Perils of COVID-19 in Paradise
Leslie and Andrew Godfrey were in the middle of a five-day, 750-mile sail from Sri Lanka to the Maldives in South Asia in early March. They had no internet access and didn’t know about the spread of COVID-19. When they made landfall, the Maldives had discovered its eighth case of the coronavirus. While the Godfreys were trying to check in, local officials called a meeting and by the time they emerged, the Maldives had declared a state of emergency.
Forced Living Aboard
The Godfreys, both 38, call Las Vegas home and started their sailing journey five years ago on their 39-year-old Valiant 40 sailboat. Their stop in the Maldives was supposed to be part of a cruise that was going to take them south along the length of an archipelago that’s famous for its welcoming inhabitants. From there, the Godfreys were planning to continue to South Africa.
During the pandemic, countries like the Maldives made it a priority to stop the spread of the virus to protect their populations. Foreign-flagged boats have been isolated to one area, basic supplies are delivered and the sailors have access to a deserted atoll.
The Godfreys have been anchored for two months and are weighing their options. The Maldives are relatively secure and if they try to get back to the U.S., they don’t know which borders will be closed.
Waiting it Out
In an unpopulated atoll in the Bahamas, the Trautman family, Brian, 43, Karin, 33, and their infant Sierra are islolated and waiting on the pending hurricane season. Their plan was to pick up Brian’s brother and then head north on their 53’ Delos sailboat to Newfoundland and Greenland, then through the Northwest Passage to Seattle.
Instead, they’ve spent the last 80 days sheltering in a remote anchorage with eight other boats. There’s no nearby medical care and groceries take three days to be delivered by a local freighter from Nassau. “I feel like we’ve been preparing for this our entire sailing career,” Brian Trautman told CNN. “We have months of food and fuel and can make our own water and alcohol.”
Trying to Get Home
Many sailors have started blogs while at sea. Susie Harris, 62, and her 53-year-old husband Kevin are trying to return to Ireland on their 47’ (14.33 m) sailboat, Temptress of Down. They left the United Kingdom in 2013, sailing across the Atlantic through the Caribbean and then crossed the Pacific from Panama to Singapore. This year, the plan was to head through the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and Suez Canal and eventually home. “It’s beginning to feel like the boats making the passage up the Red Sea are bit parts in a disaster B-movie,” Susie wrote in her blog.
When they hit the Red Sea, ports starting shutting down. After the couple left Djibouti on March 7, it learned that Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt — countries at which they were planning to stop — had closed their borders and were turning away sailboats.
After acquiring expensive emergency fuel and supplies, the Harrises pushed on, dealing with the myriad challenges that come with open-ocean sailing. The biggest problem came when their water maker broke. During a stop in Crete, local farmers gave them some vegetables that they couldn’t ship because of the crisis. The Harrises were hoping to stop in Greece.
Isolated in French Polynesia
Michael and Nathalie Neve and their kids Naomie, 7, Bastien, 9 and Noah, 11, were in French Polynesia when the restrictions set in. They had long-stay visas issued last year and were planning to explore the region until the end of April and then start sailing west to finish up the family sabbatical, arriving in Australia in November.
Instead, after 60 cases of the virus were discovered, French Polynesian officials locked down the area and ordered the Neves to isolate aboard their 43’ (13.11 m) sailboat, Ubi. The couldn’t go to shore or even swim in the water where they were anchored.
The Neves are trying to weigh options that include leaving their boat in Tahiti and flying home to Oregon on what are called “repatriation flights,” trying to sail to Hawaii or push across the Pacific and hope a country will let them in.