Blue View - How Others Around the World are Doing - Part 3

A number of our old sailing friends are still aboard their boats and the coronavirus presents some unique problems for them. Most boats are under “No Sail” restrictions, meaning they aren’t allowed to move. In many countries, arriving boats aren’t allowed in, while in others, the crew aboard arriving vessels are not permitted to leave their boat  until the fourteen day quarantine period is completed - a problem if you are arriving after a long passage and are short on provisions. You may remember a recent blog in which I described our arrival at tiny Pitcairn Island during the last pandemic. Our passage had been more than fourteen days, and the health officer graciously allowed us to come ashore since we had, in essence, been self-quarantined for more than the incubation time of the virus. This pandemic is much worse, of course, and I wonder if that same official would let us land today. We contacted three of our sailing friends in some far flung places to see how they were doing, and these are their stories.

The Philippines.

Linda lives aboard her sailboat Serafin, a sister ship to our Nine of Cups. She has spent a  number of  years sailing the Pacific, and is currently anchored off  a small island in the Philippines. Here’s what she wrote:

“Greetings from Busuanga Philippines. There have been no reported cases here. There are about fifteen boats in the anchorage and we’ve all been locked down since 15 March. Effective April 1st, one person per household can have a quarantine pass for shopping only within this township. Road blocks prevent passage out. Little stands (no stores near here) are open from 6-10am and 4-7pm until 1 May. Curfew from 8pm to 5am. There are fines or jail for offenders.

On 1st May, we migrated from Enhanced Community Quarantine to General Community Quarantine but that really only allows essential personnel to move. A “No Sail” order remains in place. Life is good here, there are places to snorkel, SCUBA, and groceries and produce are delivered to us by a nice local woman who takes all our orders each week and does a very good job of selection. The water is flat and this is, in fact, a typhoon hole.

I’m expecting it will be difficult to really go cruising for the next three to six months at minimum. And, if I attempt to go stateside to visit my mother, I’m sure I can get there but it’s really uncertain that I can get back to the boat ... 

We were on the island of Luzon and were fortunate to get the last commercial flight back to the boat before lockdown on 15th March. As we waited for our flight, one flight was cancelled because the lockdown rules abruptly engaged a few minutes after scheduled boarding! Fortunately, our flight departed as planned and I had visions of a jammed, packed flight with possibly more people with boarding cards than seats. In the end, there were about 15 passengers for a flight that could easily hold 100 or more.

On our return, we had to complete heath declarations at the airport, then sign and return them in order to leave the airport. We also had our temperature checked many times. In between the airport and the boat, there was a health road barricade with more forms and procedures and signatures, a process that took about another 15-20 minutes. We left with a form on which to answer health questions every day. We were told to complete this form and bring it to the Department of Health at the end of 14 days.  The following day (16th March) , someone from the health department phoned me to ask about my temperature. We saw the nurse from the roadblock again, on 17th March, when she came to check all foreigners at the marina/hotel. Thus, we really felt the health department was totally monitoring people. We were, in fact, PUM, Persons Under Monitoring, of which there were 83 in our area. They had other classifications, PUI Persons Under Investigation, etc. I felt that these statistics and the persons in those groupings were closely monitored. We could see the numbers change from time to time.

D: Are there medical services or hospitals nearby - just in case?

L: Google shows a hospital about 35 km from the boat. It seems quite small and it's unclear whether they have all that's needed for a dire COVID case. I'm not sure that they have a ventilator. It's possible that locals will feel that if resources are triaged that the tourists will receive care first (so as to avoid international incidents nor harm future tourism). But cruisers know we're visitors here. Could a tourist be triaged out so the resources could be applied to their citizens first? So it's impossible to know which way the resources would be applied.

D: Is the lady that fills your shopping order able to get most things... meat, produce, fish, alcohol, etc? Are there shortages?

