As we set off from the Falklands to Puerto Williams I unexpectedly found myself feeling just a bit like a modern day captain James Cook. His first voyage’s purpose was to watch the transit of Venus in the South Pacific, a prediction of Halley’s years earlier. Thus a sailing expeditions was born.
Meanwhile our trip back to the Beagle channel happened to coincide with the super moon lunar eclipse. The night prior everything was perfect. A clear sky, a nearly full moon, bright enough that I could still easily keep and eye on the sails and rigging. Indeed what modern day captain James cooks we would be. As he himself explored this southern waters and holds his own place in Antarctic history for being the first to visually see the white continent.
Alas. Around 5:30 on the morning of the day of the super moon lunar eclipse, which was planned to start 18 hours later that evening, the clouds covered the brilliant moon and the hope of seeing the eclipsed disappeared. I went off shift at 7 that evening. Sun still up, but clouds still thick. The peak of the eclipse was supposed to be at 11:11pm that evening. I slept through my three plus hours off shift ( we were doing three hours watches). Fede woke me up around 10:30 – bringing initially bad news – time for watch :(. Followed by excellent news – the clouds had parted and the eclipse was full view! The rest of the shift I watched the eclipse continue and the moon transform from a dull orange blob to a brilliant white one that was so bright, stars were hard to see.
Cook had been equally lucky threes hundred years earlier. ( note while his visibility was good the measurements themselves turned out to be a disappointment)