Today begins Day 52 of our Living the Dream in Quarantine!

Things haven’t changed much for us here on 5KNOTS. Still Quarantined to our boat with the exception of going to shore for Groceries (provisions), Fuel, Water or Laundry needs. Renée typically goes to shore once a week for groceries and I make the run to Shrimpy’s (image at left) for water and to drop off laundry.

Renée does the grocery shopping at a gas station that also has a small market with a pretty good supply of basic daily needs. It is a short dingy ride to shore where we secure our dingy (2.5 KNOTS) to a palm tree on shore. Then it is about a five minute walk, so very convenient. The larger grocery stores are over two miles from where we are anchored so in order to go there it is quite an adventure by dingy. Renée has only made that trip once and it was just the other day to stock up on meats and things the small local market does not typically carry. For some reason the local market can no longer get eggs.

Shrimpy’s is roughly two miles from our anchorage and I make the run first thing in the morning before the trade winds start cranking up. Once that happens the waves start to build and results in a salt water shower for whoever is in the dingy. After 52 days we have the process down pretty well. I pickup Tim’s laundry and make the first run. The trip consists of riding two miles each way, filling six Jerry cans with water, dropping off his and our laundry and getting a gallon of fuel for the dingy. I then return and Tim tops off his water and waits until 4:00pm when the laundry will be ready. Tim makes the afternoon run to refill the water for 5KNOTS and picks up the laundry.

We spend our days catching up on current events/news with our phones and staying up to date on when we will get the go-ahead to travel again. The current restrictions prevent you from even moving your boat to another part of the anchorage. The Douane (Customs Officer) and Gendarmerie (Military Police) patrol the lagoon and surrounding water to make sure everybody is adhering to the social distancing and restrictions that are in effect. They swing by and record our boat name and location to make sure we are still where we should be.

We did have a spa day where Renée gave both of us a pedicure. I am looking forward to another one of those. We also take time to use the stair stepper several times a day and recently started doing frontward and backward planks. Full disclosure, I stopped doing them but Renée is still at it!

Renée continues to make sure we have good well balanced meals to eat. Recently, Mezza Luna opened with a limited menu and for carryout out only. For now, the only thing you can get is pizza but it is awesome and there is plenty of toppings to choose from. Mezza Luna is just across the street from the gas station/market and has a really nice beach with beautiful water. The owners put together a small table out back by the water for us to sit at, a nice treat.

You can still see the damage from the hurricane that hit two years ago. Many places are still ruined and there are many boats still recked in the lagoon and along the shore lines. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be here when one hits. They said that the water  serge was about 20-25 feet high. With the power that comes with the surge, it is a wonder that anything is left standing.

Here you can see a sailboat that still remains washed up on shore after the storm. Very Sad.

We did hear some promising news just today. The French side of Saint-Martin has now opened the beaches. Businesses and restaurants are also allowed to reopen. Starting Monday, we will no longer be required to carry the special documentation that allows us to go to shore.

Grenada and Trinidad are putting together schedule’s for when vessels will be permitted to enter their countries. We are on a list for both but our first pick is to go to Trinidad. It is our understanding that we should know more in the next few days. We are cautiously optimistic about being able to get moving very soon. Yesterday was a calm day so we took advantage of that and scraped our bottom and cleaned our prop. We also make sure our Diesel and water are topped off and we have plenty of food onboard. Whenever we get the go-ahead to leave, it will most likely mean a several day 480nm nonstop trip to Trinidad followed by another two week quarantine. We are excited to get going again!