Back in Saint Martin! (and slightly relieved)
Hi friends!
What a crazy time to travel... after a week in Stockholm and amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, we were starting to wonder if we’d make it home.
Flying to Stockholm was a bit of a surreal experience, with a lot of people wearing masks at the airport. It felt like something out of a movie, and we didn’t really understand the mask thing. We listen to the global news every day, but we wondered if we had missed something we should know.
Our stay in Stockholm was very normal and super busy (as always). We met a lot of our friends, did everything to in the Caribbean (dentist, optician, physiotherapist, etc...) and evening squeezed in a visit to Stockholm’s boat show where we met a few of you!
When it was time for us to fly back to the boat, the infamous virus had made its way to Stockholm, and a few cases had been detected. Now there were talks of countries shutting off travel, some big events got canceled and... toilet paper was disappearing off the shelves in the supermarkets?!! (Can’t figure that one out!)
When we landed in Sint Marteen, the immigration agents were asking a lot of questions about where in Europe we had been, if we had been to Italy within the last 14 days, or if we presented any symptoms such as coughing, breathing difficulty or fever.
A guy in front of us was coughing and denying presenting any symptoms, which we thought was really weird.
By the time we had gotten back to the boat, Stockholm’s boat show had been canceled, Denmark was shutting off their border, and we are now looking at what measures we should take to protect ourselves and others.
The timing couldn’t be weirder for a friend of ours to come and visit us from the US. Between the time he got on the plane in Minneapolis and the time he landed, Trump announced new travel restrictions, and we’re all in a bit of a limbo.
A lot of disinformation is spreading in the Caribbean as to what countries are shutting off their borders, and it takes a little bit of research to debunk what is accurate and what is a rumor.
The atmosphere in Saint Martin (we moved to the French side!) isn't panicky from what we experience. There are still people in bars and restaurants, and the toilet paper shelves are still well-stocked.
For now, we are staying in Saint Martin and will avoid going to big gatherings such as the SXM festival (which hasn’t been canceled... yet?).
We still go out to bars and restaurants, as we do want to continue participating in the local economy, but are extra careful with washing our hands. We are cautious with inviting our friends onboard as we all traveled recently and don’t want to put anyone at risk, but we also don’t want to give in to the panic and isolate ourselves completely. We use common sense and pay attention to the situation.
Our next destinations are the BVIs, but we are monitoring the news before making any move. Such a weird time we are all going through these days...
We find comfort in the fact that we are well provisioned (including our stock of toilet paper ;)) and that we have all the resources to be self-sufficient. Should the worst happen, we also have a good pharmacy onboard and health insurance!
We are both doing very well, and hoping that you do too. Much love from us, and stay safe 💜
Sophie and Ryan