The Rollercoaster Ride Continues!

How does one make plans with the constant evolution that comes with a global pandemic?!  The saying used to be “sailors make plans at low tide”, but now making plans are only as good from one government announcement to the next.  As it has been for everyone, 2020 was one hell of a mind trip of trying to create Plans A through Z for us and so far 2021 is shaping up to be more of the same.

We thought our plans were iron-clad....yes, this was naive.  For the last few months our plan of going to Japan, followed by Alaska and ending in BC, has remain unchanged.  These countries have continued to be open to us.  We were merely weeks away from departing French Polynesia for our 5,400 mile, roughly six weeks non-stop at sea, journey to Japan’s shores.  And then....

....our friends start texting us saying “Did you hear....Japan has closed their borders to all foreigners?”  DAMN!!  The new strains of the virus have arrived in Japan and they responded as they needed for the safety of their population.  We immediately email the agent in Japan.  Does this end our “iron-clad” plans??  Apparently, all might not be lost...the take on the new announcement is that there is a loophole for sailboats.  Good news, yes?!

We are skeptical.  Really in a conundrum of what to do.  Once we set sail for a course to Japan, we have very few options where we could stop along the way if Japan announces further changes that would prevent us from entering.  Only Guam and Saipan currently would allow us to stop with a 14 day quarantine on board.  Of all those little island nations you can see on the map between French Poly and Japan, just TWO would allow us to stop.  And to be clear, we fully respect the sovereignty of these nations to do what they need to do to protect their people.

To put this distance in perspective.  If it were possible to sail straight across Canada from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast, we are planning to sail the equivalent of a round trip across Canada.  So the question remains, what the heck do we do?!  Do we leave on this long trip that does involve leaving during the cyclone season in the Southern Hemisphere to sail through where typhoons are born in the Northern Hemisphere to attempt to reach a country that is on the brink of a lockdown?!  

You would think the answer is obvious.  But it is not for us.  All four of us have absolutely fallen in love with the idea of sailing to Japan.  So we are back into the wait and see pattern 2020 gave us.  We will wait for early February to see how things evolve for Japan, see if a full lockdown is announced, before we make a final decision...or ultimately we wait to see if the decision is made for us.

In the meantime, we try to make the most of being caught in a spectacular part of the world.  All of us on Maple wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Ringing in the New Year hiking on Bora Bora.

 

An Uncertain Future

Sun sets on locked down French Polynesia.

On March 16 the government of French Polynesia first announced they were stopping travel between islands.  When the news broke, we had been bouncing about between the nearly 100 islands of the various island groups for nearly 10 months.  Anchored in the beautiful lagoon surrounding Raiatea and Tahaa, we were making our plans to head further west to Tonga, Fiji, and Vanuatu once the cyclone season wound down in April.  All those plans ended as nations around the globe rapidly began closing both internal and external borders, canceling flights, and implementing various levels of domestic confinement or "social distancing" to avoid being overwhelmed by the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus.

By March 21, French Polynesia ordered all citizens and visiting nationals into full confinement.  All non-essential stores were shuttered, schools closed, gatherings of people forbidden and individuals required to carry ID and special “Attestation” forms declaring which of 5 approved reasons they had for being out in public.  In addition, cruisers were told they must remain in their anchorages for the period of the confinement, and all marine activity, including swimming, was forbidden.

On March 27 the government announced a curfew between 8:00PM and 5:00AM which was expected to remain in place for the duration of confinement.

All of this has been repeated ad nauseam in nations around the globe, and cruisers in every port from the Mediterranean to Panama, New Zealand to Malaysia and the Maldives to South Africa face the same general restrictions and daunting future.

 
Cruising sailors are no strangers to danger or uncertainty.  Those of us who travel with our homes and most of our worldly possessions must navigate weather, long ocean passages, and language barriers at the best of times.  What now face us are very few open borders, distrust and fear of foreigners and limited prospects for further travel and discovery.  Just 6 weeks ago, most nations of the globe were accessible and welcoming to sailors.  Now, stories of cruisers refused entry at ports, forced to continue sailing or leave their home and fly back to any country which they have passports for are abundant.

For many of us on the ocean, home is an impossible distance away.  Faced with waiting for borders to open again (a decidedly uncertain prospect) or a passage that could span 1/2 the globe in a single leap the future for many of us is murky at best.

For our family on Maple, the situation is similarly uncertain.  Our choices right now seem deceptively simple, but on further consideration become much more complicated.

