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lynnrival - 3/29/2020

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John Franklin - 3/29/2020

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lynnrival - 3/27/2020

Fascinated to see no reaction to our earlier post.  Surely there are other OCC members in a similar situation?
We don't use Facebook - does this mean that we are excluded from the OCC community?
Paul and Rachel

Dear Paul and Rachael
 . . . . I suggest you do access the OCC Members page on Facebook  . . . .
John Franklin
Past Commodore OCC

Hi John,
I still haven't managed to achieve this, despite trying again this morning.  Just how does one 'access the OCC Members page on facebook'?  All I see on the FB page is the same news items as are on the website, interrupted by frequent annoying requests to sign up to FB!
If there is something I am missing please do tell.
Regards,
Paul and Rachel
Luddite ancient mariners!

Hi Paul and Rachel
I am no expert and also a Luddite and a very ancient mariner!
Firstly, you have to open a Facebook account and to do that (from memory) you have to provide a name and date of birth, both of which can be fictitious if you are concerned about data security. I think you could even register a boat name. The account opening page asks for a lot more info but that is optional. The main purpose in providing that additional information is if someone else is searching for you on Facebook it will enable them to identify you more easily from the multitude of Paul Chandlers. You must set your settings as Private.
There are several OCC Facebook pages but the ones most relevant are the OCC Members Group and the OCC Caribbean Net+. If you are considering crossing back to the UK then there is the OCC Atlantic Crossing West to East.
Most of these Facebook pages are moderated by Frances Rennie  (fgrennie@hotmail.com) and are closed to OCC Members only. So, to access them Frances will have to accept you as OCC members which is a formality only.
I will copy your post to Frances, who is a expert on Facebook affairs, and I am sure she will be able to help you far more effectively than I can.
Best wishes
John

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Tradewinds - 3/29/2020

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lynnrival - 3/29/2020

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Tradewinds - 3/29/2020

Hi Paul and Rachel,

Perhaps it's time to put your dislike/distrust of Facebook to one side and join the OCC Members Group. It's a mine of information regarding the CV19 outbreak.
 
I've been following your blog as you know and my sympathy goes out to you and all other cruisers out there affected by this pandemic.

Stay safe.

Cheers,
Nigel (& Janine)
Rose of Wight

Gee, this forum sure is clunky to write posts on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, This forum reply thingie is awful. Doesn't work well for me and I use other forums a lot.
Paul and Rachel, I don't think it's OCC policy it's just that a lot of OCC members prefer to use Facebook instead of this clunky forum!
Rose of Wight is ashore at Suffolk Yacht Harbour. We are self-isolating at home with Jan's 95 yr old mum. Family are being supportive. I've no idea when I'll next get to Rose - there's loads of work that was in  progress before the lockdown came. Take care - I hope you get things sorted.   Nigel

Good morning Nigel, Janine, and how is Rose of White?
Should I infer from your comment that one of the main benefits of OCC is restricted to FB members only?  That would be mind boggling.
Best wishes,
Paul and Rachel

Hi all,
Not a UK boat but a well known boat with a very wise and experienced skipper was turned away from St. Martin and escorted to international waters.
https://wavetrain.net/2020/03/29/evicted-from-sxm-virus-tales-from-the-caribbean/.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

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lynnrival - 3/29/2020

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Tradewinds - 3/29/2020

Hi Paul and Rachel,

Perhaps it's time to put your dislike/distrust of Facebook to one side and join the OCC Members Group. It's a mine of information regarding the CV19 outbreak.
 
I've been following your blog as you know and my sympathy goes out to you and all other cruisers out there affected by this pandemic.

Stay safe.

Cheers,
Nigel (& Janine)
Rose of Wight

Gee, this forum sure is clunky to write posts on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, This forum reply thingie is awful. Doesn't work well for me and I use other forums a lot.
Paul and Rachel, I don't think it's OCC policy it's just that a lot of OCC members prefer to use Facebook instead of this clunky forum!
Rose of Wight is ashore at Suffolk Yacht Harbour. We are self-isolating at home with Jan's 95 yr old mum. Family are being supportive. I've no idea when I'll next get to Rose - there's loads of work that was in  progress before the lockdown came. Take care - I hope you get things sorted.   Nigel

Good morning Nigel, Janine, and how is Rose of White?
Should I infer from your comment that one of the main benefits of OCC is restricted to FB members only?  That would be mind boggling.
Best wishes,
Paul and Rachel

+x

 

Tradewinds - 3/29/2020

Hi Paul and Rachel,

Perhaps it's time to put your dislike/distrust of Facebook to one side and join the OCC Members Group. It's a mine of information regarding the CV19 outbreak.
 
I've been following your blog as you know and my sympathy goes out to you and all other cruisers out there affected by this pandemic.

Stay safe.

Cheers,
Nigel (& Janine)
Rose of Wight

Gee, this forum sure is clunky to write posts on.

