I am ashamed to be just getting at my blog now. The life we know has changed for sure. Byron says I should post since it is "better late than never" so here goes!!!
We crossed over from the Bahamas March 4th, 2020 and went to Lake Worth Inlet. While in West Palm Beach we needed to get the rudder checked out again as there was a little play in it. We were anchored in Lake Worth and it was so turbulent due to the constant boat traffic that the "Rudder Guy" requested we go to a marina for him to assess the rudder. Off to North Palm Beach marina we go!! This is definitely a high class marina with expensive yachts. We thought we were going there for a couple of nights but it was a week before we left due to high winds. The winds would have been fine for us to continue our jaunt up the ICW but there was no way we could get out of the marina without a high possibility of hitting another boat; and we certainly did not want to do this. So we were stuck!!! Such a beautiful place to be stuck LOL.
Being a nurse I had been following the Coronavirus almost daily since January but up to March 11th was not feeling any urgency that I needed to be back in Canada. While we were in West Palm Beach news regarding Coronavirus was increasing in Canada and our children were demanding that we should soon get home as they felt the borders were closing. In Florida, however, there were only rumblings about the virus and everything was still open with everyone doing their regular activities so we were not overly concerned. To allay the urgency that we needed to be in Canada I had called our insurance and medically we were covered to stay out of Canada until April 15 so we were feeling pretty good about our plan to remain in the USA.
We knew we had to be in Green Cove Springs, Fl for March 18th as C Whisper was getting out of the water on March 19th and we planned on finishing the decommissioning over the weekend and then leaving Florida on Monday March 25th.
We left West Palm Beach on March 11th to make our way up the ICW. Thankfully we did not hit anything but going through the bridge with the current and wind was the worse we experienced!! We had planned on taking a week and enjoying our last few days on the boat before she went to bed for 6-8 months. We even had plans to meet up with friends in Vero Beach, St. Augustine and Titusville and then when the boat was stored we were going to Myrtle Beach and New Bern. We arrived in Green Cove Springs March 14th and began decommissioning the boat.
On Monday, March 16th, we went to the marina to continue the process so the boat would be safe for hurricane season. While we were gone to get a rent-a-car I received a call from my mother's doctor saying she was very ill and had been transferred to hospital. I was distraught... What do we do now? I wanted to be home but l knew it was a number of days as the boat would not get out of the water until Thursday and then we had to rent a U-Haul and a storage unit and we had not planned on leaving until Sunday because we had a lot to do....Plus Byron did not want to be home until middle of April (our 6 month allowable duration). My mothers condition and the ever-changing information on coronavirus was the impetus for me to want to "get out of dodge" and get home as fast as possible.
I wanted to go home and I made it clear I was going home!!!!! I was like a "madwoman" packing-cleaning-packing-cleaning while Byron was socializing then taking apart things... Talk about dissension. Eventually we stripped everything, had everything packed, rented a U-Haul and a Storage Unit, brought the dinghy, dinghy engines, etc to the storage unit and were ready to go (begrudging for Byron); within 26 hours of receiving the call about my mother!!!!
During this time I also spent so much time trying to figure out how we were getting home since the borders were closed!!! When we returned to Canada in August we rented a car in North Carolina and our daughter picked us up in Maine and we went to her house which was only 2.5 hours from Bangor in New Brunswick. That plan worked well and that was the plan for this trip. Unfortunately, plans change and this was not an option. I checked all of the rental car companies to see if we could take a car across the border in New Brunswick. We could not! I even checked to see if we could take a car across the border in Ontario... again we could not. We also could not fly with Duke. So "how in the hell" were we getting home?
I rarely put anything on Social Media but I did this time as I knew many of the Snowbirds from my home would also be traveling and if I had no other option to get across the border, if they saw us walking, I knew they would pick us up to cross the border: and my daughter would be waiting on the other side of the border in Canada. It was a crazy and scary time. Finally I had an epiphany. U-Haul was international! This meant we could cross borders with it. Yahoo!! The smallest U-Haul we could get was a 10 foot box so we rented that in Bangor where we had to drop off the rent-a-car. Problem solved.... I hope...as long as U-Haul was still open when we got to Maine.
