24 hour curfew

The Bahamian Government has implemented a 24 hour curfew and closed all sea and air ports. There is also a travel ban in place within The Bahamas.

We anticipated this happening and that’s why we left Black Point and headed to Rock Sound. Monday, we went to the ATM for cash, got groceries, and filled our jerry cans with diesel.

Between the hours of 5AM to 9PM, we are allowed to leave our house (boat in our case) to travel to the grocery store, gas station, or medical facilities. We’re also allowed to leave for an hour to exercise — as long as we maintain a minimum 6 foot distance between ourselves and others.

The grocery store was low on produce on Monday, which is typical in The Bahamas. A truck is scheduled to arrive today. We’ll give them a call this afternoon and make the trek to the store if they got resupplied. For our hour of exercise, we’ll take the dingy to a remote deserted beach and walk around.

It is frustrating that fellow cruisers are ignoring the travel ban and moving their boats. This morning 3 boats headed out. I can only hope they’re leaving the country, which is allowed under the travel ban.

From reports I’ve been reading, the Miami area was ordering hotels closed. Marinas fell under this order. Through lobbying from several boating organizations, marinas were exempt. Unfortunately, many of the boaters were ignoring the requests not to gather and having dock parties. The next day, the marinas were forced closed again and all boats had to leave.

I’m worried if cruisers continue to ignore the travel bans, the government will be forced take stronger measures.

We still believe we’re better off on our boat in The Bahamas than we would be back in the States. In the States, restrictions are on a state, county, and even city level. A county may allow travel, but a city in the county may restrict it. Worse, it’s changing on a day to day basis.

Here’s hoping the Bahamian hospitality holds up in these trying times. We are prepared to head back to the States if required, but we’d prefer waiting for things to settle down.

So far, the number infected in The Bahamas is still being reported as 4.