Chikungunya in the Caribbean

[tightgroup]

Hi,

We are headed out to St Maarten for a 10 sailing trip. CDC put Chikungunya on the radar. Its a mosquito borne transmitted virus, which causes in some cases extreme pain.

What is the best mosquito repellent ? And is it a common practice to have bed netting on a sailboat ?

thanks,

[robert sailor]

Just get a repellant that has at least 20% Deet in it and you will be fine. If you are anchoring out I doubt mosquitoes will be a problem as we have never seen one on our boat at anchor in 2 months but when we were at the dock for a couple of days we really had to be careful with our screens as there were lots of them. The one that carries the virus is a daytime one so if you are out hiking then use the repellent and you should not have any problems.