March 18, 2020 - Decision is Made
8:00 am- In listening to the cruiser’s net, we tried to find out if anyone was flying in and whether there was Bahamian restrictions. Of course everything is up in the air. Sadly, my daughter decided not to come on Friday and will cancel their 10 days vacation with us. 😥. As much as we wanted to see them, we think that it is a wise decision.
9:00 am- A boater, Sojourm, stated on the net that he needed a gear puller to repair his boat. Seeing that we had one, we dropped it off at their boat on our way to bringing our laundry and do a few groceries in town. Of course we got soaked.
We stopped at Immigration to find out about renewing our Immigration papers which expire April 20th. This is our dilemma. Our cruising permit ends April 20th (we could only get 3 months this year. ) and they wanted an additional $500 to renew it for 6 months. We only wanted the extension for an additional 2 weeks but that didn’t matter. So we will slowly head back to Florida shortly. The boarder is closed to Canadians but we are hoping that there will not be any problem putting our boat on the hard when that time comes. For now we will enjoy our time here. We have tons of food since the kids didn’t come so we will be self sufficient for a while.
As far as the drone falling in the water, it is toasted. One of the motors burns out. Guess we will get it repaired when we return. At least we got some good footage. I was always nervous flying it off the boat.
2:00 pm- We went back to town to pick up our wash.
We noticed in the grocery store that the clerks were not wrong gloves like they were last week. That’s interesting. Very lacks.
3:00 pm- Steve made water while I made up the bedding and put our laundry away.
Steak and salad for dinner tonight.
Watch the sunset, watch Tv before going to bed.
March 19, 2910
7:30 am- While I was doing my stretching exercise this morning, I noticed a rainbow in the distance. I couldn’t take a photo of the full rainbow. There will be a rainbow at the end of this pandemic.
We were sent articles that travellers will not be covered for life insurance if they do not return home by a certain date. We were pleased , after contacting our CAA travel insurance representative, that we are insured totally and nothing has changed.
9:00 am- Steve went up to a Canadian boat from Kingston to ask what they were going to do during this pandemic. They said they were going to try to go back home as soon as possible.
12:30 pm- Pea soup and homemade bread for lunch. We then went for a nice long walk on the beach.
We took a dinghy ride around the anchorage and stop at another Canadian boat names “After Glow” from Toronto and they said they were not rushing home. They figure we were safer here since there is only one case of virus known in the Bahamas.
We decided we will stay in the Bahamas until our cruising permit expires and then figure out what to do. There are a few areas we still want to see. Too many unknown at home.
Chicken dumplings with carrots, potatoes and broccoli for dinner tonight.
March 20, 2020
8:00 am- All cruiser’s seem to be waiting to hear on the cruiser’s net this morning whether private vessels can move harbour to harbour within Bahamas. The prime minister never made it clear on TV and had conflicting information.
After much discussion and research the Net announced that we can move harbour to harbour and fuel will be available only during certain hours. So that is great news although this isn’t a bad place to stay if we had to.
It is a sad day for us since this would have been the day that Nicky, Brent, Lyla and Parker would have visited us. We look forward to seeing everyone when we hit land.
12:00 pm- We just heard on the cruiser’s net that all boaters including pleasure craft, can move around the Bahamas to get home however cannot stop at any islands along the way until the end of March. So if you need fuel along the way, you might as well stay put. There are so many conflicting reports so time will tell.
2:00 pm- While my bread was rising, Steve and I towed my kayak with the dinghy to Flip Flop beach. I kayaked while Steve swam and laid on the beach. I noticed stingrays and managed to keep up with them.
I am so blessed to be able to be surrounded by such beauty.
Ironically, Steve realized he was wearing his Corona bathing suit. Maybe not the time to wear these.
5:30pm- We were going to make pizza for dinner however since my bread came out of the oven we decided to have a bread, cheese, olives, celery and blue cheese. It was so good.
As we were eating our dinner, we noticed a boat dragging. When they lifted the anchor, it looked like a hair ball was caught on their anchor.
.
730 pm- We were entertained by boaters who played Trivia on the VHF radio. We had some good laughs.
I guess they usually play on land but because of the pandemic everyone is staying on their boat
We then watched TV before going to bed.
