Problems, problems, everywhere

Sailing folk are something of a breed apart for landlubbers like me. About ten days ago I was chatting with a pal of my late father’s whose son and family are – or had been – about a quarter into a four-year project to sail around the world, home-schooling their young children along the way.

They are currently hold up in a marina on a Caribbean island.

The authorities are keen to see them move on, but as far as they can tell, no other country in the locality are prepared to accept them so they’re in a bit of dilemma as to what to do next.

Currently for obvious reasons they are finding it difficult even to obtain flights to get back to this country.

And then – as every long-voyage sailor knows – if they should opt to sail anywhere, there’s the Caribbean hurricane season to contend with that swings into action every year towards the end of June.

As a professional sailor my son Barry is coming at these issues from a slightly different direction. Last November his yacht sailed to the Mediterranean for a refit in advance of the Palma Superyacht Regatta in April and for the last six months he’s been holed up and then locked down in Spain – the Palma Superyacht Regatta was inevitably cancelled because of the coronavirus – and now his owner, who lives in the Caribbean, is looking forward to seeing his yacht back there.

However, because of the Spanish lockdown – part-lifted only two weeks ago – work in the shipyard is now way behind where it should be and right now it’s going to be touch and go as to whether they’ll now have time they’ll get back to the Caribbean before the hurricane season begins in earnest.

Some might say there are pleasant problems to have, for those who can afford them, but nevertheless they serve to demonstrate that every human activity is being affected by this pandemic.

I was reminded of the above when spotting this piece by Susan Smillie which appears today upon the website of – THE GUARDIAN