20 March A bit of a kerfuffle in Cayman

Our visas expired on Thursday, 18 March. We weren't going to be doing any diving in the current windy conditions so instead of renewing at a cost of £200 for another thirty days we decided to clear out and start making our way over to the Leeward islands via Jamaica.

I'm writing this with the benefit of hindsight. At the time we had still had local Digicel Internet and were aware of Coronavirus and that it was spreading. The Cayman Islands had banned all cruise ship visits a week ago and had announced they would be closing their seaports at midnight on 19^th. Before we proceeded to Cayman Brac to clear out we checked the status of Jamaica on the Internet and phoned the marina in Montego Bay to confirm we would be able to clear in when we arrived on Monday morning. Our mistake was to wait 24 hours for better wind to make the journey. In this short time frame the Jamaican Government announced they were closing their borders with twelve hours notice. Effectively we were cleared out from one country with our next port of call closed. We were still in Cayman waters and called Customs at the Brac to request to check back in only to be told 'sorry, the borders are closed and you have to go 12 miles offshore to exit Cayman waters'. We were offered the chance to take on fuel and provisions if we returned to Grand Cayman before going on and the lady did an Internet check and advised Cuba still appeared to be open.

In these strange times, and because the information on Cuba might not be up to date, we called Marina Hemingway in Havana knowing they had English speaking port captains who might be able to give us the latest information. The distance and wind angle to return to Cienfuegos would be a fast beam reach of just less than 24 hours. My first call was answered by a man who spoke little English. He asked me to call back in an hour. By now we were sailing north to Cuba with the option to turn west to Grand Cayman. On my next call to Havana we did get an answer to our question. Cuban sea ports were currently open but would close at midnight on Tuesday and all foreign yachts and crew were being ordered to leave the country.

That left us with Hobson's Choice of pointing our bow to Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We arrived on Monday morning. Port Security asked where we had come from and as we could truthfully reply Little Cayman we were directed to pick up one of the the yacht moorings. I was feeling relieved to be back, but very anxious about what would happen next. We needed a little time to have a bite of breakfast and to take a shower while we though about how to say what we wanted to say which was to be allowed to stay.

David composed an eloquent and compelling letter to email to the Customs and Border Control. The officer phoned us and we must have said the right things because we were granted leave to stay subject to the conditions of completing 14 days quarantine on board. Did it help we hadn't physically left Cayman waters? Did it help that we hold British passports in a British overseas territory or was it because every country around the Caribbean in the last two days had now closed their borders? I don't know, but I do know that elation replaced anxiety.

On Thursday, 2 April, if we are still well, we will be able to visit CBC and clear in.