1. We can remain in French Polynesia and wait to see if borders re-open.  We are in French Polynesia on a long-stay visa.  Our visas expire May 20 and we had planned to be underway for Tonga long before they ran out.  We have applied for an extension to our visas which were granted and we could conceivably continue to extend for another 2 years, giving us lots of time to see if/when the Pacific will open up,
2. We can set sail west using a route that takes advantage of countries that still have borders open to voyaging sailors.  This was the plan up until late March. Unfortunately, as of today only American Samoa and Papua New Guinea are allowing entry for sailboats.  American Samoa is a great option but is only 700 miles further west, still within the cyclone zone, and only offers a 3-month visa meaning we'd have to be looking for the next welcoming nation to continue our march West by July or so and I just don't know if anywhere else will be open by then.
3. We can leave Maple in French Polynesia and try to get a flight home.  This is not an option.  Maple is our home, we have no other and I cannot imagine leaving her in French Polynesia for an undetermined amount of time.  It could be 12-18 months before borders re-open, possibly longer, and by the time we can return to Maple we may not have a bank account that will support further sailing.
4. We can sail back to the west coast of Canada.  This option is intriguing.  We can manage the trip one of two ways.  The first would see us head North to Hawaii, then onward to Vancouver.  This passage is certainly do-able, depending on seasons and is only 5000 miles total.  Many cruising sailors follow this route to return to the USA or visit Alaska.  Typically yachts will sail to Hawaii in April/May and on to Vancouver in July.  The second option is to work our way West, possibly via American Samoa, and then North to Japan.  This could involve a stop in the Marshall Islands and/or Micronesia (if they open their borders) and may include a stop in Guam (currently open to boaters).  This is a more challenging route, covering nearly 7000 miles to Japan and then another 4300 to Vancouver, a total of over 11000 miles.  It will also mean avoiding typhoon season in Japan and Cyclone season in the South Pacific while bouncing between countries that don't want or need visitors.  Typically yachts will sail North to the equator before November and plan to head to Japan after March.  Sailing to Vancouver is best accomplished in June/July.

As Janet posted the other day, we are leaning heavily towards option 4.  Sailing back to Canada seems the best choice in these uncertain times.  There is simply no way of knowing how long travel restrictions will last, and even if commercial travel starts again soon yacht travel may be far behind.  In a future where vaccines are required, quarantines likely and foreigners suspect we can't help but feel that the comfortable embrace of our home and native land will be a welcome change.  It will also allow us to refresh our bank accounts and reconnect with old friends.  Bringing Maple along gives the added bonus of a floating home and escape pod for when the travel itch hits us again.

Is this the end or simply a new beginning?

Croatia, 2015, giving Maple her name.

Last night when kissing Iris goodnight, I noticed she was cuddling her alpaca stuffy.  I couldn’t stop myself from grinning. To think that a year and a half ago we were traipsing around the beauty of Peru. What an amazing life you have led, baby girl. You have lived full time on a sailboat for half of your life, in that time exploring 32 different countries in 6 continents.  What a gift these 5 years have been for our family.  My heart brims with so much happiness with being able to pull off this lifestyle for as long as we have. 

We had some exciting plans this year.  We were going to add 5 more countries to our tally. But the world as we know it has stopped. Our good fortune has left us spending this time of great uncertainty here in the stunning jewel of the South Pacific. We have our health, we have financial security for the time being and we have a roof over our heads.  We have nothing but gratitude for what opportunities we have had in our lives. If we need to stop this lifestyle today, we have no regrets with the choices that have brought us here. 

We have been doing much talking and planning, as challenging as that is at a time like this.  We knew that we could not maintain this lifestyle forever, the bank account balance is dwindling. Our plan had always been when that time came, we would sell Maple and use the proceeds from the boat to settle ourselves somewhere to be determined to replenish the bank account. The reality is that time is approaching. 

We are not ready to end this journey.  We really wanted to explore Asia with the girls.  Unfortunately in this current climate, this is highly improbable. So what now?  Sell the boat?  Wait another year in French Polynesia to see if borders reopen?  With our current finances we will only pull off two more years if we are lucky. 

Hmmm...

....after 30 days of confinement we had a mind-blowing revelation...

....after years of saying we would NEVER sail to Canada, perhaps we could introduce Maple to her home port after all?!

Sure it is costly to import Maple and we need to reacquaint ourselves with winters (sob!). But by keeping Maple, we have a home that is already paid for so it means we could actually afford to live on the south coast again, enabling us to be close to family.  It also would allow us to feel we can easily adopt this nomadic lifestyle again as we understand the pull of the ocean is strong.

Even though the saying is “plans are written in the sand at low tide”, we are fairly certain this is the direction we are going to head. Sail to Canada, return to the only province the four of us have ever called home. What is unknown is the route we will take to sail there.  We hope as the months pass we will be able to form a plan on how many miles, countries and time it will take to sail Maple to her home port.  We have more questions than answers at this stage, but we have a goal that excites all of us!  

I hope this finds everyone safe and healthy during this time and we will post more as plans firm up.