Cruising... as a social distance strategy
We wanted you to know that as the Covid-19 strategies are being enacted, HAPS leadership is watching closely, to see how we might respond by modifying our schedule and our rendezvous behaviors. Blake Island marina has been closed (the mooring balls are apparently still OK to use), so we have cancelled our planned rendezvous of 24-26 April.
The HAPS rendezvous/events schedule is accessible here, on the website.
We'll keep that updated. You'll note that the meetme@ for Tom Hubbard's departure on leg 7 of the Clipper Round the World race has also been cancelled. The Clipper organisation has postponed the entire race for ten months, resuming 2021.
The next rendezvous on the HAPS 2020 calendar is the 29 May meetme@ in Gig Harbor. We'll keep you posted on that possibility.
The boats in our fleet that normally head north in May will know by now that the US-Canada border has been closed to non-essential (a/k/a recreational) traffic in both directions, through the end of April. This decision will be revisited at that time, based on how and where the pandemic progresses.
The online cruising resource Salish Sea Pilot has published a web-based list of marinas and ports in the San Juans, Southern Gulfs, Desolation Sound and beyond, responding to the pandemic. As you'll see, the actions vary widely. Locally in the Puget Sound, we have heard of marinas shutting down services entirely, partially, or just going on reduced staffing.
Of course, taking shelter on your boat is always an option for social distancing, either by taking off and staying in as little land contact as possible, or by going to the marina and working on your boat by yourself. Spring Into Action? The earth is seemingly ignoring Covid-19, and showing signs of spring. In my opinion, we can continue to observe social distancing and prep our boats for cruising, whenever that happens. To that end, I'm attaching link to a Spring Launch Checklist. I referred to this document at Chart Chat.
If you have ideas on the subject of how we proceed, please do contact us directly here. I'd love to hear your thoughts, as well as what your thoughts are on the upcoming cruising season in our new environment: Not doing it at all? Staying local? Taking extra precautions?
Wishing you a healthy course and fair winds in the coming season, Debbie and Tom Jardine, fleet co-captains