This is will be my 16^th total solar eclipse… hard to believe and harder to believe I know friends that have been to over 20! Will I make it to that many eclipses?

Saturday, July 18, 2009

As Debbie and I were backing out of our driveway at 3:00 AM EDT at home to drive to Orlando to catch the first leg of our flight (Orlando to Los Angeles International, LAX) we saw the Moon rising… and it had been very cloudy and rainy at home. The Moon followed us all of the way to the airport. I don’t believe in omens or anything like that; I knew the weather odds for this eclipse: 50-50. The 5 day out weather prognostications for the eclipse where we were going were most-favorable on eclipse day, yet still not any better than 50-50 with rain the day before and the day after.

We had a smooth flight to LAX, except all of the airport hassles in Orlando. I suppose it is due to the Disney crowd coming and going; got to keep them under control! Someone might try to sneak a Mickey Mouse balloon on board a flight.

Since we had a few hours (13, to be exact) between our arrival at LAX and departure to Nadi, Fiji, we decided to rent a car and drive down to Oceanside Photo and Telescope, OPT, where they were having a vendors’ event. After a couple of stops, we arrived at OPT to be greeted by a number of friends, including our dear friend Scott Roberts. It is his new Explore Scientific 80mm ED APO telescope I am going to use to attempt to image the eclipse. Great optics and a beautiful appearance; the mechanical design is also one of the best I have tested, seen and used.

After a few purchases, we bid everyone goodbye and headed back to the airport. A very smooth check-in (I always worry about getting my hand-carried equipment through…); both the Air Pacific (Air Pacific serves Fiji and the surround areas, with connections to the US, Australia, New Zealand, and China) personnel and the TSA were terrific. Maybe the friendliness of the Air Pacific personnel was another one of those omens. Yet all good things must come to an end, as I flight was delayed two hours due to a mechanical problem – I would rather have them fix it here on the ground then other “options.” By now Debbie’s and my lack of sleep was really getting serious – we had little sleep the night before we left fort Orlando.

Sunday-Monday, July 19-20, 2009

Once aboard the Air Pacific 747, we were on our way and some sleep. Arriving in Nadi, Fiji found us in the traditional long and slow Customs and Inspection lines. Fiji is very concerned about the H1N1 Virus and we had to complete a H1N1 Virus questionnaire (do you have a fever, cough, runny nose, etc.). Our luggage was there, no hassles getting through Customs, and we were off to Radisson for one night.  

Two things immediately struck me the beauty of Fiji and its people. Fiji is truly as spectacular as all the travel magazines make it sound. You are warmly greeted by the local phrase Bula. The people of Fiji are some of the nicest and sweetest I have ever met. How can we bottle that and send it around the world?

Debbie and I are serving as group leaders for Astronomical Tours. This expedition has 33 participants. And with all travel like this, there are some bumps and bruises, both physical and otherwise. It is especially good though seeing friends we’ve known for many years as well as making new friends: Jen Winter (owner of Astronomical Tours) and her daughters Libby and Shadow, Fred Bruenjes, Hamid Khodashenas from Iran (an eclipse-chasing fanatic and enthusiast like me!), Heidi Gerster, Ernie Porta, Jr., William Phelps, Rick Rogers, and my ALPO cohort Phil Plante. We have been eclipse chasing with them before; I was also fortunate to know several of them from our time at Chabot Space & Science Center. Lots of new friends, too…Jeff Greenwald, a writer, and I had a lot in common, in particular our love of space exploration and having been at several launches (Apollo17, for example). Yuichi Ichikawa, Eclipse 2009 Live! was a part of our group; Yuichi is a very experienced eclipse chaser. I could literally put down the entire list of expedition members! For example Chris Romer and I shared our college-teaching passions.

One of the neatest “how come you are here” stories has to be that of John Winterbottom and his daughter Julie. John had apparently paid off Julie’s college loans. So years later, when Julie was in the position to be able to do something in kind for her father, she asked him what he would like to do. John’s answer: “see a total solar eclipse.” So father and daughter are here…

After a nice dinner, it was off for a few hours sleep before our departure to the airport and Tarawa, Kiribati.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Another early-morning departure to the airport meant another short sleep night. I told the group the night before “sleep is overrated…” I wasn’t feeling that way. But on our way to Tarawa, we caught some sleep.

Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas) is also known as the Gilbert Islands. The main island was the site for one of the deadliest battles of the WWII Pacific, where thousands and thousands of American and Japanese soldiers lost their lives. The Battle for Tawara has been featured on A&E and most recently National Geographic channel. We found a lot of rusting equipment from that battle around the island.

At the Tarawa Airport we had to undergo exams for H1N1 Virus; fortunately everyone in our group passed. Kiribati is very small, very impoverished, yet beautiful and with a people who are beyond words to describe. I had been working with their meteorology department prior to the eclipse and they met us at the airport. We hoped that with Fred’s ability to download satellite images and their experience, we’d have a good shot at seeing the eclipse. I had also brought for them a handout to copy for school children about the eclipse as well as multiple copies of my books as gifts.

After a wonderful lunch and discussion about the WWII battles at Tarawa, we did a brief tour of some of the sites. Then it was back to eclipse business for me: checking best focus for the Explore 80mm ED APO with my Canon EOS 20Da camera. The Sun was in and out; perhaps another omen? But I was able to nail my focus fairly close and, in spite of not being able to do a final stellar focus check that evening was fairly satisfied.

After another incredible dinner and dancing by local Tarawa dancers, the electricity went out for about two hours. Our hotel room was hot and sultry; so not a great night of sleep (again) and we had to be up and on the buses at 4:30 AM for the eclipse.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 – Eclipse Day!

Sleep is overrated I had to keep telling myself. But my body did not agree and I think it was on the verge of a revolt. But not on eclipse day – I hoped!

Astronomical Tours had looked at a variety of options to get our expedition to the eclipse; Tarawa was not in the path of totality and would experience something like a 99% partial. Ferry service to the islands was out, and air travel for our size group not an option. Jen made arrangements to charter a large boat – similar to the Higgins Boats of WWII. “Super Carrier” was just that: a large deck cargo carrying vessel. We loaded our buses at 4:30 AM under mostly clear skies. Another omen? A few minutes into our trip to the boat it started to rain…

The “Super Carrier” owners went out of their way to prepare for what will probably be their most unusual cargo. They had rigged a tarp to cover about half of the boat. The ship’s crew decorated for us with traditional palm leaves and weavings.

The trip from Tarawa to Marakei Atoll (our land eclipse location choice) was about 7 hours. Fred, Jen, the Kiribati meteorologists (who were on board with us, along with the nation’s Minister of Tourism and Travel), and I continued to monitor hourly satellite images. We thought we would have a good chance but knew we would have to be in the right place at the right time.

On the way to Marakei we passed through a very strong and gusty storm. Winds from the storm started ripping the tarps up, Next thing I knew there was Jen Winter pulling the tarp back down; several others jumped in to assist her. The “Super Carrier” crew was immediately there to take over and lash the tarps and framework down. Not only did they prepare terrific meals (the chicken at lunch was some of the best I have ever had anywhere) they made certain we were well-hydrated and comfortable.

By 1:30 PM our “Super Carrier” to was off of Marakei. The weather picture was still not settled and presented too many variables. We decided on two options: observe on Marakei or take the “Super Carrier” out to sea to look for the hole in the clouds; we would make that call at 2:30 PM, a slim 15 minutes before 1^stcontact.

The “Super Carrier” had three longboats on board to carry us ashore (no docks on Marakei). Once the boats were in the water, the front ramp of the “Super Carrier” lowered and the idea was to go from that lowered ramp to the longboat – carefully. That was a very tricky proposition as some of us found out first hand…

The people of Marakei had gathered to greet us; the island’s population is around 2,300 and there must have been 1,000 people there! I have been blessed to have gone to many places over the years. But I have never been greeted by the mayor and the elders! They were lined up to warmly greet us as if we were the President of the United States! It was breathtaking…

After greeting many of the children and people of Marakei, Fred started downloading the last satellite image we would have before the eclipse. In addition there was an anvil thunderhead building and appeared to be coming our way. After looking at that image we decided a few minutes before 1^st contact that our best chance to see totality would be to head back out to sea to the east of Marakei and try to find a hole in the clouds. So we rallied everyone back to the longboats and to the “Super Carrier.” I was in the last longboat and by the time we got to the “Super Carrier’s” ramp the seas were pitching. I stood up to get off, being assisted by the “Super Carrier’s” crew when a swell tossed me up. It was pull me onto the ramp for a very hard landing or be crushed between the ramp and the longboat. My collision was a very hard one; major abrasions and bumps with my pride hurt. Debbie experienced a similar landing.

