Solar Eclipse

Today was almost perfect. Had The Netherlands not broken our hearts in its 1-0 loss to Spain, it would have been. But seeing 98% of the solar eclipse was one of the more amazing events Jon and I have witnessed in our lives.....it was a first for both of us.

With one engine removed from its mount, we could not take our boat, ile de Grace either back to the Tuamotus or 60 miles south of Tahiti to see the total solar eclipse as we had originally planned to do. On the eastern side of Tahiti, just a few miles from our boat, however, 98% was (in)visible and that was more than good enough! We were with a crowd of Tahitians, all enjoying a beautiful Sunday morning facing east across the Pacific Ocean. They've been selling special glasses for the eclipse since we arrived in late May.

Jon and I got up early this morning and headed to a fishing jetty not far from Taravao on the eastern side of the isthmus. The eclipse began around 7:15 am here and reached 98% at 8:30. The special glasses we bought made it possible to look at the sun for about 2-3 minutes at a time.

As time passed by no faster or slower than it ever does, we were transfixed by the slowness of the sun's passage behind the moon. As the surf pounded the jetty just yards away, we watched the sun slowly disappear behind the black shadow of the crossing moon. The light slowly got softer and the air slowly got cooler. We had a brief moment when clouds filled the sky, but everyone blew air out of their mouths, and the clouds moved on. By 8:30, it was not dark as night, but it was so dark, cameras required a flash, and the channel markers began flashing their red and green marks, clearly visible against the darkening reef.

We feel lucky to have witnessed it.