Covid-19 and the Bahamas- “You are under strict quarantine!”

After ariving at the Grand Bahamas Yacht club the first thing that I did was raise our quarantine yellow flag. What this meant was that we had to go through the customs and immigration process, purchase a cruising permit for the Bahamas, and make sure that we had a valid health certificate. Before we left the United States by sailboat, we had to have a negative covid-19 antigen test that was done five days before we set sail. The time spent at sea was not included as part of the five days because it had taken us six days to arrive in the Bahamas. However, we were to have filled in the click2clear health visa certificate prior to leaving. None of the three of us sailors had done that…….. We each had our own excuses for not having done so but in retrospect, this did not elicit much sympathy from the Bohemian immigration and customs department. Michael Sandwell, one of my crew indicated that he had been in similar circumstances in the past and suggested the best approach was to play the dumb but gentle Canadian ….. This approach landed us was an immediate quarantine on the boat. We were taken to a slip at the end of the dock and told not to leave under any circumstances.

Our next step as we sat there in the cockpit was to figure out what to do. We congratulated ourselves that we were not in jail but were somewhat worried that we were in the Bahamas illegally. Because we did not have a valid negative COVID-19 test, there was little chance, or so we thought that we would be deported back to Canada or even the United States as nobody else would take us without a recent negative covid-19 test. Later that evening we noticed a contingent of about 15 uniformed officers from a variety of different agencies come marching down the dock towards our boat. There was representation from the police department, immigration, customs, and border services, and someone from the Covid-19 roving task force. We were informed that we were in the country illegally and could not stay until we had a valid health certificate. We were told not to leave the boat under any circumstances otherwise we would be fined heavily. We were given a short lecture on what would be considered our rights but the take away message that we got was they really had no idea what to do with us. It was as though we were the first visitors that had landed in Bahamas since they adopted this new system and did not have a great contingency plan as to how to manage us.

The next day, we got a visit from the Covid-19 roving task Force who did antigen testing which later came back negative. We then tried to fill in all the online forms again but once again were denied entry. The rest of that day was spent with COVID-19 task force calling the Ministry of tourism and explaining our situation. After numerous phone calls and emails, we were finally allowed entry but the whole process took about 36 hours. We felt lucky because we were the only visitors at this point of entry so we had their full attention.

View of the Grand Bahamas Yacht Club showing an almost empty marina because of COVID-19 restrictions…

Getting the Bahamas health visa allowed us unrestricted entry into the Bahamas. The border services were then very happy to take my $600 for the cruising permit for the year and we were able to go to the grocery store and get supplies. I was also able to go to the airport and pick up my wife Ileana who arrived the day after we had. To take advantage of the weather window that occurred, we had sailed to the Grand Bahamas earlier than expected. In anticipation of Ileana waiting for several days, I had booked a few days at the Grand Lucayan Hotel so that she would have somewhere to stay while waiting for us to arrive by sailboat. Fabian, the kind and gentle dock master at the Grand Bahama yacht club drove me to the airport and took Ileana and me to the hotel. This hotel in better times would accommodate about 1500 guests, had a casino, seven different restaurants, two separate golf courses, and it was huge employer for the island of Grand Bahama. In these times, there were only 19 guests including us…… To say that the island was undergoing rough times would be a gross understatement and it was unimaginable how tough things are for the islanders. Hurricane Dorian had pretty much flattened the island in 2020 and the western end of the island including the resort was under 8 feet of water as the hurricane passed through. Covid-19 finished off the rest of the damage.

Preben Olsen owner of the Grand Bahama Yacht Club.

I met the owner of the Grand Bahama yacht club who also owned several other properties in Grand Bahamas. He had originally moved to Grand Bahama was after retiring from his business in Florida in 2006. He so much enjoyed the marine business, he bought the Grand Bahama yacht club, and the Lucayan yacht club. Here is a video link describing the devastation that Covid-19 has wrought on the Bahamas

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=639902170280321

The rest of the visit was amazing. The weather was perfect usually around 27°C every day. There were a few episodes of heavy rain but for the most part, it was a lovely experience. Ileana wanted to go up for sail one evening so we left the dock and headed out.

When it was time to leave, Preben drove us to the airport. On the way, he told us many stories about the grand Bahamas and how much he loved living on the island. I am looking forward to hearing more of his stories when we return. Our plans are to come back in January and spend a few weeks in the Abacos. This would be an overnight passage heading south from Grand Bahamas and then sailing up the east coast of Great Abaco Island to Marsh Harbor. There are great areas to explore and more adventures to come.

Ready for the next sailing adventure in the Bahamas……..

2 thoughts on “Covid-19 and the Bahamas- “You are under strict quarantine!”

  1. Pat Sturgeon says:

    Great catching up on your adventure.
    You will truly enjoy this part of the plan. Lots of great adventures ahead

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