My first reaction was to just sit and do nothing… I was in a lot of pain. But my best friend in this world – my wife Debbie – came over and started getting us set up. See Debbie is the smart one: for her 7 previous total solar eclipses she just enjoys the eclipse with her eyes and binoculars. We set up the Explore 80mm ED with the Canon 20Da and prepared a second Canon 10D with a 16mm lens. I scrapped my plans to video the eclipse with a Sony HD camcorder.

The Kiribati meteorologist was up with the “Super Carrier’s” captain directing the ship. The swells were 2-4 feet, not much but very challenging for tracking the Sun with a telescope equipped with a Nagler 2X Telecentric Barlow! The good news is that as we moved away from Marakei and two the east the clouds started to thin a bit. The skies were already darkening due to the partial phase of the eclipse; we could also tell the difference in the temperature.

About 10 minutes before totality, I began my customary check for pre-totality effects. I could see the shadow at the horizon towards the northwest looking like a dark black-inky cloud. I called that out for people to see. Fred kept everyone posted on the T-minus status while I called out phenomena. The inky shadow continued to grow and “sunset-sunrise” colors began to form. Imagine the color you see at sunrise or sunset wrapped all the way around the horizon. As soon as Saturn became visible at about 5 minutes before totality, it became obvious we were going to be blessed with clear skies during all of totality.

The inky black shadow continued to grow and colors around the horizon more vivid. Clouds toward the northwest were growing black as the shadow overcame them and raced towards us.

As the Sun was down to a final sliver I took off the solar filter off of the telescope and put in to effect a plan I developed for trying to photograph the eclipse: align the telescope-camera such that the eclipsed Sun would bob through the field then fire off a series of shots as it came through, hoping to get one or two good images. I had done ship wide photography before (1998, 1999, 2005, and 2006) but not on a boat that was rocking like this one.

The Diamond Ring was now forming, the shadow nearly overhead, and colors all the way around the horizon. The sky grew dark as the diamond ring disappeared and there was the totally-eclipsed Sun in all of its glory. Each eclipse is different with its own characteristics and this one was no different. No prominences were visible whatsoever; a first for me. The Sun’s corona had an interesting shape; the Moon was very jet-black against the corona.

Debbie was firing off shots of the shadow and people on the deck of the “Super Carrier” during totality. I was trying my “bob-and-shoot” technique and found it challenging. However I did get probably 3 to 5 good images during totality and 3^rd contact – out of 50+ “bob-and-shoot” attempts.

I spent time looking at the eclipsed sun and the skies around us. I still marvel at the beauty of the eclipse; the fact that this very rare alignment of the Earth-Moon-Sun allow us the opportunity to see such a spectacle. I feel privileged having seen one, nonetheless 16! And for Debbie this was her 8^th total solar eclipse.

As the 3^rd contact Diamond Ring formed I knew we had been very fortunate to have seen this eclipse. I was happy for John and his daughter Julie, for Hamid having come all the way from Iran, Yuichi and his Eclipse Live! 2009 broadcast, and all who this was their first eclipse.

As we began to go back to Marakei, the pain of my fall began to set in; I had been running on eclipse adrenaline. Debbie helped me pack up as about half of the contingent went back ashore for a celebration with the people of Marakei. They were back on the “Super Carrier” in about an hour and we were on our way back to Tarawa.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

After a 7 hour boat trip back to Tarawa and more rain and wind, the “Super Carrier” arrived at the dock. We unloaded our equipment, warmly thanked our new friends on the “Super Carrier” and headed back to our hotel for a few hours of sleep (remember: sleep is overrated) before our flight back to Nadi, Fiji. We boarded the bus for our trip to the airport, going through tropical rain showers that would have certainly ruined any chance to having seen the eclipse.

As I reflect back on the people of Kiribati, they do not have the “things” we have: McDonalds, cell phones, video games, cable TV. But they seem very happy, warm, outgoing, and some of the kindest and most-caring people I have ever met in all of my travels.

We arrived back in Fiji after our 3-hour flight, back to the hotel. Debbie had to deal with a few reservation issues that I know was trying on everyone. Once resolved we settled in for the first untimed night of sleep in nearly a week! Four days and three nights of R&R before our return to the States…