March 16 Facebook excerpt. "We are finally to Green Cove Springs, Florida.. where the boat will be taken out of the water and stored. We were scheduled to be taken out Thursday but tried desperately to get it out today.. even offering to pay way more... no luck. Hopefully it happens Thursday as the guy who Hauls the boat is having his wisdom teeth out tomorrow . Finally car is booked to get us to Bangor. We could not get a car to cross the border with any company although most have it on their web sites and many people have done it in the past. We did not know if Andrea could get us in Bangor with all of the restrictions.
Major stress trying to get back to Canada. I called the embassy to see if they could help... we did not know if an Uber or cab would be available to take us from Bangor where we have to drop the car off to the border so we could walk across.... finally we have a U haul booked from Bangor to Saint John,NB. I hope it works out and is not cancelled.
We have been in transport mode for 2 weeks to try to get the boat from Bahamas to where it needs to be according to insurance requirements and then for us to get home. We will gladly do 14 days self quarantine as long as we get home. Please pray all works out and we get home."
March 18 Facebook excerpt: "We left the boat in the water in Florida and hopefully she will get out of the water in the next couple of days. We are currently in Connecticut with the rental car. We hope the u-haul we have reserved in Bangor Maine is still a go for tomorrow and the business don't get closed like so many others before we get there . That will get us to the border and Saint John. There we have another rental car to get us home!!!! There looks like a bad wind storm coming for this weekend so the ferry may not run until Monday. We have a reservation on that one. Then home. Hope all works out.
If the uhaul does not work out we may be hitchhiking to the border... if anyone sees us please pick us up and drop us on Canadian soil . I pray all of us traveling get home soon and safely.
All states are enforcing different rules. Many have some fast food available by takeout and they do not have washroom facilities available. Many of the rest stops are closed. Gas stations have washrooms available. Lowest gas we have seen is $1.81 gallon. Traffic is light in comparison to what we gave seen before.
On the positive the cherry blossoms are beautiful"
Both excerpts got hundreds of responses so I knew someone behind us would "have our backs" if need be!!
To put it in perspective I found out about my mother Monday afternoon and Tuesday at 5:00 PM we left Jacksonville, Florida. Unfortunately the boat was still in the water. We could not get the boat out of the water before Thursday at the earliest and even then it was not for certain. I was not waiting...Byron was mad...I think he has finally forgiven me!! While I love my boat, my family takes precedence; my mother was in hospital, Andrea and all of the Federal Government had been sent home from work due to the pandemic and she was scared and Mark was home and isolated himself because he was scared!! All I knew is that I needed to be home with my family.
The first night after leaving the boat we stayed in St. George, SC. Driving was good and there was some traffic but not much. Wednesday we drove to Boston, MA. Some states had legislated curfews and there was almost no traffic on the interstate. By now restaurants were closed and only some areas had takeout and some gas stations allowed you to use the restrooms. It was very scary and my biggest fear was that while businesses were closing I prayed that U-Haul would not be one of them before we got there. To say I was on "pins and needles" would be an understatement. I just wanted to be home! At this point home meant CANADA. It felt like we were running for our lives and we wanted to get across the border before we would not be allowed to enter.
When we got to Bangor we went directly to U-Haul. It was opened!! Thank God. I was soooo relieved. I knew I would be safe now as I could get to Canada. Byron jumped in the U-Haul while I took the van and off to the rental agency we went to drop off the van.
We then headed to the border in the U-Haul. We arrived there before lunch. At the border the CBSA agent was really nice but when she asked what we had to declare and we said nothing she asked "Are you telling me that you have been gone for 6 months and you are coming back to Canada in a U-Haul and you have nothing to declare....?" I then proceeded to tell her our ordeal of trying to get back to Canada. She chuckled and said "Welcome Home". We drove off and I started to cry. Thank god we were home! I was never so happy to be on Canadian soil.
By 2:30 we had dropped off the U-Haul in Saint John, NB. Home to Newfoundland however was not so fast. Marine Atlantic stopped operations from Friday to Monday for 2 reasons; an impending wind storm and they needed time to develop pandemic protocols for the ships.
