Another Bahamas COVID Update

I'm here and trying to figure it all out after yesterday's announcement.
Lock down this weekend at night, and inter island travel suspending on Tuesday at 7pm
I think we are done for now.

Correct. We re anchored off blackpoint exumas. Lockdown till Monday morning except grocery stores GB is also under a complete lock down for another week or so.

We have guests flying tomorrow morning out of Staniel on Staniel Air... not sure if it will happen.

I believe I understand that Makers Air is still flying.

Yes they are. At least before the latest lockdown was announced.

I'm supposed to leave for the Bahamas Monday. Monday to Bimini, Tuesday to Albany (Nassau) Wed or Thursday to Highbourne for the week. We all took our Covid tests, AND we all got our Bahamas visas yesterday at NOON. Now we just read this memo, which seems to lock all inter-island travel AND Flights down starting Tuesday at 7pm or Wednesday at 5AM, depending on what you read. So not sure what to believe OR if we're leaving. Here are the 2 articles. 1 from Bahamas.com and the other from the Prime Ministers website.

July 23rd
https://www.bahamas.com/pressroom/b...-july-23-emergency-powers-and-covid-19-travel

Prime Ministers website (click on download)
https://opm.gov.bs/emergency-powers-covid19-pandemicno-2-order-2020-final/

So far things are normal for boats. Travel into the Bahamas by private boat, private and charter plane is allowed as long as all have a test and have received a health visa

Yes they have imposed a lockdown this week end but it really has no impact for boats as long as you don’t go into a settlement. Hotels (and marinas are considered hotels if you are docked) are open.

personally I would avoid BIM as they have a couple of recent cases and i wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t impose a lock down there on Monday. Clear at Chub instead. Pulling back into Staniel now, it s packed

This is probably the most detailed and accurate summary

https://bs.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/


Personally I would avoid Nassau at all costs. Clear in Chub and go straight to the Exumas which are not affected by most of the issues, as long as you go into any settlement.

Thank you for the info. I forwarded the website to the owner.

Another update from the ABM It was in their FB Page, not on their site yet

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The Government of The Bahamas has announced a number of additional precautionary steps intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to its islands. The Association of Bahamas Marinas is providing the following information for clarification and to assist in accessing the country for pleasure boating and cruising.

Q: Will travel between the various islands be possible?
A: At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday (7/28) inter-island travel will be discontinued. Between now and then, anyone arriving at an Out Island from New Providence (Nassau) and other islands where COVID-19 is present, will be required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. For this reason, you are advised to be guided by lists of affected islands posted by the Ministry of Health at https://covid19.gov.bs/

Boaters who enter after 7:00pm Tuesday, the port of entry is where you stay. If you are already here, stay in place. If you are planning on sailing home, get fuel, water, food full by Tuesday night, then head out via the shortest safest route.
The emergency regulations require anyone travelling from a Bahamian island for which there is an impending lockdown order to “undergo, at their own expense, a 14-day quarantine in a government facility upon arriving at their destination island within The Bahamas, to be followed by an RT PCR COVID-19 molecular test at the end of the quarantine period.” For this reason yacht captains a boaters are strongly advised to stay abreast of developments at https://covid19.gov.bs/.

Q: Are customs open this weekend for arrivals and departures?
A: Yes.

Q: Can boats travel to the islands during lockdown weekends, including this weekend until Monday July 27 at 5:00 am.
A: Boats can travel from island to island if they do not get off vessel at destination until Tuesday July 28 at 7:00pm.

Q: Can boaters use their tenders or go out sailing this weekend / during lockdowns?
A: Yes. The lockdown does not affect movement on the water.

Q: What about movement of people?
A: In these circumstances, its best to plan to enjoy cruising The Bahamas without much, if any time ashore. On Monday 27 July a country-wide curfew between 7:00pm and 5:00am will be in effect. It would be best to spend those hours aboard your vessel. However, under no circumstances may leave their marina premises after 7:00pm. On the hotel’s or marina’s premises masks must be worn.

Q: What is situation with charter flights? Can people fly out this weekend? Going forward will people flying in on private have to quarantine?
A: Newly imposed regulations requiring passengers on commercial flights to undergo 14 days of quarantine do not apply to passengers on private yachts and flights. Such passengers, including those on charters by air or sea are required to have evidence of a negative RT PCR COVID-19 molecular test dated no longer than seven days before arrival.

Q: Will it be possible to dine out?
A: As of Monday (7/27) all restaurants will be closed for on-site dining, but take-away and delivery will still be allowed (check with individual restaurants).

Q: Will we be able to get provisions?
A: Between the hours of 5:00am and 7:00pm marinas will be able to arrange for provisions to be brought to dockside from local supply sources. Each marina will be able to provide lists and contact information.

——-

YUP, my trip from July 27th-Aug 9th has been cancelled.

Correction. The ABM made a mistake in the bow ve and the COVID-19 test needs to be TEN days old or less not 7

I don't like being put in the position of censoring member's posts. YF is relatively self-policing because all of us care about the resource we've built. Last night I removed 20+ posts in this thread that turned political. To save time and further degradation of the forum, we will begin removing any posts that are political or antagonistic in nature. This means the time you spend composing a political post will be time wasted.

If you want to discuss politics, find another forum.

Thank you.

Good and needed, but a constant job. It doesn't take much time to intentionally slide in one word and guarantee the thread goes off the rails.

Well with new cases popping up in Great exuma, Bakers bay (well... not Bahamians but Mexican construction workers... ) the party will be over soon. So I guess the thousands of dollars we spend every week here will head back to Miami.

Interesting anecdote... a few days ago we were talking to one of the crew here at SCYC who had been sick as a dog back in January (I hope the NY PC Cop doesn’t think this is a racist dog whistle thing ...) with that typical Bahamian candor he said .... “mon... I duhnno why but back in December we saw dem Chinese tourists come in wearing masks on the tours from Nassau and we all wondered why. Now we know. “

Really? You couldn't let sleeping dogs lie? We're all trying to get the thread back on track. Let's put the past behind us and move on...

Thank you for keeping your eyes open. Necessary. Heard the tourist story before. When everyone is going in on direction, wearing masks or hard hats and such (regardless of where they're from) it's generally a good idea to follow their lead or at least ask why. And sorry but you may have trouble spending that money back in Miami as well. Florida is now #2, ahead of NY, and getting worse. Miami-Dade is the epicenter. Good luck to all there. (Seriously) If anyone has surgeries scheduled I suggest getting an update from your doctor ASAP and getting back to them if you see a lull in hospital admissions. This is no game. My wife told me about a young actor the other day who took about 90 days with a tube down his throat, no contact with family, an amputated leg, a lung transplant and a pacemaker before he finally died. I've faced death many times. This scares me.

I saw Chinese tourists here in Fort Lauderdale at Rustic Inn (restaurant) in December and they were wearing masks and gloves and I thought that was really odd...... I got REALLY sick Jan 17, with a flu like no other, and symptoms like I've never had, and think that I had covid, knowing what the symptoms are now.