A BIG Catch-Up!

It’s been awhile since we updated you on our activities. So much has happened and it’s hard to know where to start! Let’s start with the most important update in this big catch-up.

The Big Checkup

We are now back in Canada for the foreseeable future – more on that below. Part of the reason we needed to get home specifically is that I was due for check-ups with my medical team here in Ontario. As it turns out, my scheduled appointments in early April couldn’t happen due to the pandemic. And my scheduled St Maarten to Toronto and back agenda was cancelled. I have now been able to get in for an MRI and met with Dr. Kouroukis by phone this week. Good news is they see a perfectly clear MRI which is always a relief. And all blood work indicates everything is as expected. Truly the best news we can expect.

The Big Return

As planned, we arrived back in St. Maarten in December before Christmas. We got a royal welcome and it was fantastic to reconnect with our island family and friends. The boat launching had a few last minute delays – as boat owners, we’re not terribly surprised by this. Turns out we replaced all rigging which meant removing the mast temporarily. Thankfully one of our good friends, Marcin, is an expert rigger and found the problem while we were still in the boatyard. He coordinated and redid the entire standing rigging. We owe him a massive thank-you for everything. Check the picture of the crazy Viking up the mast during reassembly.

Many other leaks and fixes also needed to be addressed, largely due to the fact that she sat on the hard for 16 months. Boats like to be in the water! Captain Derek had on his plumber hat, mechanic hat, electrician hat and general all around fix-it guy hat! Which is the story of his life as captain of a 46-foot floating condo!

Despite a few weeks of required repairs and TLC, our baby was in overall great shape and happy to see us. After relaxing for a few weeks over the holidays, we started a string of friends and family visits, followed by a couple of charters for ARAVILLA.

Derek’s Mom and Dad, along with my Mom came for a week in January. We called it the “Seniors Tour” and we had a blast! They had spectacular weather for their visit and we had a chance to take them over to Grand Case to meet our “island family” – Suzy and Emile. Of course they also experienced the regular crowd in our home base of Simpson Bay. Derek’s dad even celebrated his 80th birthday in style in SXM. A really great week! On the heels of their visit, we had more friends from Ontario for a few days. A chance to relax and enjoy the company of good people in the tropical paradise.

Starting in February we had a 10-day charter with a return group. These folks have become good friends and they were incredibly supportive during the entire cancer process. We were so happy to reconnect with them. Good times had by all and a really high energy and positive team – Go Team CAMF! As you can see, we even have team shirts these guys custom designed and made. Truly awesome! We will get down to see you once this pandemic craziness is done.

The Big Departure

We finished a shorter than expected season on March 13th when the last charter group left. I don’t need to explain what was going on at this time. Needless to say, things went crazy in a matter of days. We had to make some very quick decisions on what to do with the boat and ourselves during the onset of the pandemic. After waiting it out for a week or so, it became evident that we probably weren’t going to get off the island anytime soon if we didn’t book a flight immediately. As it turns out we caught the last scheduled flight to Canada on March 29th.

Only days before we decided to ready the boat for dry dock and had her hauled out on March 28th. The dilemma was that we couldn’t leave the boat in the water unattended, given the onset of hurricane season in a couple of months. With the unknown of when we would be able to return to the island it was a risk/reward debate. Very stressful time for us, and sad to leave so soon. As it turns out, it was definitely the right decision. The island has been in total lockdown since we left, no movement on land or water allowed without a permit, and battling an increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases as is most of the rest of our world. Not only that, but the boatyard is now not sure they can turnover enough boats to store many of the expected boats. Thankfully we got in, just in time.

The flight home was a bit surreal. An almost empty plane, lots of strange and suspicious looks from everyone, and absolutely no hospitality onboard. Upon arrival in Toronto, it was literally 15 minutes from gate-to-car with checked bags and customs/immigration. There simply wasn’t any volume of people and the officers there were hyper-efficient. After 2 weeks of required quarantine at our lovely AirBNB in Kitchener, we are now staying with our very generous friends once again in Linwood. Laying low and waiting out the unfolding of events to come.

That’s All For Now

I think that brings us up-to-date on activities in the last few months. It’s great to be back in Canada, and we’re looking forward to summer and hopefully getting back to some degree of normalcy in the near future. Let’s connect when we can – it’ll be great to see and hear from everyone.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Cindy and Derek