It’s been about 9 months since the pandemic began (or at least came to our attention). Janice and I have been taking “social distancing” quite literally. Except for occasionally walking around our neighborhood (which has been deserted) and picking up groceries that were ordered online we have been home bound. We’ve been lucky as this is not as hard for us as most people.
We received our training while cruising in the 90’s. We were on a passage from Guatemala to Costa Rica when in the middle of the night we were hit by the “Papagayo Winds”. These are unpredictable storms off the coast of Central America that can blow 40-60 kts. In addition they can last for more than a week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papagayo_Jet
We made it into a small harbor at San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua, anchoring in the dark among large rocks.
When morning came we were approached by the Nicaraguan Coast Guard. That is another story which can be read about in Janice’s book Stumbling Aboard.
My point though is that the winds persisted for seven days during which time it was too windy to take our dingy to shore (which wouldn’t wouldn’t have been a good idea anyway as the Sandinistas just lost the war and weren’t too crazy about Americans) . We never left our boat for a week. No TV, no Internet, no Zoom, nothing to entertain us but each other.
Compared to that experience this is a piece of cake. Hopefully it will be over in a few more months.
