Red Tape

The closed border of the Bahamas has been extended another month until the end of June. Meanwhile, we have begun what appears to be an active hurricane season with Tropical Depression Three now formed off the coast of Mexico.

In the Bahamas, some travel is now being permitted between islands and the form to request a "Permit to Travel" notes that "Each person requesting permission to travel to or within The Bahamas is required to submit a copy of this form and original COVID-19 RT-PCR test result to COVID19travel@bahamas.gov.bs" I made a second request last week to enter the country and was told I would need to complete these forms first. So Friday, after getting our doctor to order a test, Laura Lee and I were tested at a nearby CVS, and today we received the results showing the virus was "not detected".

The next step is to complete the Application to Travel and another form that, if approved, will be sent back to us as our Permission to Travel. I am also required to include copies of the Covid-19 test results, our passports, and the cruising permit for the boat, which expires in three days.

I have no idea if this is a waste of time at this point or not, or if perhaps it can be issued with some future date for our entry. With my luck it will be rejected and then the test results will no longer be current enough to use. Nevertheless, it seems worth the effort, as I've really gotten pretty desperate to get the boat out of there after the three months it has sat in Bimini. Wish us luck.

UPDATE 6/2/20: It took just a few hours after submitting all of this to find out it was indeed a waste of time. I got an email saying that the Bahamas had suspended issuing these travel cards in order to handle the backlog. Moreover, the news from the Bahamas yesterday says travel cards are no longer needed for travel within the islands and that borders will be reopened on or before July 1. So if nothing changes with the virus in the Bahamas, we shall await the reopening of the border and get there as quickly as we can.
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