Stuck in the U.S. Virgin Islands

“You couldn’t have picked a better time to be living on your sailboat” seems to be the sentiment of many of our friends as they see pictures of us snorkeling the clear waters off St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands during the COVID-19 pandemic. In many ways, a sailboat makes a great home for being isolated and self-sufficient.

- Jayme Okma Lee

Aboard Sargo, our 46-foot Garcia Passoa aluminum sloop, we make our own power from the sun, we have a watermaker and we have plenty of shelf-stable food stores. As of today, I don’t think our kids have touched land in over three weeks, and they don’t seem to mind one bit!

Despite the many benefits of life afloat, however, it has been a stressful time. As outsiders, we are often subject to rules that make little sense and find ourselves as scapegoats for the fears and worries of the local residents. Recently, we had an unfortunate run-in with some local St. John residents that had us scrambling to find shelter late in the day. At 3:30 p.m., we, along with 30 other boats, were kicked out of our safe anchorage by the Virgin Islands’ Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) authorities.