L: I have not seen any shortages in the availability of food, but I've not been allowed to go to the market as it is in a different town and I don't have a pass to go into a different town. The prices seem to have increased, but I think that is because the costs increased. Price inflation and gouging is illegal and I saw this communicated immediately at the beginning of the lock-down. Yes, she has brought fresh produce, fruit, chicken, prawns, etc from the market. We send our list and she gets what she can. She will go to the equivalent of a supermarket, too, for non-fresh market things like rice, pasta, milk, juice, etc. It is illegal to purchase or consume alcohol. (Ed: Ouch - that’s got to be the hardest part). Local fishermen come to the boat. I purchased a beautiful coral trout two days ago and that was delicious. Some little places nearby opened up for take away: bread, pizza, etc. We've been very well cared for. 

While there's food availability, there are people who cannot afford to buy food. Some locals have set up accounts to collect donations. In a nearby tourist town, one of the restaurants manages donations in and food out to families. I've been told that they know who needs the food. I have given to these organizations because these people really have little to start with and now there's no work and no money for food. This is a basic in life. 

D: Do you socialize with the other yachties or do you stay isolated? Seems like if you’ve all been quarantined for more than 14 days, you’d all be pretty safe. 

L: When we returned to the boat on 15th March, it was the first day of lockdown. As we'd come from another province, we were required to self-isolate for 14 days which we did. Twenty days after self-isolation, I asked for a quarantine pass and were told we needed to provide our health forms signed and they'd provide us back a paper saying that we'd "graduated" from quarantine! Translations are funny sometimes. 

Some boats were better at self-isolating than others. Some didn't go on other boats and didn't allow others on theirs. But there was a faction of several boats that hung out together, so they were like a group isolation and if the bar was open, they'd go. Same with the restaurant. As things gradually closed down after the 15th March, then these cruisers would migrate between their boats. One was told to stop kite surfing. Others felt we shouldn't SCUBA dive, so we now all keep a low profile. 

There was a “No Sail” policy. In fact, some got stuck in between closures and were told they couldn't anchor and that they must go back from where they came, only to find out when they went back, that that place had closed and they were denied entry with nowhere to go. One boat was constantly harassed and had trouble for well over a week anchoring. It was almost like musical chairs.  Some anchorages have authorities visible EVERY day. Others don't. 

On 1st May, the gov't changed our area from ECQ to GCQ Enhanced Community Quarantine to General ... but it changes little for us because we are not essential personnel. About ten days before the 1st, the feeling in the cruising community was that we'd be safer now than in the future. Within our sailing community, everyone had done one form of isolation or another for more than one month and people had wondered how anyone could be infected after all that self-isolation. In fact, there are no cases reported on our island. Eventually we convened for a drink at a nearby hotel that was open because they had two stranded guests. The guests of other hotels in this area were able to get a sweeper flight away so these hotels have skeleton staffs doing maintenance type work. But the facilities are closed to us, eg, the pool, bar, etc. We can get laundry done. As the restaurant at the marina where I am, is closed, they've allowed us to use the floor for yoga that my one friend/crew does alone.

D: How are the officials? How do you handle such things as expired visas?

L: Regarding officialdom:

Around 18th March, there was a sign on the door of immigration: "No Mask, No Entry". The policy was enforced.  Unfortunately, masks have been sold out for over a month. Hand sanitizer was also very difficult to find. 

Over one week after lockdown commenced, PH immigration issued rules for those whose visas would expire. The rules were very reasonable. On 15th March (Sunday), I had tried to get an extension just after the lockdown was implemented because I knew that our visas would expire before the lockdown would end, but the offices weren’t open, so it was impossible. I was relieved later when the rules were announced. 

Linda

England

We first met Candy and her husband, David, many years ago in Puerto Montt, Chile, at the gateway to the Patagonia fiords. Tragically, David died suddenly a few years ago, but Candy still lives aboard their sailboat Endeaver in Ipswich, Suffolk in the UK. Here’s how it is for sailors in England:

Hi Marcie, David... things are good, grateful for my little steel cocoon for my isolation. Really not getting anything done except a daily walk, making my bed, and lots of electronic correspondence. 

Nowhere is open to sail to, so people who had planned to sail to the continent in April are still here. Still on lockdown, pubs still closed, but I have noticed more vehicles on the roadways today (it's a bank holiday weekend, and nice weather). I think the dopey people will be venturing out but not me. Still keeping 2 meters away from people whenever possible. Cabin fever is preferable to the virus! 

