Around the world for 30 seconds of totality

With the MV Discovery from Tahiti to Peru - and then some

Here is the timeline of a 4-week journey of some 43,000 kilometers - equivalent of about once around the Earth - made in March/April 2005 that seems totally out of proportion for the event that actually triggered it: a total eclipse of the Sun lasting ½ minute! But as with so many eclipses, the effort to reach the shadow cone of the Moon in time and seeing unusual locations along the way (mostly lots of water this time) turned out to be more fascinating than the brief celestial spectacle itself. Which this time was the short totality offered by a rare hybrid solar eclipse, far from dry land all along the track. Thus boarding one of the three cruise ships heading for this zone was a must, in order to be one of perhaps 1500 human beings witnessing totality on April 8, 2005 ...

Saturday, March 26; UTC+1 hour (winter time)	Königswinter-Heisterbacherrott, Germany: Short taxi ride to Bonn rail way station, one hour train ride to Düsseldorf airport and feeder flight to Madrid, Spain (2:18) - where incomprehensible incompetence by the airport personnel almost brought the whole trip to a very early halt.
(Easter) Sunday, March 27; UTC -4 (Santiago) / -6 (Rapa Nui) / -10 hours (Tahiti)	Madrid: Very long direct flight to Santiago de Chile (13:18), nice Andes passage in the morning, short downtown tour in a taxi, incl. Cristobal hill and lunch in the market halls. Flight to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), also Chile (4:53), with time for a Pisco Sour in the airport transit area and our 'first contact' with the S. Pacific & Polynesia. Flight to Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia (5:20), arrival just before midnight local time = 39 hours 07 minutes after take-off in Düsseldorf, 25:49 of that in the air, having travelled some 22,000 km! Extremely expensive taxi ride to our hotel in the suburb Pirae.
(Easter) Monday, March 28; UTC -10 hours	Pirae: »Pilgrimage« by rental car to the close-by Point Venus where J. Cook observed the Transit of Venus in 1769 (today a black-sand beach crowded with locals, with a somewhat misplaced memorial marker that also lacks any identification). Also visits to an easily accessible waterfall in the island interior and to a blow hole on the coast. Spectacular sunset on the way back to Pirae.
Tuesday, March 29; UTC -10 hours	Pirae: Long visits to a local travel agency in Papeete for more planning & bookings and to the Musee de la Perle and the Market Halls. With »le Truck« to the airport, flight to the neighboring island Huahine (0:29) and transfer to the Pension Mauarii in Avea (Moon) Bay on the smaller of the two islands, Huahine Iti.
Wednesday, March 30; UTC -10 hours	Huahine Iti: Crazy weather with sunshine and rain, sometimes simultaneously (and enough UV photons for a major sunburn). Superb Milky Way and LMC at night, with stars sometimes down to the horizon - like high in the Andes, but right at sea level.
Thursday, March 31; UTC -10 hours	Huahine Iti: Speedboat tour around the island, to remote beaches w/o road acces with marvellous snorkeling amongst colorful corals (and a fish cast right out of »Finding Nemo« :-) and a little Pearl Farm on stilts. Sunset over cloudy Raiatea observed during rain, still strikingly colorful and with ample palm trees to frame it.
Friday, April 1; UTC -10 hours	Huahine Iti: Early morning transfer (on the back of a pickup truck) to the airport (with a colorful rainbow against blue sky) and flight to Bora Bora (0:15) - where »our« future ship, the MV Discovery, was found anchoring! Spectacular 15- min. overflight of this archetypical Polynesian island with a helicopter and 45-min. submarine ride into the reef, up to 35 meters deep, where much larger fish wait. Flight back (via Raiatea) to Huahine (0:08 plus 0:09). Because of political unrest (!) severe fuel shortage; rental car has tank only 3/8 full ...
Saturday, April 2; UTC -10 hours	Huahine Iti & Nui: Driving around both islands with the rental car, visiting Eden Parc (an eco-farm & botanical garden) on Iti and several Marae (religious sites) in the Northeast of Nui. Flight via Bora Bora - for refueling - to Papeete, Tahiti (0:15 plus 0:41), with the Discovery steaming towards Tahiti underneath. In Papeete's port at the Roulottes (food stands) big open-air party with other eclipse chasers, either about to board the Paul Gauguin (now at the dock) or waiting for the Discovery. »Hijacking« a Truck to our Hotel in Pirae, where already other Discovery passengers stay, including Canadian eclipse weather guru Jay »I'm only a passenger« Anderson.
Sunday, April 3; UTC -10 hours	Pirae: Organized 4WD expedition into Tahiti's interior - road full of potholes (and picknicking people in other SUVs), lots of waterfalls, spectacular mountains, lots of rain, but at the coast the Sun shines. Boarding the Discovery that had arrived overnight; leaving the dock a few minutes early, before midnight.
Monday, April 4; UTC -10 hours	In the morning anchoring off Moorea, transfer to shore by tenders. Short trip around two bays in the North and up to the Belvedere viewing point - and a degustation of interesting fruit spirits produced in a local factory. Discovery departs at noon and heads East as well as further South.
Tuesday, April 5; UTC -9 hours	Lots of pre-eclipse briefings - and a spectacular green flash at sunset (the only one that clear during the whole cruise). At night passing close to or straight through the former French nuclear testing grounds at Moruroa atoll (not announced at all, but obvious from any map).
