French Polynesian officials have announced the first 2 deaths: an elderly couple (both 81) died at the hospital in Papeete this week, more than 800 cases have been registered since July 15.
Of course those numbers are still very low in comparison to many other countries, but it’s still alarming…
The majority of the sailboats that were either here before or have arrived this year will stay in French Polynesia, as most islands further west are still closed. Only Fiji has opened its borders (with lots of regulations in place), Indonesia is partly open, New Zealand announced that some applications would be considered if crews would spend more than 50.000 NZD, but that deal is uncertain as well.
We wanted to sail westwards next year, but it’s impossible to make plans at the moment. The future of cruising seems very uncertain at the moment.