Ohhh, so many families are having to stay apart, and that must be agony. I have really been enjoying video calls...We were never in very close contact while cruising, mainly emailing, so I see more of my siblings and MIL than I have for years. I am truly blessed! 

Ipswich, Suffolk

Malaysia

Jim and Katie have been cruising friends for a long time. We first met in Ushuaia, at the very bottom of Argentina. Argentina has some great wines and we were trying to decide which ones to stock up on by having a wine tasting party aboard Nine Of Cups with a few friends. At the beginning of the evening, we discussed the merits of one Cabernet versus another. The end of the evening is a bit foggy, but I doubt we could have discerned the difference between a Chardonnay and a Malbec. At any rate, Jim and Katie on the sailing vessel Asylum became fast friends. Here’s how things are in Malaysia:

“As you know, we’re in Penang, Malaysia, where we’ve been for the last couple of years. But for one quick trip to Thailand last year for boat work, we’ve pretty much become marina rats in this lovely spot. And now, even if we wanted to, nobody on a boat in Malaysia is going anywhere. 

As of March 18, Malaysia has been under a national “Movement Control Order.” It was extended in four 2-week increments, and then just a couple of days ago, with slightly relaxed rules, was extended yet again through June 9. The early phases, as they called them, became increasingly strict. At first it was basically “stay home except to buy groceries or go to medical facilities.” Borders were closed and interstate travel was forbidden. Boats couldn’t move, even within Malaysia. Over time, more rules were added, like only one person from a household allowed out at a time, only one person in a car, no walking, jogging, dog-walking. Then they deployed the army to help set up random roadblocks around the country to make sure your trip was legitimate (Jim was stopped twice after dropping me at the hospital for PT on my shoulder). Grocery stores and pharmacies, the only stores allowed to stay open, started controlling the number of people who could enter at any one time and everywhere, from Day 1, had temperature-takers at the entry. Restaurants were allowed to stay open only for take-out or delivery, and there’s been a booming GrabFood delivery business with extremely efficient motorcycle delivery guys buzzing all over the island. 

When news of the impending lock-down broke there was an initial run on toilet paper, but since then the supply has been abundant. Except for our favorite brand of yogurt, there’s nothing we haven’t been able to get here. All in all, lockdown has been easy for us, happy hermits that we are. But then, we’re not trying to go anywhere. 

For other cruisers, the story is quite different. Many are now caught in immigration limbo with their 90-day on-arrival visas expiring. Malaysia has been understanding about this and says that nobody will be deported for having an expired visa, and after the MCO has been, people will have 14 days to move on or apply for an extension. The problem is that from here, the options for places to “move on” to are limited essentially to Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, all of which are also locked down, accepting no foreign boats, and not necessarily on the same timetable as Malaysia for opening up. Cruisers are now faced with the possibility of having no sail-to options, which makes the only leave-Malaysia option a return to their home country because none of the other fly-to options for leaving  the country and returning are available. Cruisers who might have to return to Australia, for example, are subject to 14-day quarantine at their expense in what was described as a “5-star hotel.” And then, it’s not clear if/when they would be able to leave Australia to return to their boat in Malaysia. For those at anchor, with limited resources for leaving the boat indefinitely berthed in a marina, this is a significant worry. Organized rallies are a big thing in this area and one had just set off from Malaysia for Indonesia when the MCO was issued. The group was not allowed to enter Indonesia, but also not allowed (at least initially) to return to Malaysia. Another group of some 28 rally boats is “stuck” on the west side of Sumatra, essentially unable to move. Other cruisers who were already farther west, having left this leaping-off area for trips to the Med or South Africa, are also encountering shut down countries: unable to enter if they’re not there yet or leave if they’re already there. This is indeed a tricky time to be a cruiser, or anyone caught outside of where they want to be. 

Stay safe and well, everybody!”

There are three takeaways from all this. First, all of us around the world are facing the same difficult times, with lockdowns, quarantines, business closings, travel bans, economic devastation and all the other issues we’re facing related to our new lives in the Age of Coronavirus. Second, there are much more strict restrictions in other parts of the world than we are seeing here. And third, the fear of running out of toilet paper seems to be a universal commonality.

See you next Saturday.