The next day everything went "tits up”. In the morning another cruiser came by and said they are kicking everybody out, as decreed by the French government. We went ashore to the clearance office to find out what was happening. We were “invited” to leave and return to our home ports ASAP! We were told that we were not allowed ashore (other than to the supermarket providing we had a downloadable signed paper document stating that purpose), and all restaurants, bars etc. were closed.  They started turning away yachts that were approaching the anchorages and taping up all the mooring balls so they could not be picked up! We could not obtain any clearance-out papers. This all happened in a matter of hours.

We were desperate for more information but good internet connection was sparse. Friends told us all the Caribbean islands were starting to close down. We considered sailing to Curaçao as that is where we intended to lay up again, but the ABCs are closed. We didn’t want to get stuck on a smaller island especially in the south so we decided to head back to Antigua. There were lots of posts circulating about whether or not Antigua would be open for visiting yachts and that it could close imminently. There were also reports that the Antiguan Coastguard would be turning yachts away unless you were on a list of yachts with agreed entry. I made some calls. I was told that providing we hadn’t stopped anywhere (especially not the French islands!) we should be allowed back in to Antigua as we still had clearance-out papers from Antigua. Also, we could only clear in at Heritage Quay, St. John’s, after health screening.

We set off later in the day together with La Boheme knowing that we would arrive after dark. We had a blistering sail back although Nina and I were both very tense not knowing what was going to happen when we arrived. We arrived at night and rather than heading for St. Johns, which we had not been to before, we anchored out at Jolly Harbour because we know it so well. This went remarkably well and our new Bluetooth headsets really came into their own. Nina then made us a big fry up breakfast that we ate at around 10pm because it had not been possible to prepare a decent meal under sail!

We did not sleep well that night. At first light, we moved round to St. John’s at first light. There were many yachts in a similar position. The previous day it was taking up to 8 hours to clear in. We completed a health screening questionnaire and I had to write two hand-written letters, one to the Chief of Immigration and another to the Chief of Customs to explain that we had sailed south, couldn’t go anywhere and just returned to Antigua! Thank goodness they allowed us in with no quarantine! After clearance, we sailed back to Jolly Harbour feeling somewhat relieved although uncertain of what lay ahead.

We are now anchored in Jolly Harbour, and considering the next steps. Most yachts are adopting social distancing and avoiding restaurants etc. The supermarket remains well stocked and there is fuel at the fuel dock. As things stand we are not going to be able to lay up in Curaçao. I have just managed to reserve a place in the yard at Jolly Harbour and got the very last cradle! Our existing insurer (Y Yachts) will not cover us to lay up in Antigua during hurricane season and were not sympathetic to the exceptional circumstances (I really don’t know where they expect yachts to go!). Admiral quoted a premium of over £13,000! So we are re-insuring with Anjo (Caribbean based, underwritten by Massey who in turn are underwritten by a number of British insurers including Lloyds). They are much more flexible with arrangements for hurricane season.

Now it’s all about timing. When can we get a flight home etc. I think we will probably cut the season short and lay up early. I don’t want to risk leaving the yacht in the water and then not being able to fly back to Antigua to lay up before June. Anything could happen before then. It could all get better but think we should plan for the worse.

We have mixed feelings about coming home. It is tempting to mooch around here for a while especially as I will not be able to do any work at the Nuffield for at least 3 months as it is gearing up to assist the NHS (aside from the fact I will probably feel compelled to help out with some NHS work as required). We are probably at less risk here of catching the virus than in the UK. But, if we do get sick we are certainly better off being at home. Also, we feel the need to be closer to our children who are understandably anxious about the whole situation and the terrible uncertainty about what lies ahead.