corona virus alerts - Latest cruising Information for vessels/locations/rules

[Montanan]

Grenada

Emergency Powers (COVID-19) (No. 4) Regulations, 2020
By admin April 22, 2020


A 798 SRO. 22 2020 Emergency Powers (COVID-19) (No. 4) Regulations

. . .

(b) all seaports shall be closed to regional and international seafaring and private boating; and (c) no person shall be permitted to enter and disembark for any reason, including transitting through the State of Grenada, except with the permission of the Airports Authority and the Ministry of Health.


The Marine & Yachting Association of Grenada has created a website for boats to register in order to help you get all the information and assistance.

This is apparently the website to register if you are planning on coming to Grenada for hurricane season.
Register your boat at: https://grenadalima.com/

A Marine & Yachting Association of Grenada report:

“A proposal has been made to the Ministry of Tourism for Grenada to allow the scheduled and controlled entry of yachts into Grenada to shelter for hurricane season. The proposal focuses on yachts with bookings in marinas and boatyards. A meeting was held on Friday 17 April, and the proposal was positively received. The next steps are for the Minister to present this to colleagues on the Covid-19 Cabinet sub-committee for discussion and hopefully approval.
“IF the proposal is approved it will ONLY apply to yachts registered in Grenada Lima (https://grenadalima.com) and we will need those yachts to work with MAYAG. We will email yachts directly on the email they registered with. We know yachts need to make plans. We know yachts are worried about the upcoming months. We understand and we are absolutely doing our best for the yachts out there.” Reference Noonsite for continuing updates: https://www.noonsite.com/place/grena...curity-section

Lima signal flag: Boat under Contagion Quarantine.

The Yellow flag means requesting free pratique which indicates that the vessel is free of illness or disease vector.

[Montanan]

The USVI

Is this the ports of refuge and safe haven during this time of crisis????

There being conflicting interests between mariners and residents.

The worry being that playing safe haven for guests will prove dangerous for residents and damaging to the isles.




https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/t...caribbean.html

[Montanan]

The Rideau and Trent-Severn Canals

Will not open until June 1, 2020 AT THE EARLIEST

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and your visit to the Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site

All Parks Canada facilities are temporarily closed, all visitor services and all motor vehicle access by visitors are suspended until further notice.

The health and safety of Canadians, visitors and Parks Canada team members is our top priority.

We are following the advice of public health experts and taking steps to support the Government of Canada’s efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 and reduce risks to visitors, employees, and other users of Parks Canada spaces.

Update for April 15, 2020

To help limit the spread of COVID-19, Parks Canada suspends camping, group activities, and events across the country until at least May 31, 2020.

Parks Canada is calling on Canadians to stay home.

The current suspension of visitor services and vehicle access by visitors, as well as the temporary closure of visitor facilities, will remain in place until further notice.

Highways and roadways which pass through Parks Canada places will remain open.

Parks Canada will continue to deliver services critical for Canadians, including highway maintenance, fire response, dam operations and water management on historic waterways, avalanche control, among others.

Parks Canada will re-evaluate the temporary closure on an ongoing basis and keep you updated as more information becomes available. Please check the Parks Canada national information portal dedicated to COVID-19 for updates.

[Montanan]

New York State Canals are closed, will not open as per their pre-Covid-19 timeline of May 15th. Uncertain if or when they will open this season.


Notice to Mariners

2020 Navigation Season Update

April 23, 2020



Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the Canal Corporation has suspended all non-essential construction and maintenance activities, therefore the New York State Canal system will not open for through navigation of the locks on May 15th as previously announced. However, to support the Canal's continued use as a prime recreational waterway, the Canal Corporation is currently evaluating operational options to ensure New Yorkers will have access to the Canal system, if even potentially on a regional basis, this season. We recognize that this is an extraordinarily difficult time and are sensitive to potential hardships Canal stakeholders, as well as many other New Yorkers, may experience. The situation with COVID-19 is ever-evolving and we are trying to adapt our plans accordingly. Future updates will be posted through our Notice to Mariners program. We appreciate your patience.

For updates and information, please visit Canals.NY.gov New York State Canalsor follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/NYS-C...683?ref=streamor Twitter

[Montanan]

US Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf Statement on Non-Essential Travel Between the USA, Mexico and Canada.

Release Date: April 20, 2020

“In close collaboration, the US, Mexico, and Canada have each agreed to extend restrictions on non-essential travel across their shared borders for 30 additional days. As President Trump stated last week, border control, travel restrictions and other limitations remain critical to slowing the spread and allowing the phased opening of the country.”

So the USA borders will be closed to non-essential travel until at least May 20th,

[weavis]

We have cleaned up the thread from non cruising related COVID-19 posts.


We prefer to keep the thread open and as such it leaves us only with the option of infracting members, if they don't follow the NOTARS format.

