COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
(SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Having just sailed to Antigua from the Chesapeake, we can confirm first-hand that the island has taken COVID seriously and has smart and logical systems in place to allow safe travel to the island, both for sailors and for crew flying in. As of November 24, there were 12 active cases on the island. The following protocol are written with our upcoming Antigua-based passages in mind and will evolve.
Crew Requirements Flying In to Antigua:
Negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of boarding the plane.
Safe habits and isolate as much as possible in the 10-days prior to flying.
Once through customs in Antigua, crew must proceed directly to the boat via taxi. We’ll be on anchor in Falmouth Harbour, and will pick you up with our dinghy.
Masks required at all times in Antigua.
There is a 14-day quarantine period, which means crew will NOT be allowed ashore. However, we can sail and stay onboard, have provisions delivered to the boat, race, etc. You can even fly home within that 14-day window, so long as you travel directly from the boat back to the airport.
If you want to explore Antigua after the race, you’d be required to book your own accommodation ashore, and remain quarantined for the remainder of the 14-days before you’d be allowed ashore.
ICEBEAR Protocols Onboard:
We have Rapid Antigen COVID tests onboard - we will test you on arrival to the boat before you board. These tests are 98% effective.
If you test positive, we’ll do a second test (at your expense, they cost $35/test) to make sure it’s not a false positive. If STILL positive, you’ll be required to isolate ashore in your own accommodation (at your own expense).
You’d then be required to get a PCR test on the island (~$300). if this comes back negative, you’d then be able to re-join the boat. If positive, you’d be required to remain on Antigua for the 14-day quarantine period before flying home.
Once all crew who test negative are onboard, we’ll create our own ‘bubble’ and will NOT required masks or social distancing (impossible onboard anyway).
Then we’ll go racing!
REFUNDS
In the event you test positive for COVID-19 in the 72-hour window prior to flying, you will NOT be issued a refund. However, we WILL transfer your deposit to a future passage, less a $250 admin fee.
If the race itself is cancelled, but the island remains open for travel, we WILL continue with the program, do the training days, and sail the course as a training session. You will get the same experience, just with fewer boats on the course (we have some friends who have agreed to join us in this case to race against!).
If the island goes into lockdown and the airport remains closed to travelers, we WILL offer full refunds, or transfers for another passage, with no fees.
If your home country enacts a travel ban and you personally cannot get to the boat, you will NOT be offered a refund, but WILL be offered to transfer to a future passage.
Bottom line - stay safe and stay flexible! We’re trying to get through this COVID mess and treat all of our customers fairly. We do not intend to unfairly keep anybody’s money - if you pay for a trip with us, you WILL get to sail with us, one way or another. We appreciate your understanding.
Blog posts through the pandemic
“You have a great business. You have a loyal customer base. We will stick with you!”
March 14 Letter
Well gang, looks like the world is changing before our eyes. I’m writing this from my house in Sweden, where just like everywhere else, we’re being affected by this novel coronavirus. Thankfully our sailing season is on pause right now as planned, for maintenance and layup period for both ICEBEAR and ISBJORN, but we’re set to start the summer trans-Atlantic season in earnest in April, which is right around the corner.
We’ve already been in touch with all crew set to sail with us in 2020 as to what might change. For now, like most everyone, we’re in wait and see mode, and just following the guidelines that the CDC and ECDC are laying out as to how to deal with this.
We’ll be using 59-north.com/corona to update this info as we have it.
ISBJORN is hauled out in Nanny Cay, Tortola, while ICEBEAR is on anchor in Grenada with boat captain Sean Westoby in charge and completing some maintenance projects. He oversaw replacement of the forestay and rebuild of the backstay hydraulic cylinder, and this week is working on the battery bank.
So for now we want to acknowledge that of course COVID-19 is going to affect 59º North, we just don’t yet know how. In the meantime, since our staff is distributed around the world, we’re going to start blogging about their experiences in different parts of the world. Mia & I are in Sweden (and having a very surreal time, which we’ll explain soon); ISBJORN skipper August Sandberg is in Norway, where his national guard unit is on standby; ISBJORN mate Liz Karamavros is at home in Connecticut doing lots of yoga; ICBEAR mate Emma Garschagen is in Boulder, Colorado managing our Instagram account for now; ICEBEAR skipper Susie Goodall is in Cuba of all places, skippering another boat and trying to figure out what to do next. Ben Soofer, our PR guy and shore support is in Honduras after just completing his divemaster certification. Ryan F. and Lee C. are in California & Maryland respectively, while Ship’s Photographer James Austrums is out hiking & camping in northern England.
Very shortly we’re going to have a conference call to discuss contingency plans, but otherwise are trying our best to enjoy the downtime and following the news closely! So stay tuned here for further updates, and if you’re set to sail with us this year or next and want to ask us anything, feel free to reach out. We’ll do our best to answer any questions ahead of time.
Now more than ever…
HOLD FAST!
-Andy Schell
I’m in a reflective mood tonight, re-reading John Kretschmer’s Sailing a Serious Ocean and reminding myself why I wanted to go ocean sailing in the first place. John’s writing is what inspired me down this career path, and anytime I get overly stressed about our business I pickup one of his books and do a reset. I’ve been thinking about all the miles we’ve sailed on ISBJORN since buying her in 2015. Over 40,000 and counting, from 10º north in the Caribbean to 80º north in the High Arctic, and some of my all-time favorite landfalls in between. Horta. Lunenburg. St. Pierre & Miquelon. Bermuda. Lagos. Marstrand. Stockholm. Lofoten. Ile Fourche. Bequia. So many places, and such a cool boat…