February 10, 2022
It was our first night in this new anchorage, and what a lovely night it was! The early evening skies had dramatic windswept clouds, but they cleared as the evening deepened and became a beautiful indigo blue, complete with a bright white moon. (Click to enlarge any photo in galleries that follow.)
Later I went out to view the night sky, the first one I’ve seen in awhile as it’s either been cloudy or we’ve been too close to city lights to get a good look at the stars. Actually it was cloudy near the horizon tonight, the moon now low and lighting up those clouds, but the sky above us was dark and clear. I loved looking up to find Orion. It’s just a constellation, but to me it feels like an old friend. This is the constellation I could always pick out as a kid, and he seemed to watch over us during our cruises to and from Hawaii and Mexico.
We also see Orion in the southern hemisphere, although he’s not around when we’re cruising in the tropics but instead appears in the summer night sky while we’re in New Zealand. Right above us was the Milky Way, and behind our boat was another constellation we feel fondly about, the Southern Cross.
I took some photos above us some of the lit-up clouds near the moon. There was one I particularly liked of a cloud thinning out with the stars starting to shine through, with Orion perched above it. It felt comforting to know that Orion would be watching over us again in the days to come. –Cyndi
