A young couple off on an adventure crossing the Atlantic in their small boat got a big surprise when arrived in the Caribbean: while they were at sea the coronavirus pandemic went worldwide, borders closed, and no one wanted them to land.
The pair is from Manchester, and set to sea late in February, when it was possible to think that only limited parts of the world were involved. And, on top of their very limited communications, they had told family they didn’t want any bad news while on their trip.
After 25 days at sea, they tried one island for a landfall, and found the borders were closed and the world was facing a pandemic. The problem was even more complicated for them, since the woman is an Italian citizen whose family lives in one of the harder-hit areas.
After being turned away from Grenada as well, they were able to use their navigation logs to prove to authorities on Saint Vincent that they hadn’t been in Italy for many months, and had been in effect, in total quarantine for nearly four weeks.
But now, they’d like to move on before June: hurricane season is coming.
For a more detailed report from BBC News, click here.