Good morning Nigel, Janine, and how is Rose of White?
Should I infer from your comment that one of the main benefits of OCC is restricted to FB members only?  That would be mind boggling.
Best wishes,
Paul and Rachel

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John Franklin - 3/29/2020

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lynnrival - 3/27/2020

Fascinated to see no reaction to our earlier post.  Surely there are other OCC members in a similar situation?
We don't use Facebook - does this mean that we are excluded from the OCC community?
Paul and Rachel

Dear Paul and Rachael
 . . . . I suggest you do access the OCC Members page on Facebook  . . . .
John Franklin
Past Commodore OCC

Hi John,
I still haven't managed to achieve this, despite trying again this morning.  Just how does one 'access the OCC Members page on facebook'?  All I see on the FB page is the same news items as are on the website, interrupted by frequent annoying requests to sign up to FB!
If there is something I am missing please do tell.
Regards,
Paul and Rachel
Luddite ancient mariners!

Hi Paul and Rachel,

Perhaps it's time to put your dislike/distrust of Facebook to one side and join the OCC Members Group. It's a mine of information regarding the CV19 outbreak.
 
I've been following your blog as you know and my sympathy goes out to you and all other cruisers out there affected by this pandemic.

Stay safe.

Cheers,
Nigel (& Janine)
Rose of Wight

Gee, this forum sure is clunky to write posts on.

Dear Paul and Rachel,

As the OCC has no established means of reaching out to and lobbying governments on behalf of our members, we have turned to World Sailing for assistance. They have responded with the advice that, for now, yachts should remain where they are if they have safely entered a country. Most of the world is in lockdown, an unprecedented situation outside of wartime. TransOcean reached out to us and they added their voice to ours in pleas to World Sailing. Since then, the RYA and ICC have added their voices as well. Two subcommittees of World Sailing are taking this matter in hand, and I am forwarding your request for assistance to them as a sample case.

Yes, there are many vessels in the same circumstance as you. One of our members has rented a house with a dock in Antigua and will leave his boat there and fly to the UK. These are extraordinary times and people are taking extraordinary measures.

Until now, we have been coordinating with Noonsite to alert our members to the rapidly evolving changes in restrictions around the world. Our goal last week was to find safe harbour for everyone who was having difficulty. We still have several vessels on long passages who may be denied entry in the countries along their route. Now that most of the world's borders are closed, we will try to shift focus to the longer-term needs of our members. We must remember that we are a small group in a community of billions affected.

We will communicate with our members as soon as we have some direction from those who can coordinate a response.

Stay safe, stay well.



Vice Commodore, OCC 

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lynnrival - 3/27/2020

Fascinated to see no reaction to our earlier post.  Surely there are other OCC members in a similar situation?
We don't use Facebook - does this mean that we are excluded from the OCC community?
Paul and Rachel

Dear Paul and Rachael
I am sorry to read of your predicament. As you suspect there are many OCC members in the same position in the Eastern Caribbean. Unfortunately if is a sad fact that very few members use the Forum which is why your message has gone unanswered. I only came across it by accident. All the activity is on the OCC Members Facebook page, and there is a lot of discussion on a daily basis. Information on the effects of COVID-19 restrictions coming in from members and Port Officers worldwide is being passed to Noonsite who are keeping it updated on a daily basis. I suggest you do access the OCC Members page on Facebook and another suggestion would be to participate in the OCC Caribbean SSB net which broadcasts daily on 6227 USB at 0730 local time and drops to 4027 USB at around 0740. Present net controller seems to be Gordon on sv Coho presently anchored in St Anne Martinique.
Good Luck!
John Franklin
Past Commodore OCC

Fascinated to see no reaction to our earlier post.  Surely there are other OCC members in a similar situation?
We don't use Facebook - does this mean that we are excluded from the OCC community?
Paul and Rachel

For two seasons we have been cruising the Antilles, laying up and storing Mystic ashore in a location accepted as safe by insurers during the hurricane season.
As the Covid19 crisis developed last week (with port closures increasing by the day) we made our best progress towards Trinidad/Grenada, only to be denied entry while on route or in the case of Grenada actually after arrival. We are now doing quarantine at Union Island, St Vincent & the Grenadines.
We believe there is a significant group of UK cruising sailors who are now trapped with their boats in various parts of the Caribbean, in locations which will become unsafe (as in uninsurable) for our vessels after the end of May. Our travel/health insurance also appears to have been invalidated by the government's blanket FCO advice - no doubt an unintended consequence, but harsh nonetheless.
In these circumstances we will continue to use our best endeavours to safeguard our vessel and ourselves, but we want to ask the UK government for help. They could perhaps negotiate with the government of Trinidad, or Grenada, to enable us to enter the country (quarantined as necessary), have our vessels hauled out or otherwise made safe, and evacuated to the UK by special flight (as is being done for land based tourists).
We have no practical means to contact the FCO to put this to them. Would the OCC be prepared to help lobby the government on our behalf?
Other OCC members in a similar situation may wish to declare their interest.

Paul and Rachel Chandler  s/y Mystic of Holyhead