We arrived in St Lucia on the 17th March (the day the country closed) after dark. On the morning of the 17th St Lucia was open. We were not allowed to clear in. 

We had to be in St Lucia because we had a problem with our watermaker and the technician who can see to it is here. Also, the parts had been shipped from Italy and were in St Lucia. This gave the authorities a little bit of a problem as they could not really turn us away. The IGY Marina manager Sean tried his best to be helpful. So we were allowed to go into the marina, deposit our watermaker on the dockside, take water and collect provisions. Once the watermaker was repaired it was brought out to us in the bay by the marina people.

Day 15 of our isolation there was a lock down on the island, so it is useless to go to land.

We have now been on the boat for 18 days.

We have noticed that St Lucia have been understanding in allowing boats to anchor for the night for rest if they are travelling north or south as long as they do not go on land.

Customs and marine police have been patrolling the waters. Now marine police patrol the bay and stop anyone who is moving on a rib or a yacht or powerboat.

The options we are considering are as follows:

• Wait until the weather is stable then head back to Europe (not knowing what we will find and without additional crew).
• Head south. 

There is one other boat who is not cleared in, anchored in the bay with us. They will wait for the weather to be stable and then sail to the UK. The rest who we are in contact with are either staying here and hauling their boats out here on St Lucia. Some boats have already left headed to the US.

All of us are worried about insurance.

Anna Maria
SY Salana

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• Saint Lucia Biosecurity Requirements
• More COVID-19 Field Reports
•  COVID-19 Coronavirus: Special Procedures Being Introduced in Ports of Entry Worldwide

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Please share your current experience with COVID-19 restrictions and how it has affected your cruising plans. Contact Sue at editor@noonsite.com with your field report.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.