A Close Call with Plan B

After all of that "perfect summer" description in the last blog posting, we very nearly had to go with "Plan B" before we'd even left home.

We took our rapid PCR COVID tests (required for our entry into France at that time; as of June 17 a COVID test is no longer an entry requirement for vaccinated Americans) at an urgent care center in St. Petersburg during the late afternoon of June 15, the day before our scheduled departure to Paris. We'd been pretty careful with our exposure to other people throughout the entire "Age of COVID", and although we'd relaxed our mask-wearing somewhat post-vaccination, we still avoided crowds and tried to minimize interactions (especially indoors) with people of uncertain vaccination status. It was, therefore, quite a shocker when Lon's PCR test result came up as positive. Whaaaaaattttt????? sums up our reaction. Rather than accepting the result at face value and reporting it to the State of Florida--which would have prevented us from flying for at least 14 days--the testing facility sent Lon's sample to a lab for confirmatory testing with the "regular" PCR process. We were hoping to get the results that evening, but no such luck. Needless to say, we had a long and mostly sleepless night as we tried to stay optimistic that the initial result was a false positive and that we'd still be able to fly on the 16th. We finally got the results at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, about an hour before we were supposed to leave for the airport. Negative! We were exhilarated, relieved, rushed around like mad to get out the door by 10 a.m., and were grateful to be able to put the possibility of having to go with a Plan B on the back burner.

The travel itself was a piece of cake. Check-in was easy, our flights were on time, and we had an early arrival into Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The airport was eerily empty compared to past trips and we breezed through French customs. I had to show only my passport to the customs officer; he didn't ask to see my proof of vaccination or COVID test results. Lon was asked to show his passport and vaccination card. Less than an hour after landing we were already on the first of several trains that would eventually get us to our marina in Auxonne, France.

It was a sad, dirty, and neglected C.A.R.I.B. III that greeted us when we got to Port Royal in Auxonne. Twenty months of no attention will do that to a boat. The exterior dirt was the worst; the spiders and other bugs had not left as much of an impact on the inside as I'd feared. Cleaning was a high priority for our first days here. 

A small sample of the dirt on the deck

At least we weren't growing trees
like this neighbor's boat

Lon got busy with the power washer

Et voila! Clean again

It's basically all work, little play for us at this point. I have made lots of trips by bike to the grocery store to replenish the fridge and cupboards and Lon is making his way through the various boat systems--water, engine, etc. I've sewn a window covering for the galley window, and am currently in the process of creating some window screens that are several steps improved from the "make-do" screens we had in 2019. As far as we can tell we are still on track to be able to start cruising around the first of July, but unpleasant surprises could occur, so we will just "keep on keeping on" with the prep tasks and wait to see what happens.

The marina is very quiet compared to what it was in 2019. The Canadian owners of the barge Aleau, who have been resident here since July 2020, had us over for docktails last Friday, but that's about the extent of our social life so far. We seem to be among the first of the non-resident bargees to arrive; few, if any, Brits, Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis are here. 

Now that we're here it's hard to believe that we've been away since September 2019. It's all very comfortable and familiar and we're looking forward to the next months.

The Summer of "Sort of" Plans

We're heading back to France! Effective June 9, France will finally allow entry for touristic reasons for Americans who are fully vaccinated against COVID and have a negative COVID test prior to departure. The first announcement about a June 9 opening came from the French government at the end of April, and very shortly thereafter we had our airline tickets booked for a June 16 departure from Tampa International Airport. 

Because we are still "in the Age of COVID", this boating summer will be shorter than our 2019 season. We were not able to get a long stay tourist visa this year, so we will be limited to a maximum of 90 days in the European Schengen countries. (The Schengen Area comprises 26 European countries that have abolished passport and other border controls at their mutual borders. Their common visa policy is that U.S. travelers may visit Schengen countries visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180 day period. France, Belgium, and the Netherlands are all part of the Schengen Area.) This will affect how we approach cruising and how far we can potentially travel.

The main impact of COVID for us, and the reason for the blog title, is a significantly enhanced awareness that circumstances can change without much warning, e.g., lockdowns and border closures. This is in addition to the "normal" events that have always impacted boaters, like low water levels in canals due to limited rainfall or boat mechanical problems. So, while our hoped-for "Plan A" summer is described in the following paragraphs, we are fully aware that this can only be a "sort of" plan, and are already mulling Plan B, Plan C, and Plan "OK, we give up, time to punt".

In our "perfect" summer, we will arrive in Paris on June 17 and rejoin C.A.R.I.B. III in Port Royal, Auxonne. After 2 weeks of clearing out spider webs and getting the mechanics of the boat ready for cruising, we will depart Auxonne and head toward the Netherlands via the route shown below. There is work we want done on the boat, and the boatyards in the Netherlands are both more numerous and generally less expensive than in France, hence, the choice of the Netherlands as our destination for the year. 

Our route begins with the Petite Saone River, then the Canal des Vosges, and then a variety of rivers and canals before ending 6-to-8 weeks later in the Dutch city of Maasbracht. The route encompasses 715 km (429 miles), 201 locks, and an estimated 160 hours of cruising. It passes by the city of Verdun, France, which has significant WWI importance and is of great interest to us. 

After getting the boat situated in Maasbracht we will need to get out of the Schengen Area for a period of time. Our return flight to the U.S. isn't until early October and if we stayed in France and/or the Netherlands for the entire time we would run afoul of the 90 day maximum. So our plan is to travel to the UK, visit friends in Bath, and use 3+ weeks to explore the southwest and southern counties in England. About 2 weeks prior to our return to the U.S. we'll head back to the boat in Maasbracht to finalize whatever arrangements need to be done for work and winter storage, then go to the Amsterdam/Haarlem area for a few days with friends before our return flight to the U.S. from Amsterdam on October 6.

So that is our "sort of" plan for the summer. Will it change? Probably, in some form or another. We've built flexibility into our trip arrangements wherever possible. The best we can do is have the mindset--and the $$$$$--to expect the unexpected and deal with whatever happens. Since it's a boat in France, "c'est la vie, go with the flow" sums it up perfectly.