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| Photo taken by our friend Tycho from the mast of a neighboring boat |
After a relatively fast sail, Perry is in Galle Harbour, Sri Lanka. Before we left Phuket, there were no cases of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and there were no issues for a foreign yacht checking into the country. Cases in Italy were rising, but no major changes in travel policies were occurring worldwide. By the time we arrived over a week later and even within a day of our arrival, the situation was rapidly changing.
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| Broken (shredded really) batten |
We enjoyed favorable winds and current on our trip from Phuket and all was good until just before we entered Galle Harbour. A squall hit and we got our mainsail down just before a 60-knot wind came roaring through. The batten pictured above (the top one from our mast) was luckily the only casualty. It could have been a lot worse. We will attempt to get it fixed here in Sri Lanka but we have some options on board that should work (a much larger batten that we can cut down or even a fishing polespear if needed).
Here in Sri Lanka, the government has stopped airlines from bringing passengers into Sri Lanka and has closed its borders. There is currently a 24-hour curfew that lasts through this weekend, confining us to the boat. Even after the curfew is lifted (IF it's lifted) we ourselves will remain confined to the port area until at least the end of the month and cannot leave, even to buy groceries.
But we consider ourselves fortunate. New yachts are not allowed in except to get fuel and water and then are pushed out. Other nearby countries have gone a step beyond a 14-day quarantine and have completely banned yachts from entering their borders. This can leave boats in a serious situation without necessary fuel and water and with nowhere else to go. Our best strategy at the moment is to wait and see how things go over the next few weeks.
In the meantime, we are playing volleyball in the port area with fellow cruisers (when there isn't a curfew), rediscovering baking, and playing card games. And I in particular am grateful for what we do have.
Stay healthy and safe, everyone. This too shall pass.
Hang in there guys ! I am so glad that you made it in before they closed the borders....We are thinking of you, as we too are bunkered down in our cottage for who knows how long....we don't mingle with anyone and mostly stay at home, but we can leave to get groceries ( for now anyways) but we find this very reminiscent of our time on board, home baking, lots of canned goods (you can never have enough canned tomatoes!) and also playing cards and watching movies. We hope that you will be able to replenish your food stores soon, but we aren't too worried for you guys.....you got this ! Take good care !
ReplyDeleteHi guys, hope you got your provisions. Hope all is well
ReplyDeleteCheers
Yes, we got some food delivered from Seafair. Thank you!
DeleteHow can you guys be contacted to see about helping. Any phone number?
ReplyDeleteHi--I think we are sorted. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi! We've been thinking about you guys and on our bike ride today we ran into your dad. I asked him what your blog address was again. Stay healthy and safe. We miss you guys! Does Conrad have his own blog? Nolan would love to reach out to him.
ReplyDeleteHi--good to hear from you! Conrad tried to contact you awhile ago I think to your work--not sure if it's still valid. Send us something at svperrysails at gmail and C will contact Nolan. Hope you're doing well!
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