Sunday, February 15, 1998. THE MIAMI HERALD _______________________________________________

A sight to see:  Carib's  coming  total  eclipse

By ROBERT W. BONE
Special to The Herald
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^{The 1991 eclipse at sea in Hawaii.}
(Photo by Robert W. Bone)

Will you be in the Caribbean on Thursday, February 26? If so, you may be in for a heavenly treat that won't be duplicated in the United States for nearly two decades.

It is a duplicate of an event I witnessed in Hawaii on July 11, 1991, and I highly recommend it:

A total eclipse of the sun.

Now, we're not talking about a namby-pamby "partial" eclipse. Seeing a partial is like drinking half a beer, or going out on a heavy date and sneaking only a pleasant goodnight kiss.

A total eclipse is the ultimate, the zenith, the apex of of this kind of experience. No one who has never seen one can really tell you what it's like. Some have described it as akin to dying and being born again.

Of course the basic facts sound mundane. The path of the moon places it in front of the sun for a few minutes. During that time, you can safely look at the sky with or without binoculars see a black orb surrounded by the sun's corona -- a ring of fire with occasional licks of orange and red flame.

(At times other than during the period of totality, or in areas where only a partial eclipse is visible, you must view the event through special dark filters in order to protect your eyes. Residents of southern Florida will see only a partial eclipse.)

All who witness a total eclipse seem to feel it in a deeper part of their soul. It's frightening, it's beautiful, it's totally awe-inspiring as it shakes a part of the psyche far removed from our logical frontal lobes. You can feel some of fear that folks in ancient times must have felt -- those who were not armed with the scientific information that we have today.

This year, thousands of tourists are expected to witness this event. In the Pacific, only those in or near the Galapagos Islands will have the pleasure. Then the eclipse will progress to northern Venezuela and to northern Columbia.

But its greatest audience will be those who gaze upwards on or near the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Montserrat, Antigua and Guadeloupe -- and, of course, those fortunate enough to be aboard cruise ships who will navigate to areas of the Caribbean Sea in between these islands.

Part of the tantalizing nature of a total eclipse is that being in the right place at the right time does not always ensure that you will have the complete experience. Clouds and other variations in local weather patterns can drift across the sky at just the wrong moment.

Hundreds were disappointed in 1991 when crowds of scientists and others gathered on the Big Island of Hawaii -- directly in the path of totality -- but saw nothing more than a temporary dimming of their surroundings while a mischievous cloud hovered overhead. Others, perhaps only a mile away, were treated to the whole enchilada.

The fortunate few talk of birds beginning to nest, and of stars coming out. Many gasped as a dark velvet glove seemed suddenly to be cast over the entire world -- a glove that seemed to wear a gleaming diamond ring.

My own experience that day was fortuitous. I was aboard one of two cruise ships then operated by American Hawaii Cruises. As the hour of totality approached, the captains were also worried about clouds gathering in the area. But using their radar, both ships were able to navigate to a clear portion of the sky.

The menacing shadow approached us across the water at breakneck speed, and then we were suddenly surrounded in a sort of deep twilight, then seemingly held in the shadow's grasp as all on deck gasped or shouted. I was so taken by the enormity of the experience that in three minutes I only managed to take one decipherable photograph (see picture). It showed the other ship, its lights suddenly visible while our own passengers on two decks were silhouetted against a gray sky with the mysterious black but shining orb above.

But no photograph, and perhaps no verbal depiction of the event could do justice to the experience itself. Later many of us spoke to those who had been positioned at various points on land to see the "partial" eclipse. They had found it "interesting." But none reported the same heart-stopping, almost religious experience of those of us who had a clear, unobstructed view in the path of totality.

If you can't catch this year's total eclipse in the Caribbean, you could begin making advance plans for next year. A path of a total eclipse is scheduled to cross the heart of Europe in August, 1999.

Younger folks can, of course, simply wait for 19 years. Residents of the continental United States will be able to view a total eclipse perhaps without leaving home in August, 2017.

(n.b. The Miami Herald used a map instead of a photo.)

Editors: Ask me for the URL of the special "Editors Only" website containing live copy and downloadable, high-resolution photos.