Day 7 of Quarantine in Hiva – Oa
Yesterday we were informed that our quarantine, which was initially going to be 15 days, will be extended by 15 more days. With this news, we are hopeful we will be allowed to go ashore in a restricted quarantine area during the second two weeks. So far, the hardest part of quarantine has been the inability to walk about on land and shamefully, our lack of access to Wi-Fi.
Beyond those shortcomings, the quarantine has been pleasant. The cruising community here and the local authorities seem to be cooperating well with each other and as a result, we have been allowed some creature comforts such as swimming, regular grocery delivery, trash drop-off, water and fuel pick up. Days seem to fly by.
Aboard J. Henry, we begin the day with the 8:00 Cruisers Net for the Hiva Oa. Boats in our harbor volunteer each day to act as radio controller and keep the agenda moving. We cover local updates for our situation here, international virus news, followed by general international news, weather and finally any other additions folks would like to make. Once the net has finished, exercise, coffee and breakfast follow.
The rest of the day goes by pretty quickly. We tackle projects aboard the boat. We clean up, read and cook. Antonia and I have decided to teach each other skills we can share. I am trying to learn French and she is getting a course on sailing, boat maintenance and other maritime-based skills and topics. Sunset and cocktail hour arrives before we know it. We have not been slacking on our commitment to great cocktails and delicious meals each day.
These days it’s seldom that anything that needs to get accomplished. We both have several things we’d like to do while we’re in quarantine; still several of those items have yet to be addressed. The days are slipping by surprisingly quickly.
Nothing is certain, but I’m hopeful the world will pull out of this soon. For now, it’s hard to imagine a better place spend quarantine. All is well aboard J. Henry.
All the best,
Tripp
Apparent Winds 