Turks and Caicos $$$$$

 Finally arrived in Turks and Caicos 😀

One year late! lol 

Our entry into the Islands was quite the challenge. Here’s our story...

The day before our departure for T & C, we headed for the tip of Mayguana in the Bahamas to anchor for the night to save 3 to 4 hours on the next day and get an early start to our last leg of this journey.

The night was absolutely horrible, with currents and swells created by 2 meeting bodies of water. The boat rocked to and fro all night which meant no sleep for us.

At first light, we’re up and getting ready to leave. Coffee and tea sitting on the counter ready for us. Mike is in the cockpit and I’m in the head (bathroom) brushing my teeth. Heard clattering from the cups... of course the covers weren’t on and all this boiling mess is all over the counter. Guess we got so use to the rolly polly of the boat that we forgot to secure the cups. Really needed a caffeine fix so prepared the beverages again. You would think this time you’d put the covers on and maybe put the cups in the sink until they’re ready..... noooo so it happened a second time. Many French not repeatable words on this blog came out 😤😤 Finally got it right on the third try.

Arriving close to T & C , no roaming on our phone so no service, tried the VHF radio to call in our arrival to Provo Radar as required by law. They never picked up then tried the marina  to get an escort through a very shallow unmarked channel.... no answer. This day was not getting better...

Finally got through to the marina and told we had no reservation. Eventually got this sorted and our pal Andy whom is the reason fo our visit to T &C came to escort us with his boat. 

We had to have a Covid test done on arrival but because we weren’t allowed off our boat, they came to us  for a small fee $500 😩. Then an officer with  the Health Department showed up to make sure we stayed on our boat until  negative results were in and submitted to the department for approval for our entrance into  the country. The official wouldn’t even let us speak to our friend who was standing on the dock 10 feet from us while we’re on the boat.

The marina wanted to charge us a substantial fee to stay on the fuel dock. Couldn’t get off the boat, no access to washroom, laundry, WiFi... heck no! Already forked out enough money today. So in the bay we go and anchor for the night with my little yellow galley curtain as a quarantine flag flying  up our mast. 😂 Gotta have a little bit of fun lol.

So after another swelly night, results came in, we up loaded in their Health portal. A few mistakes in the download corrected but now they wanted specific info on our insurance policy. All we had the policy #. Not good enough... they want travel insurance specifically for Covid. So we waited and debated about getting additional coverage which meant making calls to Canada and our phone is on the fritz. Not a good start to our 2nd day. Eventually we’re told to send an email to the Health department to stating that our policy included everything they wanted.

On the off chance that we were denied entrance in the Country,  Mike had started to plan our route to the Dominican Republic.

Finally approval for entry was granted. Now Customs and Immigration was next. Told to stay on the boat until they arrived.  Someone came over to say they’d arrived. Great. We wait and wait. Nobody told us to go to the office so we’re all waiting after each other. If you’ve ever seen the movie Cool Hand Luke, you’ll appreciate the catch phrase “ what we have here is a failure to communicate “ great movie 🎥 

Anyway 350.00 US for a 3 months cruising permit and 425.00$ for fuel we are now legal in the Country.

Our friend secured us a dock for a nominal fee and gave us a gorgeous apartment for our use free of charge for a month. What’s the catch you may ask? Well there’s no electricity nor hot water. No matter, it’s hot here so a cool shower with unlimited water is so welcomed, a big bed and as for food, the boat is 30 seconds away so we do our cooking over there.

Welcome to T & C lol 😂 

Cheers 

Mike and Pierrette