At the End of the Rainbow

The Cruise Ship Anchorage, Belize

“Rainbow Cruise“

Today is the first day of spring. Spring: A (?young?) man’s fancy turns to … TRAVEL! (OK, yes…among other things….) Finally, after our relatively harsh winter here in the US mid-Atlantic states we are having a nice, sunny, warm weekend. I have started our taxes with dreams of a travel budget emerging from the returns. What better thing to imagine at the end of the rainbow than a floating hotel, serenely exploring a lovely, warm tropical destination?

Last fall Nancy and I took a cruise in the western Caribbean. At anchor in Belize, I left the ship on a bright and sunny morning to spend a warm, sunny, sunburnt day on a dive boat. (Dive photos will come in a future post.) Returning the ship, our boat motored into a rain squall that seemed to cover the entire anchorage. We were once again wet. Without the sun, we were cold, too. After a few minutes waiting in the rain, our boat was allowed to approach the ship and we got back under cover. Back in the cabin, I rinsed my dive gear, took a shower, and then casually went to the window to check on the weather.

My timing was perfect. The clouds were moving off, leaving a sparkling, sunny late afternoon. Gradually the clouds lifted and moved, and another ship at anchor emerged from the curtain of rain, brilliant and white, with sun reflecting from the water still covering it. And then, a rainbow. No; Two rainbows. I grabbed my camera and ran out on deck. The humid air immediately fogged every glass surface — lens, filters, and viewfinder.

Frantic effort with a microfiber lens cloth cleared the lens. It fogged again. A sequence ensued: Polish, extend to the warm sun, polish again …. Finally, I got a couple shots. And then the ship turned and the rainbow was gone.

Nancy thinks I should sell this to Norwegian American lines. The ship in the photo is theirs, the Norwegian Jewel.

[Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16mm ultra-wide zoom at 13mm, ISO 200, f/11 at 1/1000 sec.]

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 20th, 2010 at 21:51 PM. It is filed under Land & Air, thePhotoTourist and tagged with anchorage, Belize, Caribbean, cloud, clouds, cruise, cruise ship, double rainbow, Jewel, Norwegian Jewel, not_uw, ocean, rain, rainbow, reflection, sea, ship, squall, storm, sun, Turneffe, Turneffe Atoll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.