The Moment

We were easing our way into the harbor in St. Thomas back in March of 2005. Our giant cruise ship was in the process of parallel parking into a space as we docked. We were at the front of the ship on the helipad and the above scene presented itself.

The sun had just come up over the hills on the island. It was quiet except for the sound of water lapping at boat hulls. The light reflected off the boats softly. The anchored boats were lined up just right as we manuvered to dock. Click.

At the time, I knew this picture could be special. It wasn't everyday that you were on a cruise ship, at that time of day, at that particular angle, with that particular light.

So, when we returned to St. Thomas this year on another cruise, I was excited at the prospect of getting more cool shots from the ship as we pulled into the harbor. I awoke before dawn and took my place at the front of the ship. Bathed in a strong offshore sea breeze, I spent about an hour waiting on the helipad.

The sun finally broke through the clouds above the island and our ship made a left turn into the harbor. It seemed everything was in place. The harbor was there, the boats were there, the sun was up, and all I had to do now was take the picture.

I ended up taking a lot of pictures. I couldn't wait to show everybody. Then, well, life happened. While trying to download them, they somehow just disappeared into cyperspace. They were gone.

It was a pretty sick feeling. All that effort lost. But then I remembered that sometimes the journey is part of the destination and that I already had a great shot like the ones I was trying to re-create. Like I said before, I knew when I took the picture the first time that it was special.