As I write this, we’re locked down on our 47ft boat in a marina on the Algarve. All recreational navigation at sea is forbidden and other modes of travel are hugely limited. What does that mean? It’s the Port Captains that define what activity is allowed on their coastal territory. Most ports are closed but some are open for refuge only. Here in Portugal, all exit and entry is closed. We can’t even take our boat out for a day sail, even if we don’t set foot on land.

“What a bummer!” you might think. Well yes. And no. Luck was on our side.

While sailing along the southern coast of Portugal at the middle of March, friends on SY Trelax on passage to Mallorca relayed news that Spain was closing ports. We’d planned to anchor in a bay off the Algarve coast but quickly decided to enter a marina instead. With that move we were officially checked into the country. Once in Portugal, we couldn’t leave. But we also couldn’t be denied entry (as other boat friends were). Everyone here has stories to tell of less fortunate yachties that were anchored off the coast when lockdown came. Stories of sailors with young children onboard forced to raise anchor and pushed out to sea. There’s no precedent for this and with countries in a State of Emergency, there’s no longer safe harbour for boats. Officials seem scared and don’t know how to react. For those with limited provisions, dwindling fuel or water and nowhere else to go, it’s downright dangerous.

Thankfully we rented a car soon after arriving in Portugal before car rentals closed doors too. For the next weeks we’ve been able to provision as often as we need to, get materials to tackle boat projects (DIY stores are open here) and deliver food to friends in quarantine. It also meant I could pick up Lorenzo after a road-cycle trip gone ‘off-road’ (he had to give up after five punctures!)

Looking at the situation now, we were quick to minimise the impact, even though we couldn’t have imagined what was to come. If you want to know about the risks we did prepare for, check out our post Reducing Risk before Living the Dream.

So in the meantime, we have the most amazing, long, fine sandy beach to walk on, beautiful nature to wonder at and great food to feast on. Yeah, our travel plans are on hold for a while but otherwise we’re still able to live the life we dreamed of when we set out. We’re grateful everyday and that’s more than enough right now.