BAHÍA DE SANTA CRUZ HUATULCO, Oaxaca — This voyage is a unique one for Captain Ane Smit. Of the about 60 cruises he has sailed on, this is his first total solar eclipse cruise.
"Yes, maybe I shouldn't have said this. But it is true," said Captain Ane.
Ane has been a captain for over a decade and has been sailing with Holland America Line for nearly 30 years. He has captained other challenging cruises with similar high stakes.
"Antarctica, the Arctic, the Amazon, basically, pretty much worldwide. I understand that this is very important for everyone here, but yeah, equally, if you go to the South Pole, for example, everyone wants to see that, and if the weather is bad, then you have to make similar decisions," explained Captain Ane.
With many scientists onboard, Captain Ane has noticed the worries of his passengers regarding the ability to actually see the totality of clouds present themselves, "I can clearly see the eclipse anxiety. It's hard to predict clouds. They develop quickly; they go quickly. And we need some good doses of luck as well," he said.
Clouds are not usually his main concern.
"Yeah, really, some clouds is normally not much to worry about; of course, for us, it's more the wind, and with that come the waves. So, I've seen some pretty high waves, up to 15 meters, so that's 45 feet," said Captain Ane.
But the captain is prepared to take the M.S. Zaandam exactly where she needs to go in order to provide a successful eclipse experience, "We are on a mobile vessel, a vessel that can do a maximum of 20 knots, so 20 miles per hour. What we're going to do, is put ourselves right in the eclipse path, far enough from shore to allow us to go both ways."
Although the likelihood of clouds off the coast of Mazatlán is relatively low compared to most of the eclipse path, there is always a risk that Mother Nature may throw us a curveball.
"If there's going to be clouds everywhere, then I'm probably going to hide. That said, there's only so much I can do. And I realize that, too. You know, I cannot control the clouds. I can try to find a spot where there's the least clouds or no clouds," Captain Ane added.
Crossing our fingers for clear skies for everyone along the eclipse path.