We Tried a Cruise to Watch a Total Solar Eclipse Out at Sea
We chased a total solar eclipse across the Mediterranean on a cruise, betting an entire week at sea on one question: would the sky stay clear long enough to see the sun go out? One of us saw a partial eclipse as a kid, almost thirty years ago. The other had never seen one at all. We tried once before, from a field back home, and it rained. So this time we did something a little ridiculous. We booked seven nights at sea to put ourselves in exactly the right patch of water at exactly the right minute, where the horizon is clear for a hundred miles in every direction. What followed was five ports, too much food, a running competition neither of us won, a helicopter we did not expect, and 96 seconds we will never forget. Come sail along with us. This is the whole trip, from the gangway to the moment the sun disappeared.