Well, I was there! In Waikoloa! On the so-called clear weather zone of the island (and believe me, most of the time it is CLEAR in Waikoloa and elsewhere in West Hawaii!!! I used to live there!!!!).......

Anyway, my friend, his family and I camped out in the upper reaches of Waikoloa mauka, hoping to get a good view of the solar sight and the rushing shadow coming in from the ocean below.... We arrived at our campsite along the old and unused portion of the mauka Mamalahoa Highway, not too far away from the mauka entrance to Waikoloa village..... It was cloudy on Wednesday afternoon when we arrived, but advanced scouting during the wdays prior to the eclipse showed that it would be clear in the morning.... or so we thought....

We set up our small and simple camp, and slept in that area overnight, until I woke up at 3AM.... Looked up at the sky and all I saw was a thick layer of clouds as far as I could see at that hour.... turned on the radio and it said that things would clear up in the coastal area (about 8 miles downslope from us).... We thought it would clear up here too.... 4 Am came and went, and as we approached the 5 o clock hour, it started to rain.... So my friend and I hastily took our camp down, packed his kids into the car and proceeded in a fast retreat downhill via the Waikoloa access road to the coastal area near the Kaahumanu highway..... we went past Waikoloa Village and stables where all 3 of the local TV stations were set up, and hastily set up our new base of operations about a mile of two beyond them...

I got my 2 35mm cameras set up on their respective tripods, the video camera was set up and so were the binoculars, sun-peeps, sun-peeped mylar filters for cameras and binoculars set in place, etc., etc.... We even had our little mirror in the envelope thing ready to project the sun into the darkened reaches within one of our cars.... And for the next few minutes, we waited for sunrise and for the lingering clouds to break, all the time monitoring the live coverage from different radio stations in the area....

Sunrise came, and the lingering clouds were still obscuring the view of the eclipse which was to start in the next 30 minutes..... We hoped things would work out.... When the eclipse finally started, we did indeed got to see the moon start to take its nibbles out of the sun.....(though all of our protective eye gear of course!).... great we thought... the moment was upon us.... I could feel the anticipation of totality grow as the moment got closer and closer.....

80%, 90%, 95, 96, 97, 98%.... most of these phases heading up for totality were unobscured by the clouds.... trip cord in hand, I managed to snap off several frames with my camera as the big moment drew near....

And then, before I knew it, totality was upon me, and for a very very brief moment, I think I did SEE the darkened out sun and the corona, and i think I did get a picture of it.... but within a few seconds of that moment, the biggest and most nasty of all clouds moved in!!!! MY ECLIPSE WAS RUINED!!!! Yet, we were still cheering the eerie darkness and under those cheers, I was also cussing that damn big cloud!!!! I did however get the camcorder rolling, and after focusing on the cloud for a few moments, I swung the thing around at the horizon off of Mauna Loa mountain.... And THAT was a beautiful sight!!!! For lo and behold, while we were in total darkness, the horizon off in the east was in complete daylight!!! AWESOME! A sight that I will never forget!!!! BUT DARN! THAT CLOUD WAS STILL IN THE WAY!!!! BUMMERS!!!!

That four minutes of totality wizzed by me in what seemed to be a flash!!!! Yes, the fastest four minutes of my life!!!!!!

But it was DARK despite the short length of time.... A car even passed by with its headlights on (I can't imagine why anyone would have been driving during the time of totality!!!)...... It was slightly cooler than normal when the sun was out.... so that is another thing that I remember.... But darn... that cloud!!!!!

Before I knew it, totality was over, and just as if someone had flicked on a light switch, the sunlight reappeared!!!! I was still looking at the horizon at that time when I suddenly noticed that it was light right where I was standing.... TOTALITY was over!!!!

And that cloud was still there, but now, it seemed to be cunningly moving away!!!

And move away it did! Too late to see any corona, prominences, diamond effects or bailey's beads!!!! Totality was over, and we were in the partial phases again, this time going out of totality.... never again to be seen in the Hawaiian skies for another 115 years!!!!!

Anyway, we tried to make the best of the moment, and we again donned our sun peeps and other protective gear to look at and photograph this cosmic wonder while its effects were beginning to wane on us, only to become a memory and an image captured on film and tape.....

On its way out of totality, the sun shone upon us once again, in most of its glory as the big cloud that ruined my view had simply drifted away.... I took in what I could and savored the moments leading up and into totality.... I won't forget it.... I'll always have a bittersweet memory of this eclipse.... Yes, I have to say it was awesome, but missing the corona is like, well missing out on a chance to see the Super Bowl live in person.....

So my misfortune has kind of set my thoughts now on the future, as I am contemplating on catching a total eclipse in either Bolivia or Texas in 1994.... From what I hear Bolivia should be good, but Texas will only be an annular eclipse, meaning that the moon's disk will completely go in front of the sun, but since the moon will be farther away from the earth at the time, the impression the disk will leave on the sun will not be as spectacular as a full eclipse..... So I guess I'd better start planning.... Anyone else want to go???? I cannot guarantee a cloudless day, but it MAY be worth chancing it.... at least I MIGHT!!!!

Well there you have it... my account of that eclipse. I never made it anywhere else to see a total solar eclipse, since none will be visible in the United States for the rest of this century.

In comparison, read Tina's account of her eclipse sighting.

2004 Partial Solar Eclipse

If you have any comments of your own account of the 1991 eclipse, feel free to drop me an e-mail. My address is macpro@lava.net. Thanks for stopping by.

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