March 21, 2020
8:00 am- listening to the cruiser’s net this morning cleared up some information. We found out we can sail around the Bahama islands and stop for fuel or groceries. They allow 6 people at a time to go in the grocery store.
9:30 am- Made bacon and eggs on an English muffin for breakfast this morning. We then went for a nice long walk on Sand dollar Beach.
We didn’t find any sand dollars however we found other sea treasures.
We sure enjoy our beach walks
When we dinghies back we noticed the Bahamian police. We stopped to ask them if there were changes. They said no. They were repairing one of their motors. Very nice officers that came from Nassau.
1:30 pm- Back at the boat I made sure to wash my hands since the officers came from Nassau and the one held my dinghy line. The Corona cases are from Nassau and I figure I am NOT taking any chances even if they looked healthy.
I painted while Steve read when we got back at the boat.
4:00 pm- we had a few squalls come thru. Steve decided to just enjoy the rain.
We love hearing the rain come down on the boat. It will give it a good wash.
6:00 pm- Pizza for dinner tonight.
It is funny how we get entertained listening to people talking on the VHF radio.
Watched TV before going to bed.
March 23, 2020
8:00 am- I sometimes get frustrated listening to the cruiser’s net. Communication goes out to keep your distance due to Covid19. Then one of the cruiser goes on the air inviting people on the beach to play distancing volleyball. How do you play volleyball and distance yourself. Everyone will be touching the ball. Wish people would take things more seriously.
Announcement was made that anyone interested in snorkelling or spear fishing to meet on their dinghy at 11am. That makes more sense. At least you would not be near anyone.
9:00 am- Pancake breakfast this morning. We are still trying to decide when to start moving.
11:00 pm- Those that we’re interested in snorkelling or fishing met in their dinghies are Chat n Chill which is what we did. We started with 5 boats and ended up with 2 since it was so rough.
Steve snorkelled at one spot but it was all grass so we left the other 2 boats and walks the beach instead. Too rough to snorkel.
It was just beautiful to walk in the water and get our minds off of everything. Nothing better than being in nature.
Cant believe what is going on here. Some cruisers are having a party on the beach and dancing and playing volleyball when the Bahamian gov’t specifically banned social events. They do not take it seriously. Now the local police are warning them to get off the Chat n Chill beach. People on the VHF radio are feuding and telling them to get off before we loose our privilege with Bahamian government. We are probably going to get kicked out because of these assholes. .
We decided to leave tomorrow and head to Leeward Islands.
6:30 pm- Pork chops, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and salad for dinner tonight beautiful sunset.
It is very interesting to see how some people need to socialize and interact with other people. I never observe that before. I always knew certain people like to socialize and be part of something however never thought it was a need.
Watch TV before going to bed.
It is always a gorgeous view from up above. Didn’t bring my camera though. 
8:30 am- Anchor is raised and we are headed to Eleuthera. We said goodbye to Julia and Brad via text since their radio was off. 
4:00 pm - Went by Cape Eleuthera marina and resort. Normally we would stay there a couple of nights since we really like the facilities there. We figure the restaurant and the pool would be closed and I didn’t need to do any laundry. 
7:00 am- Did my morning stretches before having my morning coffee. 
11:00 am- Steve made water. I am trying to make a basket from Palm Leaves but not the easiest. I managed to strip down all the pieces. 
Lots of sharks were going under our dinghy. 
It is funny how we play game with other boats. We set goals to try to pass boats. We are going 7 knots under sail and catching up to this boat. He has 4 sails up but we are still gaining on him. This is the nicest sail we had in a long time. 
5:00 pm- Homemade bread came out of the oven. For dinner tonight we are having homemade bread, smoked cheese, olive stuffed with almonds, celery ranch dressing, crackers with cream cheese and jalapeño jelly and wine.
We watched the sunset behind the clouds. 
8:00 am- Steve made me a bacon sandwich this morning for my bday. What a nice surprise 
I also found another beach with a lot of treasures such as buoys and sea fans and unfortunately lots of plastic which washed up. 
8:00 pm- Steve read new information on Bahamian precaution and strict quarantine news. We are so impressed how seriously they are addressing it. Very strict curfew in effect. We are safe here on our boat since it is just Steve and I. Keeping our distance from everyone. 
Told Steve to watch he doesn’t cut his finger as he is husking the coconut. 
I did succeed in making a fish