We are heading for home
Every cruiser we have met, who like ourselves had their plans waylaid by the Covid 19 pandemic, has spoken of the pros and cons of either finding a way home or remaining in relative safety on their boat.
Why stay in Grenada?
In the early weeks, those highly motivated to get home had to first get to an island with an operational airport that would let them check in while each day more islands closed their borders and airports. Quite a few American cruisers headed to Puerto Rico or to the US Virgin islands. These trips took many days with few protected anchorages. As islands closed their borders, they also prohibited anchoring in their waters. Once arriving, they repeatedly booked flights that were then canceled. We chose to stay.
Living on Ice Floe has provided us with near absolute safety from the Covid 19 pandemic. We have an infinitesimal risk of encountering anyone who is infected. Moored in the Marine Park between the Grenada islands of Carriacou and Sandy Island we engage with only a handful of people – cruisers, like ourselves, who had been cruising in the Caribbean for months and several Grenadian citizens who live on Carriacou and have delivered groceries and other necessities to us. Carriacou has not had a single Covid 19 infection. We are safe here.
We love spending time on Ice Floe. She is a modest sized boat, similar to most cruising vessels we see. It is not a hardship to spend a great deal of time confined to her space. We also feel some measure of pride in living and eating simply and leaving small footprints on the environment. Wind provides the energy for our transportation, both wind and solar to make fresh water, to refrigerate our food, and to power our lights and electrical appliances.
It pains us to consider the possibility that, if we go home we may not be able to get back to the islands next season.
Why return home?
We have now been living in the Caribbean since December 5th, 2019 – in this safe and idyllic setting for over 2 months. So much has changed since we left home. We have mourned the loss of lives, livelihoods, and our way of life. We could not have imagined how quickly so many things we have taken for granted have been lost.
We miss our children and grandchildren, and all members of our family. We miss conversation and friends. We remind ourselves these longings will not be satisfied by returning home.
A possible opportunity to fly home has emerged, and we feel drawn to return. Our rational minds cannot provide a cogent reason for voluntarily returning. We are frightened.
On Ice Floe, we have not built up any tolerance to the fear of contracting Covid 19. The death toll from this virus has slowed a bit in the warmer months, as many coronaviruses do. We see a window of opportunity and are less terrified to fly to the JFK airport. We put out of our minds our certainty the outbreak will resume in the cooler months to come.
We are drawn to a home that only exists as the physical structure and gardens and memories we created over the past 3 decades. We hope we will be safe and find some ways to assist others less fortunate than ourselves. We are not needed here.
Go With The Floe 