Barbuda Day #13
Well, it appears that we will soon be asked to sail back to Antigua. (See Below)
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA MARITIME TRAFFIC ADVISORY
28th March 2020
Having noted the significant increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, and in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus into and within the borders of Antigua and Barbuda, the Government has taken the decision that, effective Saturday 28th March 2020 at 11:59 PM EST,
ALL inbound pleasure crafts (motorized and sailing yachts), passenger vessels and ferries will be denied entry into Antigua and Barbuda for a period of fourteen (14) days in the first instance. This restriction does not apply to interisland ferry services between Antigua and Barbuda.Commercial vessels engaged in regional and international trade are to follow the strict guidelines issued by the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority for ships scheduled to transport cargo to and from Antigua and Barbuda during the State of Emergency.
During the State of Emergency all cruise permits already issued to visiting yachts are now restricted only to the coastal waters of Antigua and shall cease to apply to coastal waters of Barbuda. Further, during the period of the curfew, 8:00pm to 6:00am, all vessels and tenders are to be confined to an established mooring position.
I am really unhappy about this as we seemed to be in one of the safest spots on earth. Not only that but this place is off the charts beautiful. 13 days here is a gift virus or no virus.
My guess is that Barbuda’s government is behind this change since Barbuda has zero cases and Antigua has had seven. I can understand that but wish they would make exceptions for those of us that have been here two weeks or more!
If you need to be quarantined, this is the spot I would choose. We have been strict with our social distancing and have only socialized with the combined Morpheus/Bounty crew. I guess this is our “virtual family” for the foreseeable future.
Morpheus Sailing 