstairs and hungry. We made do with half a tube of Pringles until dinner time.
After another delicious steak dinner we listened to Derek Aidoo, the Cruise Director in the Darwin Lounge. He's actually a very good singer, and obviously enjoys it. We're due to visit Husavic in Iceland tomorrow and down for escorting a whale watching excursion. I am so looking forward to it.
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