With the surrounding areas that would provide total eclipse viewing packed with sky gazers and the traffic to and from predicted to be worse than dire, I opted to watch the 2017 event thirty-minutes from home on Lake Wylie in North Carolina. The morning was clear and bright, but big puffy clouds rolled in as I headed out to open water to find the ideal spot.
A beautiful, blue sky became even prettier with scattered, puffy clouds.
A gentle breeze replaced the early morning calm and slowly built to a steady ten-knots from the south.
The placid water’s reflection of wandering cumulus clouds was ominous for eclipse viewing.
The lookout station atop the cabin on LyonsRoar was the perfect perch to watch the Eclipse.
Hundreds of boats full of gawkers wearing goofy glasses were scattered across the lake. My boat offered the best viewing spot.
Taking pictures of the eclipse with an automatic camera using eclipse glasses for a filter was challenging.
And so it began, without any cloud cover.
Moments before our maximum of 98% sun coverage arrived, thin clouds blocked the view. It turned out to be a blessing.
The clouds acted as a filter allowing me to shoot pictures without the eclipse glasses. I could see the sun perfectly, as if the clouds weren’t there, while wearing my eclipse glasses.
Even the clouds couldn’t block enough sun once the moon moved on and let more light pass.
My decision to watch a 98% eclipse from our boat turned out much better that I expected. The light breeze that brought the clouds was cooling. The clouds themselves helped to make a hot day more bearable and the moon’s blocking of the sun dropped our high temperature for the day from 92-degrees down to 88-degrees. I’m delighted to report that traffic was light traveling both ways from home to Lake Wylie. I am thankful for such an excellent show.
The only way to make my day better would have been sharing it with Karen.