How the pandemic is affecting cruisers

This article was originally written and published by me on the Ocean Cruising Club website. I am posting here as well just to keep from losing it. 

Main Photo (c) Caroline Dobbs.
The vessels departing from Antigua (left to right) Nebula, Fathom and Balou,
all UK registered and heading home.

Pandemic in Paradise 

Daria Blackwell |  27/05/2020

As reports of Covid-19 outbreaks began to circulate, the OCC was monitoring the situation in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and IndoPacific regions. What could we do to assist stranded cruisers?

Reports from China of a highly contagious novel coronavirus began circulating in January. But China was far away from most places in paradise. At first, tourism remained active and cruisers went about their business blissfully unaware of the mounting threat of a pandemic.

As tourists flying in from severely affected European nations began to show signs of infection and coronavirus began to spread, the local governments responded. Many of these island nations have limited medical resources and a history of devastation due to outbreaks of diseases against which native islanders have no immunity and no defences. Very quickly, the situation began to change.

The OCC AGM and Awards Dinner was to take place in Annapolis in April, the first time it was to be outside the UK and we had a record crowd attending from around the world. We made the decision to cancel that event early on and to move the AGM online. One by one, events were cancelled in the sailing world and elsewhere. Cork 300 was cancelled, cruises in company were cancelled, the Olympics were cancelled. It was going to be a strange summer as many boats weren’t even being launched. It's hard to imagine now that this was just two months ago.

Distance sailors were facing an especially difficult challenge. Many were far from home, living aboard their boats, and had to keep moving with the seasons. Some on circumnavigations were halfway around. As the pandemic unfolded, we realised that the OCC could be of invaluable assistance to cruisers getting stuck in places they did not expect to be when borders closed.

There was a good deal of desperation caused by misinformation circulating among the cruising community. We decided quickly that we should open our Facebook Atlantic and Pacific Crossing groups, and our Caribbean Net+ group to non-members to facilitate exchange of reliable information. At the same time, we received a request from Noonsite to ask our Port Officers around the world to send us verifiable information as it came in. We began sending all the information to Sue Richards, editor of Noonsite, making Noonsite the central trusted source on Covid-19 border restrictions for recreational craft. Island after island began restricting the movement of populations.

First, stay at home orders were issued and social distancing recommended. Tourism was curtailed and businesses shut down. Only essential services remained operational. Not bothered by such restrictions, cruisers are used to long periods of isolation and provisioning for extended periods when crossing oceans. As borders began closing, and distance sailors realised they might end up in a hurricane or cyclone-prone area without insurance coverage, many took action early to lay up their boats and fly home while they still could.

For others, this was not a possibility. Some could not afford to fly out, others did not have a space reserved for haul out, and still others have no home to fly to as their yacht is their home. Some who had arranged for their yachts to be shipped across the oceans were told the transports were cancelled. What to do? Suddenly, as borders shut around them, hundreds of yachts became stranded in places they did not expect to be at the wrong time of the year. What were their options? Stay where they were and sail out of the way should a storm be forecast? Sail south hoping to get entry to an island or a country out of the named storm box. Sail home when the weather permitted, taking a chance that they wouldn’t be allowed to refuel or reprovision en route? The worst off were those who set sail when everything was fine, only to arrive at a closed border at the other end.

One family of three arrived in Curacao after a sail from St Maarten only to be told that they could not enter and could not even anchor. Several more boats arrived after them and were told the same. Our OCC Port Officer in Curacao sprang into action and wrote articles for the local press to put pressure on the politicians to allow the vessels to remain under quarantine. He was successful in convincing the authorities to make an exception. He brought them provisions and ensured their safety.

Suddenly, the Q flag, which for decades had been just a formality, had meaning again. Yachts flying the Quarantine flag at anchor were not to be approached and their crew was not to disembark for 14 days. In some places, the crews were not even permitted to swim around their boats. In a similar boat were those who were told to leave when they had no place to go. For example, the French islands of the Caribbean and French Polynesia took the home directives of ejecting foreigners quite literally. It didn’t matter that other borders were closed and the cruisers would have to sail thousands of miles in challenging conditions -- sometimes without even being able to take on water, food and fuel -- to reach home, or at least an open border. There were no guarantees that after a month at sea, the situation when they arrived would be the same as when they left. And there was no amount of explaining that a month at sea meant no virus was aboard. The World ARC was called off mid-way in French Polynesia. That was a clear signal that things were about to get worse.

One boat was turned away from South Africa and continued on to St Helena, where they were initially turned away as well. Their only choice as a US-flagged vessel would be to sail to the United States, but they had crew aboard who were not American and without visas likely to be turned away. Eventually, they were allowed to refuel and disembark crew. The skipper continued on to the USVI. This small yacht sailed many thousands of miles without stopping, something that was not undertaken intentionally.

Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean, a British/Canadian family of five at anchor in the Balearics for weeks was suddenly told they had to leave. They had until then lived by the rules as the residents did, the parents taking turns shopping for provisions once a week, otherwise staying aboard in isolation. Now they were told they had to leave without reprovisioning. OCC Port Officers secured entry for them into a marina but an attorney in Ibiza instructed them not to leave without written permission to enter their next destination. So complicated and, with three children aboard, frightening. They ended up sailing to Italy and were welcomed there.