[Montanan]

If recreational boaters begin to utilize their boats, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is encouraging all recreational boaters to follow these tips below:

Social Distancing while boating is possible and important:

Go straight to your boat
Only boat with the people that live in your house
No boating with friends or guests
No beaching or rafting with other boats or people
Wash you hands often, especially after pumping fuel
Maintain proper distance from everyone your encounter.
And, as always practice safe boating.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by weavis

We have cleaned up the thread from non cruising related COVID-19 posts.


We prefer to keep the thread open and as such it leaves us only with the option of infracting members, if they don't follow the NOTARS format.

What is a NOTARS, not familiar with the word or acronym and can't find any reference or definition to such when Google searched.

Please advise. Thank you.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Montanan

What is a NOTARS, not familiar with the word or acronym and can't find any reference or definition to such when Google searched.

Please advise. Thank you.

localised equivalent of NOTAM... for cruisers. May not be in common usage.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by weavis

localised equivalent of NOTAM... for cruisers. May not be in common usage.

A notice to airmen is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight.

?????

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Montanan

A notice to airmen is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight.

?????

A notice on this thread is to alert cruisers of potential hazards related to COVID-19 related to cruising and a location that could affect the safety of a journey.

My colleague has just informed me that 'Notice to Mariners' is understood as the definition on all sides of the oceans... I don't get out much.

[Montanan]

Trinidad and Tobago:

Remain in closed borders and lockdown status.

This is a popular destination for yachts to seek clearance and safe harbor or to be put up on the hard for the duration of hurricane season and typically is considered "out of the box" for vessel insurance coverage purposes. Grenada is another such destination, but Grenada has in the past been hit by Category 5 hurricane and heavily decimated, so definitely not immune from major storms.


The Minister of Health update on April 22 issued the following guidance, and confirming indications that the country intends to remain with closed borders for the foreseeable future and is not prepared to allow for any of their 330,000 T&T nationals that reside out of country to repatriate or even to allow even the 250 nationals that are presently on cruise ships in the region to repatriate. See relevant snipets from the public twitter feed attached below.

IMO: It would seem likely that if T&T will not allow their nationals to return that they would be less inclined to allow non-nationals to enter.

Cruisers should consider alternatives given it will take a major change of public health policy and political will to have this nation open itself to risks from its nationals and an even greater change to permit non-nationals.

Note: I have been exchanging info and updates to friends on vessels that have been locked down at anchor for several weeks in the caribbean and are uncertain as to what their future holds; like the rest of us.

Stay safe.

[weavis]

For boaters who manage to fly into the UK (rare but some do) to pick up vessels or return to their vessel., there are NO health checks at the airport.
Go figure.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by weavis

For boaters who manage to fly into the UK (rare but some do) to pick up vessels or return to their vessel., there are NO health checks at the airport.
Go figure.

Yes, it seems at first to be an oddity. They changed their airport screening once it became evident that the UK population has wide spread community spread and thus letting in the few repatriating Brits would not impose a significant increase in exposure. As I understand the present border control in the Uk it that non-essential travelers and non-residents / non-citizens are precluded from entry.

The UK's Health Minister recently spoke of the change in their strategy which initially was oriented toward containment but which quickly became apparent that they did not have the any of either the testing, tracing, contact and self-isolation capabilities domestically. Once containment strategy was abandoned they just then went into the flattening of the curve mode so as to ease the pressure on the NHS. Lacking any effective therapeutic or a vaccine for a hazardous virus, there being only non-pharmaceutical interventions that can be implemented until therapeutics or vaccines or "herd immunity" is derived. Rotten position to be in when one knows little to nothing about the disease and its potentials until hindsight and extensive data, research and analysis can be accomplished.

Heck, IMO the USA also was penny wise and pound foolish as to air travel when the travel from Asian countries, particularly China was shutdown at the end of January but continued to allow air travel from Europe until mid-March. And then when instituting air travel restrictions to Europe they only disallowed the Schengen Countries and continued to allow travel from the UK and Ireland for several more days.

The aggressive strain of virus that has overwhelmed the USA east coast, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts was of the kind that can be traced and propagated from Europe not directly from China. There appeared to be an underlying degree of xenophobic infusion in the decision and the ongoing challenges and disputes with China [trade and geopolitical influence] that wormed its way into public health policy decision making.

I recall the epidemiologist from the WHO making a presentation at the biotechnology company I worked for in the 1980's state: "That world leaders and public health officials will always be criticized for reacting to quickly and aggressively at the start of a pandemic and then criticized for reacting too slowly and not aggressively enough after a pandemic." The WHO was funding our development of a vaccine, which vaccine turned out to be very helpful in eliminating the rinderpest virus from the world; rinderpest being only the second virus ever eliminated; small pox was the first.

All the best.

Dan

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by weavis

A notice on this thread is to alert cruisers of potential hazards related to COVID-19 related to cruising and a location that could affect the safety of a journey.

My colleague has just informed me that 'Notice to Mariners' is understood as the definition on all sides of the oceans... I don't get out much.

I resemble that remark.

I believe presently most everyone is on that same boat, [not much social distancing in that regard now crowded boat, ]

Notice to Mariners, yep seen and read those pertaining to live fire and practicing exercises.

Take care.