Wednesday, April 6; UTC -9 hours	In the morning dress rehearsal for the eclipse, with time adjusted for the correct elevation of the Sun during totality. Sea calm, weather perfect: It would have worked today. At sunset passing by the Gambier islands with majestic Manareva in the distance. No stopping here ...
Thursday, April 7; UTC -8 hours	At noon Pitcairn is reached, and - with some difficulty - many of the islanders (most of them descendants from the Bounty mutineers) make it aboard the Discovery with their only longboat: Brisk sales of island merchandise follow, and three stay onboard for a passage to Easter Island. Increasing clouds make Anderson (by now drafted into the job of the official ship's meteorologist) wake up the Captain and change course to a more northerly location along the eclipse track than planned.
Friday, April 8; UTC -8 hours - E Day!	Outrunning the major cloud field but eventually stuck underneath a patch of thin cirrus, the eclipse is observed with the Discovery marching on at 7 knots along the central line at 22° 37.2' S, 129° 38.7' W at 11:51:32 local time: It is awfully short and colorful (thanks to some 190° of chromospheric arc at times), with a transitional corona similar to the one of 1983 - and bright Venus just to the lower right. Awesome display of Baily's Beads at both contacts (see this special page for my unique results), plus a nice halo before and after totality. Various parties follow ...
Saturday, April 9; UTC -7 hours	Just at sea ...
Sunday, April 10; UTC -6 hours	Thomas Colman Christian, great great great grandson of Bounty mutinee leader Fletcher Christian, gives a much-appreciated Powerpoint talk about Pitcairn and life there - the current sexual abuse crisis that is shaking the small community is conveniently left out. (As I found out later, Thomas and his wife Betty, key personalities on Pitcairn, were actually on their way to New Zealand to testify in court during the appeals process for the prosecution!)
Monday, April 11; UTC -6 hours	In the morning Rapa Nui = Easter Island = Isla de Pasqua, Chile is reached, and the Discovery anchors. Tendering ashore and first of two tours with Steffi Pauly, a German expat who fell in love here with a local: Ahu Akahanga, Rano Raraku volcano & quarry, Ahu Tongariki, Papa Vaka petroglyphs, Pito Kurio »mystery stone«, Anakena beach and more.
Tuesday, April 12; UTC -6 hours	Rapa Nui: 2nd, shorter tour to Rano Kau volcano and Orongo village, with spectacular coastal views. Also short visit to ethnographer (and recent author on Rapa nui astronomy) Edmundo Edwards - who (what a small world!) is right now hosting Tom & Betty Christian and the Pitcairn commissioner who came with the Discovery. Difficult tender return to the Discovery as the surf is up. Spectacular late afternoon departure from Rapa Nui with a 200- degree rainbow and a breathtaking sunset behind the island.
Wednesday, April 13; UTC -6 hours	Just at sea ...
Thursday, April 14; UTC -5 hours	Just at sea ...
Friday, April 15; UTC -5 hours	Just at sea ... and the weather turns grey.
Saturday, April 16; UTC -5 hours	Just at sea ...
Sunday, April 17; UTC -5 hours	Just at sea ... and finally a clear night again - with the 1st quarter Moon lying exactly on its back deep in the west.
Monday, April 18; UTC -5 hours	In the morning on dock near Pisco, Peru, in the middle of the stark coastal desert. Speedboat trip to the Ballestas Islands with tons of birds (including a handful of Humboldt penguins!) and their guano, plus noisy sea lions. Also an organized visit to the Paracas peninsula with landscapes like on Mars (namely Gusev crater), dramatic cliffs and a little archaeological museum with skulls & mummies. Excellent fresh fish in a local restaurant.
Tuesday, April 19; UTC -5 hours	In the morning the cruise comes to an end at Callao near Lima, Peru, after some 8700 kilometers travelled at sea: Organized city tour with the large archaeological museum, the Cathedral and the San Francisco Monastery with its catacombs - and the news (via our bus driver) that a German pope has been elected. Vultures circle over the city's churches (no connection implied ...); overnight at the Sheraton where major Andean-U.S. trade negotiations take place.
Wednesday, April 20; UTC -5 hours	Peru: Taxi trip to the Pachacamac ruins in the desert, with a well-preserved Inca Sun Temple and amazing sedimentary structures in the desert ground. Another taxi to the airport in Callao and flight towards the Northeast via Brazil and straight over French Guyana - the possible observing site for the 2006 ASE.
Thursday, April 21; UTC +2 hours (daylight saving time)	Arrival in Madrid, Spain (10:45) and connecting flight to Düsseldorf, Germany (2:02) - the total time spent in the air (minus the Bora Bora helicopter) now adds up to 40 hours and 33 minutes! On with two trains to Bonn and a cab to Heisterbacherrott, with 39 kg of luggage.

Finally a note about the cost of the whole adventure: Sharing a (youthhostel-style) quad cabin, the full cruise could be had for a mere $U.S. 2500 - which is actually rather cheap when one considers the almost 9000 km travelled, the full board (up to 5 excellent warm meals a day + free wine) and the classy onboard entertainment with two excellent Romanian bands and much more that was all included. If only the airlines would be more forthcoming towards cruise passengers who travel from A to B: For Europeans the airfare to Papeete and from Lima cost about as much again as the above-mentioned cheapest cruise ticket ...

More about this most unusual eclipse trip can be found in numerous e-mails sent to the SEML during the trip and a little advance site - while the Cosmic Mirror # 288 has links to many other reports!

Daniel Fischer, April 25, 2005