To help get the story out, the OCC collaborated with a journalist who is also a single-handed sailor on lockdown in Greece. Susan Smillie wrote an article in the Guardian which captured the attention of the world and BBC World News. Suddenly journalists, documentary makers, and authors were captivated by the story of cruisers stuck in paradise -- not billionaires on megayachts, but normal people trying to maintain a modest, sustainable, adventurous lifestyle. 

Vessels at anchor in Horta

Exchange of reliable information so that stranded cruisers could make their own rational decisions proved invaluable. Armed with the knowledge that they were not alone, they made plans to return home.

Boats already in the Pacific faced difficult challenges with few options, although there is some hope that the situation may be easing in French Polynesia. Cruisers throughout French Polynesia were being directed to Tahiti where they were to leave their boats and fly home. Hundreds of yachts were now at anchor with cyclone season approaching and nowhere safe to sail to. Our Global Support Network is now working as a team spanning from Panama to French Polynesia, New Zealand, and Australia to help cruisers of all nationalities whether or not they are OCC members. Faced with vast distances to traverse and uncertain situations at arrival, there are few decisions that can be made. Our team is not advocating for casual cruising, only for acceptance of yachts who will agree to quarantine and medical checks even after many weeks at sea. 

Meanwhile back in the Caribbean, we used our Facebook group to put together a list of boats intending to cross the Atlantic, sent an email query to all those on the OCC Fleet Map but not on Facebook, verified that vessels could reprovision in the Azores, enlisted members to set up SSB and SAT communications, and set up ground support for those returning home. The members of the groups have been exchanging ideas and formulating plans. We are seeing an unprecedented return to Europe this year, with most boats not continuing into the Pacific and unable to haul out outside of the named storm zones. This with a more active than normal Atlantic hurricane season predicted. We have more than 175 yachts on our list and many more waiting to make a decision. Already, Arthur, the first tropical storm of the season ahead of schedule in May, caught two single-handed sailors returning to Scandinavia and caused one to divert to the Chesapeake.  

The Salty Dawg Rally has organized a flotilla of about 260 yachts returning to the United States. Some have called it the ‘Escape from Paradise’ sail. Others are still hoping to proceed with their original plans. In some places, the locals were beginning to stage a backlash against the cruisers who were thought to be bringing the coronavirus in with them, not understanding that being at sea for weeks was quarantine in itself.

Signs posted on beaches telling cruisers to remain on board or leave began popping up on remote islands. In the US Virgin Islands, where hundreds of American-flagged yachts congregated at anchor awaiting favourable weather for the transit back, the islanders accused them of polluting the waters and damaging the ecosystems. Yachts that left their moorings to sail out to empty tanks and make freshwater faced returning to a blocked or occupied mooring. In a few places, crews breaking the rules and congregating on beaches, caused severe 24-hour curfews for everyone. Fortunately, there were few such incidents reported.

Yet, in places like the Galapagos, the crews were treated graciously. When word came of a radio marathon to raise badly-needed funds for medical equipment to fight Covid-19, an OCC member organised the few yachts remaining at anchor there to raise $1200 for the islands’ fund which was gratefully accepted in person by the Vice Mayor of Santa Cruz. The generosity of the cruisers was acknowledged publicly and sincerely. When an OCC member read about the Galapagos, they did the same for families in the Bahamas who had lost their jobs, raising more than $2000.

In Barbuda, where five yachts remained at anchor for weeks awaiting favourable weather for a crossing of the Atlantic, they were not permitted into the town of Codrington, but were otherwise welcome to remain, swim, and fish. A couple of boats with children after two weeks at anchor in isolation were able to socialise at a distance. Two boats had watermakers and were resupplying the others. One family of four who were all musicians performed evening concerts in the anchorage for all to hear. The Coast Guard stopped by from time to time to see if everyone was okay but were cordial and kind. It was a memorable time for them all.

As the weather window opened for the Atlantic crossing -- that 6-8 week period during which the gales coming off the Americas moderate and before hurricane season begins on the 1st of June -- yachts began taking off. First one, then three, then the entire Atlantic fleet stretched from Spain to Mexico. OCC volunteers have been monitoring the fleet tracker and SSB nets and coordinating with the Coast Guard on both sides of the Atlantic, SSCA's KPK and Boatwatch, as well as the German Trans-Ocean e.V., working very hard to stay in tune with those on the high seas. 

Throughout this process, it became clear that the OCC represents a truly knowledgeable, giving and exceptionally experienced community. No amount of publicity could have achieved the goodwill toward the OCC that our members have earned. Just being able to share information and resources with the cruising community at large and helping people to reach their own informed decisions in the company of other like-minded and vastly experienced individuals was a comfort to so many. I want to thank every one of our members who are out there helping all those in need in these trying times.

What I have witnessed in 2020, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is that the level of cooperation and support among the cruising community has been extraordinary. In any case, it is likely this will not be over soon, global cruising may be changed forever, and 2020 will certainly be a year to document and learn from. Let’s hope that when it is over, the lessons will not have been too painful.

End. 

Saoirse being assisted by 'the boys' from Peter Cafe Sport.