We debated whether we would stay at Andrea's as we did not know if we had been exposed to the virus and I was sick with my usual spring/summer sinus problems. We talked to her about it and she wanted to come home to Newfoundland with us as she was working from home and could do that from Newfoundland. We decided to stay with her. On Sunday we packed up another van that we rented in New Brunswick with the 3 dogs and the 3 of us commenced our journey to North Sydney, NS where we would wait to catch the ferry for Monday. The hotel we stayed in had a great process in place to protect them and their patrons. I called 15 minutes before we got there so they unlock the room door. We were instructed to go to the room and only leave to take the dogs out to do their business. We ordered food off their menu and they delivered outside the room. The next morning we went to the ferry where we had booked a room. That evening around 9:30 PM we finally arrived in Corner Brook where there was mounds of white stuff...not the beautiful Bahama sand and it was cold. We still had about 10 feet of snow in our yard and the roads were snow covered. Oh well...goodbye beautiful sand and heat!! Mark had moved out of the house and into the apartment after filling up our fridge and cupboards with food so we would be comfortable for our 2 weeks of isolation. Oh to be home🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰😍. What a way to end a beautiful season in Bahamas and to start our retirement!!! Oh well we are alive, safe and happy...Life is good!!!!
Extra Unrelated Information:
In Green Cove Springs we went shopping to pick up hand sanitizer, masks etc. Much to our surprise there was nothing in any of the stores...even the toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, and soap was gone. While there was not much hype in the news people were aware and preparing. Hmm what shall we do? I had a bottle of Bleach which I diluted and I went to our medical kit and found a full bottle of rubbing alcohol which I put in a bottle (that was used for material protectant) and used that throughout the rest of our travels in the hotels, at the gas pumps, on the insides of the car and truck and on the take-out food!! We may not have been prepared but we were okay.
We thought we left the boat for 6 months but it looks like it may be for 18 months... or until it is safe and medical insurance will cover us. Since I packed our things in about 2 minutes I did not bring much home...it is unreal how much I have on the boat.. make no wonder she is 15 tonnes!!!! One thing I hope is that the boat is not full of mould and vermin; mould I can deal with but vermin...GROSS.
I love Bahamas and I want to do it again. I love living on the hook and almost completely self-sufficient. The addition of a water maker and a washer made my life so much easier. I realize I was unprepared for the constant fronts. Every storm we get home (Newfoundland) also seems to reach Bahamas causing a lot of winds and few places in Exumas to hide from westerlies. Next time I will be more prepared and we will explore new areas. I am already obsessed with looking for protection from the winds!!
The best part about the trip was the people!! The Bahamians are wonderful friendly people. They are very quiet, mild mannered and polite. They will lend a hand to everyone. Most of the other cruisers we met were wonderful. It is so nice to have a chat with someone who has the same interests and will lend a hand if needed. The camaraderie experienced was heartwarming. We met people from all over the world and many of those friendships will be maintained. For most social class is forgotten about as we are all sailors. This is a nice feeling.
I did experience "prejudice/racial discrimination/???". I am not even sure what to call the derogatory slurs. This came from a fellow Canadian. It was against my dialect as a Newfoundlander. It is unfortunate that we still have people in the world that have these attitudes and try to make themselves feel better by undermining and bullying others. Those people really need to be pitied, educated and our "matter of fact" kindness.
I will leave you with a few quotes regarding this and I hope that everyone can respect and embrace all of our diversities to enrich their lives; whatever they may be.
"People who love themselves, don't hurt other people. The more we hate ourselves, the more we want others to suffer."
"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself."
"There should be no discrimination against languages people speak, skin color, or religion." -Malala Yousafzai
"If tolerance, respect and equity permeate family life, they will translate into values that shape societies, nations and the world." -Kofi Annan
"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." -Nelson Mandela
I hope that everyone is safe and healthy and we all live to enjoy our future as I hope it will be an exciting one for all of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you and keep following and we shall let you know when we are going again!!!!!! Enjoy your life now!!!!!
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