Still on lockdown with 53 days to go.

42°11.05 N —86°47.93 W

53 days until the OG is loaded on a flatbed truck to Miami; 89 days until castoff; 141 days until the Sabbatical begins, to the extent that everything goes as planned.

I write this entry from a picnic table at West Basin Marina, St. Joseph, MI. Joy and I, plus two friends, sailed the boat from Chicago yesterday evening: sundown to sun up, about 54 nautical miles. It was the final shakedown sail before the big trip.

A lot has happened. We’re currently in the midst of a worldwide pandemic and the United States has been locked down since March. In July the restrictions began to loosen and we expected a return to some semblance of normalcy. While initially it appeared that the risk abated, positivity levels are now back above 5% and 170,000 Americans have died of Covid-19. As I write this, Chicagoans are anticipating a return to greater restrictions and tighter controls in effort to impede the spread of the virus.

The Caribbean countries we had intended to visit have closed their doors to American tourists because the US has done such a poor job controlling the spread. Some islands, like the Bahamas, now only allow Americans traveling by private vessel, with proof of a negative coronavirus test performed within days of entry. Other islands, like the British and US Virgin Islands are completely closed to tourists, regardless of method of travel.

Like many, I scour the news every day for content related to the development of a vaccine or therapeutics. In the US, 6 vaccines are in the third and final stage of clinical trials, with results expected towards the end of this month. Russia and China both, on the other hand, bypassed final trials and approved vaccines for use. It’s nerve wracking: waiting to determine whether the coronavirus has destroyed four years of planning and preparations.

However, a lot can happen between now and castoff. We have an appointment on December 1 with the Northwestern Travel Clinic for Coronavirus inoculation with a vaccine that has not yet been approved, and for provision with medications that do not yet exist. We’ve also bought international evacuation insurance, should one of us contract the virus while abroad.

We’ve been planning this trip for nearly five years and there is no other time during our kids’ pre-adult lives when we can take this time together. The boat will be shipped out next month regardless of the virus and it will be sitting in a Miami Beach Marina until hurricane season ends and we feel secure enough to cast off. With luck, we’ll be doing this according to our original schedule. If not, we’ll wait. But, in any event, we’re going.