During the summer of 2017, there was a total eclipse of the sun. Ryan and Jeff our two sons found a location in Oregon where they were able to view this phenomenon. Don and I were canoeing the Yukon River and we can’t say they we were at the right location to experience it.
The total eclipse? well we weren’t exactly impressed and in reality between the fog and the clouds it was hard to tell that it even happened. Plus where we were was not considered an ideal location to see it.
When we talked to Ryan upon our return to our home in Palmer, he mentioned that we should add an eclipse event to our list of things to do and by the way he said in 2021 there will be one in South America. Both he and Jeff were quite impressed and very enthused about the total eclipse. Ryan thought we should start planning and at least do some research of where the best location might be to see it. That event was so far away that it got buried in one of our lists. Fast forward to the spring of 2020. A friend posted photos on Facebook about a sailing trip she had done in Antarctica. When I looked up their website, I saw they had a trip that highlighted the fact that one could experience the eclipse of the sun in 2021 in Antarctica. For the fun of it I forwarded that to Ryan and he replied well it isn’t going to be a total eclipse , so not worth going there to experience it, however, the trip that begins in January 2022 looks interesting. He then said perhaps we should go and so would he and Beth, his partner. That began the plan to spend 25 days on a 60 foot sailboat exploring Antarctica. By June 2020, we made a commitment to go and sent the first payment. The planning begins! Like the song so far away, it was hard to realize what we had committed to doing. We had spent March- May 2020 in Finland where we got to experience the beginning of the world of Covid. We returned to the states late May. It was a different place when we had left. Covid seemed to be the main topic. We spent a week in San Diego with Ryan and Beth formulating what we would need to do to prepare for this adventure. At this point in time it seemed more like a dream than reality.