Quarantining in Grenada

​For the sake of including the most recent information, I will be skipping the details of our time in Antigua.
We arrived on June 24th in Grenada, our home for the next few months. Most people haven’t heard of this country, but almost all boaters have. This is the place that most cruisers will escape to during hurricane season. The island is outside of the ‘hurricane belt’ so it is a safer option for hurricane season which runs from the first of June to the end of November.
In the time before COVID-19, we would’ve arrived here around the same time, but under different circumstances. We most likely would have spent the season traveling throughout the Caribbean and slowly making our way to Grenada before hurricane season started. However, as you probably know, that did not happen. Instead we were trapped in the USVI’s until we were able to buy a ticket for Grenada. Yes, ticket.
Grenada has been strict about their lockdown rules, so when they finally opened to the boaters, they had guidelines in place. First, you had to buy a ticket that would represent when you would arrive in Grenada. This is your time slot, you have to arrive within a three-day span. Two, you must have your temperature checked when you arrive in the country. Three, you must quarantine in a predetermined bay for two weeks. Finally, you are tested for coronavirus at the end of those two weeks.
So, on June 24th we arrived midmorning and were put directly into the first day of our two-week isolation. Now, we’ve been in a semi-quarantine this entire time, avoiding large groups, only hanging out with a small group of friends, etc. But this was completely different, we were not allowed to leave the boat at all. We weren’t even allowed to swim! (Though I don’t know if I would have wanted to, that anchorage was gross).
With no hiking or swimming or snorkeling or afternoon activities, you would think that I got ahead in school…I didn’t. I did do school; I just did do enough of it to get ahead. I was REALLY behind when we started our quarantine, almost three weeks behind in every subject. By the end of quarantine, I was only a week or less behind in those subjects. It may not sound impressive but its is, that is almost five weeks of work in two weeks!
In the times where I stopped doing school and we were all sitting around, I discovered a new hobby. Henna! I’ve always loved getting the designs on my hand or arms, I’d even done a few of them, but this time I went a little crazy. I gave myself a total of maybe five hennas and each of my parents received at least one. That’s not even considering the amount of times I did a design, hated it, and immediately rubbed it off.
By the end of our quarantine we were all just a little, tiny bit sick of each other. That’s something I’m sure everyone in the world can relate to right now.
So, on our last day, we took our dinghy to the dock and were tested for COVID-19. We were one of the first to arrive and we were in and out within an hour. We had to wait to have our fingers pricked and our blood tested, then another 15 minutes for that to cure. But it was all worth it because our tests came back negative and we were officially admitted into the country.

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