Four Months Later

After leaving the boat in Bimini on March 7, we might actually be on the verge of getting back to it this week. We have cleared the Covid-19 test requirement and have our Travel Health Visas issued by the Bahamas which will allow us to enter.

Red Tape

The closed border of the Bahamas has been extended another month until the end of June. Meanwhile, we have begun what appears to be an active hurricane season with Tropical Depression Three now formed off the coast of Mexico.

In the Bahamas, some travel is now being permitted between islands and the form to request a "Permit to Travel" notes that "Each person requesting permission to travel to or within The Bahamas is required to submit a copy of this form and original COVID-19 RT-PCR test result to COVID19travel@bahamas.gov.bs" I made a second request last week to enter the country and was told I would need to complete these forms first. So Friday, after getting our doctor to order a test, Laura Lee and I were tested at a nearby CVS, and today we received the results showing the virus was "not detected".

The next step is to complete the Application to Travel and another form that, if approved, will be sent back to us as our Permission to Travel. I am also required to include copies of the Covid-19 test results, our passports, and the cruising permit for the boat, which expires in three days.

I have no idea if this is a waste of time at this point or not, or if perhaps it can be issued with some future date for our entry. With my luck it will be rejected and then the test results will no longer be current enough to use. Nevertheless, it seems worth the effort, as I've really gotten pretty desperate to get the boat out of there after the three months it has sat in Bimini. Wish us luck.

UPDATE 6/2/20: It took just a few hours after submitting all of this to find out it was indeed a waste of time. I got an email saying that the Bahamas had suspended issuing these travel cards in order to handle the backlog. Moreover, the news from the Bahamas yesterday says travel cards are no longer needed for travel within the islands and that borders will be reopened on or before July 1. So if nothing changes with the virus in the Bahamas, we shall await the reopening of the border and get there as quickly as we can.
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Still Stuck

Just a brief update. The Bahamas continue to prohibit any visitors to the country, although some citizens and permanent residents have finally been allowed to return home if they agree to be quarantined for two weeks. The current order will expire at the end of May unless it is extended again. There have been a total of 96 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Bahamas and you can see the breakdown of status and location on the government dashboard here.

Bimini, where Division Belle is located, has become something of a hotspot for the virus. There have been 13 cases reported there among the roughly 2,000 residents, so the island is under a total lockdown. Bimini is very densely populated and it is difficult to maintain social distancing there.

Being optimistic, it might be possible for me to return to my boat by June 1, but if either of these two current orders are extended, the wait will be longer, and extend into the early part of hurricane season. I have a couple of possible ways to fly into Bimini directly from home by private plane whenever it is permitted, and my thinking is that I should go as quickly as possible to retrieve the boat in case travel restrictions are reimposed. We could distance ourselves when we arrive and go straight into self-quarantine on the boat until weather permits a departure to Florida.

Division Belle during Covid-19

I am acutely aware of the suffering of so many people all over the world during this pandemic. My heart goes out to those who are sick and to the untold millions of people in severe economic distress caused by this tragedy. We are doing fine and are very fortunate to live in a community that has battened down the hatches. Any small misstep can put many in danger, so I urge everyone to stay strong and in place.

As for Division Belle, she is still safely tied up at Brown's Marina in Bimini, and I am informed by the dock master that they are keeping an eye on her for me. She is still transmitting her AIS position regularly, and it shows up on the marinetraffic.com website like this:

The Bahamas have completely closed their borders to everyone, including their own citizens and residents who might be stuck elsewhere. There is no telling when it might be safe to travel again or when The Bahamas might begin to let people in. These islands are mostly quite poor and have very limited health care facilities. It took more than 24 hours to get one citizen of Bimini airlifted to a hospital in Nassau and she unfortunately passed away upon arrival. I wish nothing but the best for the gentle people of The Bahamas.

One final screenshot of the marinetraffic website. If you look carefully you can see eight Carnival cruise ships anchored together off the Bahamas, and numerous other cruise ships just aimlessly meandering between Florida and The Bahamas. One ship's AIS transmitter shows its destination as "drifting".

Stay safe everyone, and I'll check back in when there is something to report.

Coronavirus

It has become obvious now that the Coronavirus pandemic will affect our cruising plans on Division Belle. While being anchored out in the Bahamas is probably the safest place we could be, we had been planning to come and go from the boat while leaving it in the Exumas. From there, this would involve taking international flights and spending time in international airports, things that people my age have been advised not to do unnecessarily. On my trip home from Bimini a week ago, I took a small seaplane with seven passengers to Sheltair in Fort Lauderdale, the fixed based operator there for private planes. I then rented a car to drive home. I was well-equipped with hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes for the entire trip.

I'm not in any kind of panic, but I am trying to listen carefully to the expert advice that is given. It seems logical that social distancing now will slow the spread, so as not to overwhelm our medical facilities. I'm washing my hands frequently, bumping elbows instead of shaking hands, and reconsidering gatherings and air travel that are not necessary. It just makes sense. One article I just read recommends against almost any social contact such as having friends to dinner in your home. 

I have said many times that I love being on the boat, no matter where it is. It is certainly not necessary to get to the Exumas this year, so I'm now focusing on how to get to Bimini to bring the boat back closer to home. If I can't get there next week, the boat may just sit where it is until I can safely travel. I'll be trying to figure it out over the next few days and watching the weather for a good time to start back. Here's hoping more travel restrictions are not enacted before I can get there.