Stay at home, stay at home, stay at home! This is the advice we all hear every day for the last year, whichever country you are in from medical professionals. We are believers, and do try to stay at home as much as possible. We no longer work, so we don't get exposed from there. We haven't been out to social events, restaurants, movies, etc, etc... since they have told us to stay home. We are not anti-vaccers or anti-maskers and take the whole pandemic very seriously. So, why oh why are we planning on traveling to multiple countries while the pandemic still is in full swing?
Well, to start we are not particularly happy about doing it. We bought our boat......just before the pandemic. Augh! The biggest issue was that it is not in our own country. It became complicated very quickly. It was actually only a short distance from our home in Ontario as it was located in Lake Champlain, Vermont. This is just below Montreal, Quebec about 5 hours from us, but on the other side of the USA border. Land borders were closed just before we were to go to the marina to get it. During that time I retired from my military job and moved to New Brunswick. The borders still remain closed as of March 2021. The sailing season is about to begin again. So, we have decided to make the exerted effort to get the boat and start indirectly making our way home with it. The process is complicated and goes like this (Covid dependent). We will drive to Ontario to catch a plane to Vermont (land border remains closed) then we will have to quarantine in Vermont, luckily aboard the boat. We have to un-winterize the boat, drop the mast and launched into Lake Champlain. A year and a half unattended will leave us with some repairs I'm sure before launch. Then we are off and will head up the Richelieu river and through the Chambly and the Saint-Ours locks. This will get us most importantly into Canada, where once again we will have to Quarantine. We have decided that we will swing left upstream in the St. Lawrence river and on to Ontario where we will sail for the summer, visit family and take a Day Skipper course with Topmast sailing school. We will stay closer to the East Canadian side of Lake Ontario as there is less virus there and will also stay mostly on the hook. At the end of summer, we will take the Erie canal south to New York, NY. Then we have a decision to make, left to NB to haul out, or right and to the Bahamas for the winter. We are leaning into the latter plan as we should be vaccinated by then, the Bahamas seem to be relatively clear of Covid, most places seem to have a Covid plan in place, and mostly because cold winters just suck!
So, is this a good plan? Well, we have found in life for everybody that say "Attaboy, go get it", there will be the naysayers that point out the difficulties. This is a live plan, in the works, and I'm sure there will be reflection and adjustments along the way. It may not be the best, or worst plan, but it is our plan. We are looking forward to getting the boat, doing some sailing this year as we are all tired of sitting, and sitting, and sitting. We will of course try our best to do this as safely as possible and enjoy getting to know the quirks and capabilities of a new vessel.
Joe
Well, to start we are not particularly happy about doing it. We bought our boat......just before the pandemic. Augh! The biggest issue was that it is not in our own country. It became complicated very quickly. It was actually only a short distance from our home in Ontario as it was located in Lake Champlain, Vermont. This is just below Montreal, Quebec about 5 hours from us, but on the other side of the USA border. Land borders were closed just before we were to go to the marina to get it. During that time I retired from my military job and moved to New Brunswick. The borders still remain closed as of March 2021. The sailing season is about to begin again. So, we have decided to make the exerted effort to get the boat and start indirectly making our way home with it. The process is complicated and goes like this (Covid dependent). We will drive to Ontario to catch a plane to Vermont (land border remains closed) then we will have to quarantine in Vermont, luckily aboard the boat. We have to un-winterize the boat, drop the mast and launched into Lake Champlain. A year and a half unattended will leave us with some repairs I'm sure before launch. Then we are off and will head up the Richelieu river and through the Chambly and the Saint-Ours locks. This will get us most importantly into Canada, where once again we will have to Quarantine. We have decided that we will swing left upstream in the St. Lawrence river and on to Ontario where we will sail for the summer, visit family and take a Day Skipper course with Topmast sailing school. We will stay closer to the East Canadian side of Lake Ontario as there is less virus there and will also stay mostly on the hook. At the end of summer, we will take the Erie canal south to New York, NY. Then we have a decision to make, left to NB to haul out, or right and to the Bahamas for the winter. We are leaning into the latter plan as we should be vaccinated by then, the Bahamas seem to be relatively clear of Covid, most places seem to have a Covid plan in place, and mostly because cold winters just suck!
So, is this a good plan? Well, we have found in life for everybody that say "Attaboy, go get it", there will be the naysayers that point out the difficulties. This is a live plan, in the works, and I'm sure there will be reflection and adjustments along the way. It may not be the best, or worst plan, but it is our plan. We are looking forward to getting the boat, doing some sailing this year as we are all tired of sitting, and sitting, and sitting. We will of course try our best to do this as safely as possible and enjoy getting to know the quirks and capabilities of a new vessel.
Joe
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