March 18th update

Sue and I are still in Black Point Settlement. Friends were scheduled to fly into Rock Sound Eleuthera Monday to meet us. We’ve been waiting at Black Point for the winds to shift from east to southeast so we could sail.

Yesterday, their plans were cancelled and we’re trying to figure out where we want to go next. We know we don’t want to go to Nassau as there have been 3 confirmed cases of COVID-19. We were thinking George Town, but there was chatter on the SSB (shortwave) radio this morning about someone being airlifted out due to the virus. I haven’t seen that reported anywhere else, so I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s enough to knock George Town down a couple of notches.

We’re starting to think somewhere remote without an international airport would be best. But, what happens if we already have it and start showing symptoms while we’re on a remote island? Can we sail back to civilization and get help?

The other option is coming back to the US, but many of the marinas are closed. I’d also like to avoid the panic that seems to be running wild in the US. My allergies are acting up and I’m running low on medicine. I’d hate to get rounded up and thrown into quarantine because of hay fever.

It’s status quo here in the Bahamas. We went out for happy hour, dinner, and later a bonfire on the beach. We thought the mailboat came in last night to resupply the stores, so we got up early to get fresh produce and milk, but it was the wrong boat. We went for a nice long walk in the bright sun. UV light is supposed to kill viruses, right? The mailboat finally arrived this afternoon, so we’ll try to top off on provisions.

Tonight, we’re going to hit happy hour at Club Scorpio and figure out where we’re going next. Scott from Long Shot is still anchored with us. Hopefully, we can buddy boat for a while until this blows over.

We’ll keep you updated. We’re safe and on a boat, about as self quarantined as you can get… at least until happy hour.