Back on March 17th I was at the end of a wonderful 11 day charter where we spent 5 days on St Lucia and then sailed 20 miles north and spent another 5 days on Martinique. When they arrived the Corona virus outbreak was just starting and we read lots and lots of Facebook post telling how the entire USA was out of toilet paper, grocery store shelves we empty, and everything was shutting down. All we could think was “what the heck is going on up there?” in between the 3-4 snorkels a day and some afternoon naps. 🙂 To say we were all simply enjoying life aboard a boat in the Caribbean and did not have a care in the world is putting it mildly.
The night before we left Martinique I checked and everything was fine, so we got up, they had a couple swims, and then we set sail for the ride back to St Lucia. It was a fantastic 4 hour sail. Hardly any waves, but still decent speeds. The only bad part is we did not catch a tuna like on the trip to Martinique, darn.
Once we sailed into Rodney Bay I took us into the Lagoon to get a mooring ball and ashore we went to check in. The first step was a new procedure of having the health department check you over (basically filled out a form and they took our temperature with an infrared gun). It was here that we found out they closed the island to new arrivals just that morning and anyone not checked in by 5pm was screwed. We were fine, but I check the next morning and there were three boats they would not let check in…..including one that just spent 17 days crossing the Atlantic Ocean (I mean if anyone is safe it would be them, right? Haha).
My guest flew out with no problems and St Lucia is where I have been since. As I explain to my mother, I was not quarantined in St Lucia and not allowed to leave. They would have been fine if I checked out and sailed away, but every island in the Caribbean is not open to new arrivals, so there was nowhere to go. With that said, I can think of worst places to be stuck then St Lucia. I have clear blue water, an amazing and empty beach, warm temperatures, and friendly people ashore. Life is good in the Caribbean!!!!!!
Pigeon Point on the north part of Rodney Bay
