Blythe and Andrew's Cruise Into Totality (April 8, 2024) Let Someone Else Find The Clear Skies For Totality? Works For Us!

After our motorhome expedition in 2017 to Madras, Ore., we thought about a similar trip to Texas for our next total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. But the cost would be a lot more to drive from our new home in Vancouver, BC, or to fly to Texas and rent there. We procrastinated into 2023, but on Feb. 25 we saw an advertisement in Sky and Telescope for their expedition to see totality on the MS Zaandam off the west coast of Mexico. We checked out the price, and decided that we could see the eclipse for a lot less by booking directly with Holland America, which we did the same day.

While I loved the landscape montage of the 2017 eclipse with my AF-S Nikkor 35 mm f/1.8 lens, the eclipse elevation on the Zaandam at 70^o meant that this was not feasible for 2024. In the end, I took my two Nikon D750 cameras, my trusty Meade 4" Schmidt-Cassegrain f/10 telescope and a new Sigma 135 mm f/1.8 DG telephoto lens (operating at f/5.6 during the eclipse), which I had previously used for a couple of lunar eclipses.

	The total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, extended from the Pacific Ocean through Mexico, the USA, Canada, and into the Atlantic Ocean. Weather prospects were best around Mazatlán, Mexico, inland and offshore.

We flew to San Diego from Vancouver on March 29, overnighted, and connected up with the Zaandam the following day. It was raining as we left port, but there was gradual clearing the next day, and just a bit of cirrus cloud for the following few days.

	The itinerary of the Zaandam from March 30 to April 13, 2024, intercepting the eclipse on April 8 near Mazatlán, Mexico.

	Four days before the eclipse, Zaandam was docked next to Playa Santa Cruz in Huatulco, Mexico.

The eclipse weather forecast gradually became more accurate with each passing day. On April 6, two days prior to the eclipse, the captain held a 9:30 a.m. update to a packed audience. The news was not good. He explained how a band of cloud at the edge of the jet stream was moving from north to south, and was expected in the path of totality in two days. He outlined a plan A in which we were out at sea and sailed to Mazatlán, and a plan B where we sailed to the southwest. But we could see that there were gaps in the clouds, and were hopeful that the crew could find us a clear location.

We docked in Puerto Vallarta at noon, with gradually increasing cloud during the day. The evening was very cloudy. Next day, we took a walk along the south coast of the city before the ship departed later in the afternoon. The skies were clear that night, and I had my first view of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks near Jupiter. I took some pictures, but they weren't great. I was hanging out with the Sky and Telescope group and chatted with the magazine's Bob King. He suggested shooting the eclipse at a high ISO level with a shorter exposure, which turned out to be great advice. After walking around the ship, we decided that the best potential for low winds (and vibration) was at the back of the ship.

By 7:10 a.m. on eclipse morning, we had staked out a spot on Deck 8 Aft. There was lots of cirrus, but skies gradually cleared. The captain announced that our heading towards the southwest would be reversed to the northeast, and we revised our setup accordingly. During totality, we were at coordinates 21.6635^o north latitude and 107.3566^o west longitude, about 198 km southwest of Mazatlán, and 15 km southeast of the centerline. We lost about three seconds of totality compared to the centerline.

Local times (MST) of the eclipse based on my EclipseLive 3.0 software and DT = 69.2 seconds were:

First contact (start of partial eclipse): 09:47:08 a.m.

Second contact (start of total eclipse): 11:02:48 a.m.

Maximum eclipse: 11:04:59 a.m.

Third contact (end of total eclipse): 11:07:10 a.m.

Fourth contact (end of partial eclipse): 12:27:37 p.m.

Duration of total eclipse = 4m22s

	50 minutes after totality at Zaandam, the shadow had moved into Texas. The band of cloud that concerned us south of the Baja California peninsula is apparent in this blended image from the NOAA-20, NOAA-21, and S-NPP satellites (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership). Click on the picture for an enlarged version.

	We were supposed to see the eclipse on the centreline south of Mazatlán ("Plan" location). Clouds forced us further to the southwest. The outline of the umbral shadow is shown at the moment of maximum eclipse for the Zaandam. Click on the picture for an enlarged version.

