Challenges of Living Aboard During a Pandemic

Simon and Carla Fowler are anchored in their sailing catamaran about 650’ (198.12 m) off a deserted beach in the Bahamas. They have a message for anyone locked down on land who wishes that they too could be self-isolating on the water.

“Being out here in a pandemic is actually a lot harder and more stressful than you might think,” said Simon, a 60-year-old British event organizer who has spent the last two years living at sea with his wife on their 40’ (12.19 m) catamaran.

Shunned Abroad

“It is the most depressing time we have had in two years,” he said. “It has been quite nasty.”

Locals fearing infection have become less welcoming to cruisers like the Fowlers over the last six weeks. Ports and borders have begun closing, supplies have become harder to find, and the couple must abide by the same social distancing restrictions in place on land. They can’t socialize with other sailors.

While some might think they crave the ultimate escape and self-isolation of living board, the restrictions being placed on transients have created logistical hurdles and ethical dilemmas. Then there’s the folks on social media who have been criticizing the Fowlers.

“I got an absolute tsunami of abuse saying how selfish I was and I shouldn’t be going anywhere or visiting anyone,” he said. “People were vulgar and vile and saying how horrible we are and I got really upset.”

Simon said he can understand how people are frustrated at being isolated, often in small spaces on land, “but they think we are much better off than we are.”

Recreational sailing is still permitted in some areas of the United States, including parts of Florida and certain areas in New England and San Francisco. But in the Mediterranean almost all private boating has shut down. Cruising hot spots such as the Caribbean and South Pacific are imposing restrictions that often change day by day and leave sailors unsure of where they can go.

Carla, a 55-year-old former personal assistant to a lawyer, said the only advantage she and her husband have over the homebound is their view of a nearby beach called Spoil Cay. “It’s beautiful but we’re not allowed on shore,” she said. “And we can’t just go for a jog or nick down to the shops like a lot of people.”

Increased Views

Bobby White is a sailing blogger from the United States now anchored in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Traffic for his “Sailing Doodles” YouTube videos has soared as frustrated armchair sailors follow his trip.

“We were averaging about 3 to 3.5 million views a month, and just in the last two months that has gone over six million views a month,” he said. “I think people are bored stuck at home and have nothing better to do than watch YouTube so that’s great for me.”

The 42-year-old has been sailing full-time for three and half years and lives on revenue from the traffic to his YouTube videos.

“I understand that some people are going to be negative so I try not to post too much of: ‘Hey look at me, I am having fun out on the water,’” he said, “because I think maybe people are sensitive to that right now.”

“Most people think, ‘Man, that’s really cool I get to live vicariously through you while I’m stuck in my apartment.’ So I try not to listen to the bad stuff too much.”

White is sharing his 62’ (18.9 m) CT56 sailboat yacht with Canadian friends Edith Briel and Taylor Francis, and their itinerary has been upended by the coronavirus restrictions and quarantines imposed by various islands.

“We had to leave Puerto Rico because they closed down all marina services and we had some problems with our boat,” he said. “If a technician got caught coming out to your boat, they got fined $5,000.”

“I am supposed to have the boat hauled out of the water in Grenada for hurricane season, but I’m not going there now because who knows what’s going to happen.”

White said the uncertainty is tough, “but I would rather be here than locked down on land. At least I can jump off my boat and go swimming. If I was in New York City stuck in an apartment watching Netflix all day I think I would go crazy.”

A major problem amid the access restrictions across the Caribbean is that insurers compel cruising vessels to leave the hurricane zone by certain dates — June 1 for the Fowlers and July 1 for White — and many skippers do not know where they will be accepted.

White said the Caribbean is already eerily quiet “because a lot of boats have left and the crewed charter boats are just sitting out on moorings hanging out doing nothing.”