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Islands eclipse watching (August 1999) by Tony Wallbank It all started on Sunday evening, loading up the boat and getting everything ready. We spent Sunday night on the boat but just moored up on our normal mooring in Poole Harbour. Monday's forecast was for a southerly wind - not much use if you want to sail south! Lots of boats did leave on Monday heading south but I think they must have had an uncomfortable and long trip. Instead we went west along the coast to Weymouth. It was a good sail, and Weymouth had something of a carnival atmosphere. Weymouth was out of the total eclipse area but it would be close, and the harbour was crammed with boats, many of which were heading west to the area off Cornwall where the eclipse would be total. We, in common with many others, were going across the channel, and we had our departure time set at 5 am the next morning. As forecast, Tuesday saw a wind from the north - much better, and we were soon underway and then having breakfast "on the hoof". We reached Cherbourg around 8 pm, and anchored in the inner harbour, but not in the marina - too busy in there with hundreds of yachts. Tuesday night was fine, but Wednesday morning, the day of the total eclipse, broke cloudy. Boats started leaving at 5 am; it might have been even earlier for all I know. We had breakfast, watched the clouds come and go for a while, and left around nine. Cherbourg was in the area of totality but we wanted to be at sea, a bit further north and closer to the centre line of totality. The clouds came and went during the morning, with good views of the sun and also periods of time where it was well obscured. We experimented projecting an image of the sun onto card using the boats binoculars. This worked well, at least it did on those occasions that the sun was clear, and we could see a nice crescent shape as the moon took an ever larger bite out of the sun. The image was bright, about an inch across - well actually there were two eclipses of the sun as binocs have two tubes and we did not block one of them off. We also used our eclipse viewers but it was a bit too dim most of the time because of the cloud. Trials with a pin hole were less successful, as we didn't have a stable enough platform on a boat at sea to get a large enough image, so that was quickly abandonned. Just before totality we had a glimpse of a very thin sliver of light down the side of the moon. The whole area was quite dim already, but it was still obviously daytime. Then, all of a sudden, the sails of a yacht a couple of miles ahead went dark. Then a cross channel ferry (stopped for the duration) also a couple of miles away went dark. Then it was dark where we were. Totally dark, like a night. Even though it was cloudy it was very spectacular and an amazing sight. I could see north to the side of the total area to the thin line of light and the same south. In between it was night time, and all the automatic lights on buoys and lighthouses came on. Surprisingly, people on the cross channel ferry were taking photos, with automatic cameras. Even at two miles we could see the flashes from their cameras. (not that they should use flash of course, as there was nothing to illuminate!). All too soon the approaching dawn moved over the water, first to the yacht in front and then to the cross channel ferry. Then it reached our boat, and it was daylight again. It was still eerie as it was dim light, but it was like early dawn and no longer like night. So you could say I missed it. And in a way I did as I did not see the corona or the moon right in the centre of the sun. But it was still an amazing sight, and completely outside the normal experience. Right now as I write this I am watching the whole thing on video as transmitted live by the BBC on the day. They had the benefit of an aircraft flying above the clouds. The rest of the week turned into a nice sail around the channel islands. After the drama of the eclipse we sailed south between Alderney and the Cherbourg peninsula and down to Guernsey. Again, it was stacked full of yachts, some from as far away as Germany. A nice evening ashore followed by shopping in the morning lead onto a sail to Herm, with a nice walk around the north of the island. In the late afternoon we sailed over to Sark to a splendid anchorage surrounded by tall cliffs. I had not seen the stars so brightly for a long time, and it was coming up to the time of the Leonid meteor shower, and in half an hours viewing I saw thirty or more meteors. By this time it was Friday, and we were off to Alderney. Alderney is a great place, and have sailed there many times. We found out that if we'd been there during the eclipse we'd have seen a little of the totality as the clouds parted halfway through. We'd only been four miles away and had less luck. Alderney was very busy too, with many times the normal number of summer holiday makers there. I took a tour of the lighthouse, and the keeper said he'd had to turn people away for the first time ever as it was so busy. Alderney light (on Quenard Point) is one I had seen many times from the sea, both by day and by night, so it was interesting to look around. It is now fully automated, and the keeper seemed only to have to cut the grass and make sure the standby generator actually started if the mains electricity failed. The whole
week was very good, but with better sailing weather than eclipse watching
weather. The sail back was very good, and took less time than outward
journey. Leaving Alderney at 9 am we were snugly anchored back in the
peace and quiet of Studland Bay, just outside Poole, at 8:30 pm. A very
quick trip really, with ideal sailing conditions most of the way across.
To complete the week the next day, Sunday, saw us in the pub at Studland
taking part in their Real Ale festival, watching the morris dancers and
sampling some of the 50 ales and ciders. First published in VISA issue 35 (winter 1999). |