Blythe shot this video with her iPhone of Deck 8 Aft on the Zaandam at 9:43 a.m., only a few minutes prior to first contact (start of partial eclipse). The ship's wake turns to the left, showing the final maneuver from the southwest to the northeast. Zaandam was sailing at 9.3 kn on a course of 029o during totality. In general, there was plenty of room on the ship for observers and their equipment. Click on the control buttons to replay the video. Choose full-screen if your browser/player supports it. Click here for an enlarged version.

	I start to assembly my equipment for the eclipse.

			Blythe and I observe the partially-eclipsed Sun 38 minutes prior to totality with our Holland America protective glasses. My Meade 4" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with solar filter is in the foreground. To the left is the Sigma 135 mm DG lens at f/5.6 with a solar filter. For totality, the filters were removed. The Sun in partial eclipse was shot at the same time at ISO 400 with the telescope and a 1/4000 s exposure and a solar filter.

	Second contact (start of totality), shot at ISO 800 with the telescope and 1/4000 s exposures. This time-lapse sequence was shot at one frame/s; playback is two frames/s. The ship's motion caused the Sun to occasionally move out of the field-of-view. Click on the control buttons to replay the video. Choose full-screen if your browser/player supports it. Click here for an enlarged version.

	The outer corona, imaged at ISO 800 with the telephoto and a 1/30 s exposure. Click here for an enlarged version.

	Blythe shot this video of the 360o twilight glow from Deck 8 Aft on the Zaandam. She panned from the southwest to the northwest starting at 11:04:08 a.m., 1m20s into totality. Click on the control buttons to replay the video. Choose full-screen if your browser/player supports it. Click here for an enlarged version.

	The middle corona, photographed at ISO 800 with the telescope and a 1/30 s exposure. Click here for an enlarged version.

	Third contact (end of totality), shot at ISO 800 with the telescope and 1/4000 s exposures. This time-lapse sequence was shot at one frame/s; playback is two frames/s. Click on the control buttons to replay the video. Choose full-screen if your browser/player supports it. Click here for an enlarged version.

				Baily's Beads at second (left) and third (middle) contacts. On the right, courtesy of Emapwin, is the lunar profile based on LRO/NASA data. It shows four lows (labelled with four vertical white stars) on the left side that produced the four isolated beads of sunlight shortly before totality. In contrast, a broad low (labelled with one large white star) on the right side produced a single bead of sunlight shortly after totality. Click on the lunar profile for an enlarged version.

Compared to the 2017 eclipse in Oregon, the sky was exceptionally clear and transparent, steel blue around the corona. Unlike previous eclipses, where the corona was a pearl white color, I had the impression that it was an electric white color, almost silvery. I took pictures during the first half of totality, but noticed visually after mid-eclipse that the large prominence to the lower right was very apparent, with a pale pink color.

The captain visited us about 30 minutes after totality. He was mobbed like a rock star, although he looked completely frazzled. I suspect he hadn't slept the previous night, worried about getting the ship into clear skies.

Our distance from shore meant that we missed our port stop at Mazatlán, but we docked at Loreto, La Paz, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, then had one sea day before we returned to San Diego on April 13. We flew back to Vancouver the same day.

	The day after the eclipse, sailing away from Loreto, Mexico, we were treated to the crescent Moon and comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, displaying a beautiful tail. I shot at ISO 10,000 with the telephoto lens at f/1.8 and a one-second exposure. Click here for an enlarged version.

	It's official! I did see the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024!

In appreciation of the effort of the crew to ensure success, I submitted a proposal to the WG Small Bodies Nomenclature to name one of my minor planet discoveries for the Zaandam. 2005 GS59 was discovered on Apr. 8, 2005, 19 years earlier to the day of the eclipse. On July 1, 2024, the following citation was published:

(277118) Zaandam = 2005 GS59
     Discovered 2005 Apr. 08 by A. Lowe at RAS Observatory, Mayhill.
     The cruise ship MS Zaandam encountered the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 
off the west coast of Mexico. In spite of weather challenges, the skill and 
expertise of Captain Ane Smit, his officers, and crew ensured that the discoverer of
this minor planet and the other passengers onboard successfully observed the eclipse.
     (WGSBN Bull. 4, #9, 14)

					The next three total solar eclipses occur on Aug. 12, 2026, Aug. 2, 2027, and July 22, 2028.