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<\/p>\nWhen we set sail on this grand adventure, we discussed every potential scenario we could think of. Global pandemic and being locked into Aleta was not on the list. We are now almost 14 days into an indefinite and very strict lockdown.<\/p>\n
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Our marina, Yacht Port Cartagena, has about 250 boats docked here. The vast majority are empty. Only about 20 boats have people living on them full time. Our fellow liveaboards are mostly from the UK, a few from Ireland, and the rest a small cadre of Scandinavians, French and Germans. Ages range from young families with small children, to retirees who over-winter here for several months every year. The collective cruising experience is generally limited. Meaning, most crews sail only during the day from marina to marina. Folks are (appropriately) surprised and impressed when we tell them we sailed across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n
Like the 40 or so people in our small, gated community, and millions of others around the world, we\u2019re biding our time with boat chores, limited exercise, online courses, reading, podcasts, games, cooking, and talking about the future. Each day we join a VHF radio net and share updates and concerns. Together we try and figure out how to best support each other. The last few days, however, have produced new challenges and upped the ante on stress.<\/p>\n
Murcia averages 325 sunny days per year. This week it felt like the other 40 days came all at once. It was miserable, thunder, lightning, high winds, and the most rain we\u2019ve seen since we\u2019ve been in Spain. Cartagena got over 5 inches of rain in 24 hours, causing floods and bringing more trouble to the already distressed city.<\/p>\n
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As for exercise, we were getting in at least a couple of miles a day walking up and down inside the marina. The waterfront is 409 steps each way. I\u2019ve counted them several times. Marlon runs at least twice that distance since he runs back and forth as we throw his ball. We are down to his last tattered tennis ball; the neon green fuzz hangs off it in tufts. So, we\u2019re careful to throw it only on the pavement and close to the wall.<\/p>\n
Occasionally, when there\u2019s a particularly long throw, the ball begins rolling towards the water and we egg Marlon on to grab it in the nick of time. The other day it rolled under a small portable building housing vending machines and the marina\u2019s free library. Mike, lying flat on his stomach, reached under with the Chucks-It and barely coaxed the ball out. Five minutes later I made a wild throw and it bounced on the dock and fell into the water. Thankfully it floated within reach. Phew! Two new crises averted!<\/p>\n
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There\u2019s comfort in these moments of distraction. Pretending these are our only real-world problems, I\u2019ve found new ways to exercise in the boat during the recent deluge. In addition to tried and true pull-ups from the top of the companionway (well, that was Tai, I mostly just hang), there\u2019s salon Parkour. Using the grab rails, I nimbly circle the cabin without touching the floor.<\/p>\n
Then there are step-ups on the companionway stairs. This excites and confuses Marlon who thinks we\u2019re about to go out one moment, but then in the next thinks I\u2019ve changed my mind. I dug out my rubber exercise bands, stashed away when we first set sail and completely forgotten about. Rubber doesn\u2019t store well in a damp boat for two and a half years, but after a wash I salvaged two of them.<\/p>\n
Annoyingly, my yoga mat won\u2019t lie flat and folds up against the bulkheads. I discovered if I lay it down at an angle with one end in the door of the aft cabin and the other under the nav station, and the winds aren\u2019t rocking Aleta too much, I can manage a twisted downward dog.<\/p>\n
Today the sun returned. Things began to dry out. Fellow sailors milled around their cabin tops busy with boat projects or hanging laundry. The collective mood seemed a tad more positive. Until, that is, news of the marina\u2019s first suspected case of corona virus broke. Just like the rest of the world, the lack of test kits here is dire. Until tests are done, though, nothing can be confirmed 100%. The news is no surprise. We figured it was just a matter of time. But it does feel like a state change.<\/p>\n
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Regardless of the challenges, and ours are truly few, every day has a bright spot: at 8:00 pm, rain or shine, the Spanish (and us guests) honor the doctors, nurses, and others working tirelessly on the front lines, by standing on their balconies, or opening windows (or hatches), and cheer and applaud them.<\/p>\n
It began slowly. The first night we went topside to cheer was two weeks ago, when Lauren and Wade were still here. We only heard other faint noises in the distance. Now it sounds like the entire city participates. Police turn on sirens, church bells ring, boat horns blare, and firecrackers boom. For a few minutes it feels the complete opposite of social distancing, and that we will all come out of this stronger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When we set sail on this grand adventure, we discussed every potential scenario we could think of. Global pandemic and being locked into Aleta was not on the list. We are now almost 14 days into an indefinite and very …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[26,15,503,566,145,16],"class_list":["post-4836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-underway","tag-aleta-life","tag-carol","tag-cartagena","tag-lockdown","tag-marlon","tag-mike"],"yoast_head":"\n