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In January, we were the first to report that a Hungarian family with two children changed from everyday life in Hungary with restrictions on navigating the entire country. After crossing the Atlantic, they were anchored in the Lesser Antilles and, as our new contacts revealed, the journey slowed down at this point as well. However, Anna and Dominic do not mind this at all: during these weeks, they launch raids from the French side of the island of Saint-Martin towards the surrounding islands, or spend seemingly unlimited leisure time with the area boaters. .
The traditional carnival of the island was lost this year, but we kept our little carnival on the boat, with the family. We made a costume, a mask, dressed as a juniper pirate girl, Kati an Indian girl, she was a shark Domi, I was a cook
Anna says after asking for the details of life there. This role as a chef is certainly related to the not insignificant fact that the ship’s kitchen toaster is broken, but the new one is already on its way to the island and Anna is eager to receive the package.
There are several things that prevent you from continuing. For one thing, things are moving here at a comfortable “Caribbean” pace, so some important work on the ship could not be completed yet. On the other hand, there are also bureaucratic problems associated with the coronavirus epidemic that make it difficult to start. Under current plans, they would first head to Panama, stopping at Curaçao and Colombia, and then cross the Panama Canal into Galapagos and French Polynesia. However, this is only a rough concept, as exact designability is not the most characteristic of this part of the world.
The truth is that they must leave this area, that is, the areas affected by the hurricane, at the latest in May. Another complicating factor is that after Galapagos, everything is closed in the Pacific. We asked French Polynesia to enter the authorities more than a month ago, but we have not yet received a response. If they are rejected, we must change our plans. We need to rethink where we can go.
Due to the increasing number of Europeans who desire romantic conditions, the presence of white people is no longer considered special there. European sailors, including Anna, are welcome. This may also be due to the fact that several surrounding islands are connected to Europe, making it relatively easy to travel between them.
Clean yard, ordinary boat
The ship itself is a bit like a man’s apartment at home. It also constantly provides maintenance and renovation work. This is also the case for them, with the difference that the salty marine environment, strong ultraviolet radiation, constant vibration and movement place an additional burden on your home. Little by little, they can only move forward with certain tasks, like installing new solar panels, installing navigation devices. It’s not obvious to people used to a land-based lifestyle, but maintenance work also includes removing algae and other living things that have grown to the bottom of the boat. If it does not take off, this can mean a loss of speed of up to a knot and a half at the speed of the boat. Then he’s tightening the bolts, checking the condition of the strings on board, cleaning the solar panels.
A couple of weeks ago, the boat’s engine starter battery deteriorated. We first borrowed one from a neighbor, but it was not entirely appropriate, we had to buy another. Our generator is also broken, we were able to fix it in part, but a part needs to be replaced. We are waiting for that now
Dominic says.
Shopping on land is a special adventure. There is a medium-sized public in Marigot, which is easily accessible on foot from the boat harbor. If they want to buy more, they go to the Dutch side. The big grocery store there is a 20 minute dinghy well, plus a 15 minute walk. And if you have to buy a lot of things or difficult things, they ask for the help of a friend who lives on an island, who takes them by car so they don’t have to shoe so much.
Small number of cases, Caribbean laxity
Fortunately, the number of epidemics on the island is low, there are not very restrictions, almost everything is open, everything is in operation. In shops and other closed spaces, of course, it is officially mandatory to wear a mask, but this is only observed with the Caribbean laxity already mentioned. It also follows from this that, despite their long time there, the Domiys were not fully integrated, as they strictly adhered to the rules of hygiene and distance. They don’t go to large crowds, restaurants, or bars.
Just a week ago, schools also forced young children to wear a mask. In the local parents, of course, immediately knocked out security, one morning they began to protest against him, the ship also heard humming, chanting and screaming. There is no news of the outcome of your move. Otherwise, the antigen and PCR test is free on the island. If people notice symptoms or plan a trip, they go and do a test themselves. The Dominicans also meet other sailors, from time to time they hang out, but these are outdoor shows and their casual friends follow the basic rules too. Recently with a Polish family who have been living on a boat for 5 years and have two sons the same age as Anna’s daughters.
Still, there is plenty of room for maneuver on the relatively small island of Saint-Martin, and even more so on the ship. Therefore, every day or two it is very pleasant to go ashore, fix the necessary things, or walk to the castle ruins, watch the sunset, meet acquaintances, friends … There is a lot of life on the island, tourists come and go, but I still hear little about the disease.
School on the other side of the earth
Like good parents, Anna and Domi regularly sit down to study with the girls, trying to keep up with Hungarian classmates at home. However, due to the delay, they are still unable to participate in homeschooling via the World Wide Web; you have to navigate a little further to get out of them in the opposite time zone.
Today, for example, we begin letter formation, letter change, written in the sand, after swimming ashore with a turtle. Physical education is already there by swimming and swimming back to shore, and then writing and arithmetic examples can be drawn in the sand. Then studying the environment, starting with plants, aquatic and terrestrial animals, and when the sky rears up again, the wind picks up and it begins to rain, the knowledge of the climate also enters the scene; on the shore we continue the morning studying the rocks and corals.
Of course, this is not the most common way of learning, mostly sitting at the table, children learn in the traditional way (textbook, exercise book), the case mentioned was a “class trip type” exception.
The power of the media
Initially, the family simply stayed home with a broader kinship, wanting to share their experiences with friends, but since at first they kept a diary on the World Wide Web and also had an Instagram page, there were more and more comments from them. I wanted to see more photos, videos, read more journal entries. At that time, not only acquaintances were applied, but also many new unknown acquaintances.
However, it takes a lot of time, the right tools and equipment to take and cut the photos and videos, so they asked their followers for support, not without results. This was a confirmation that the work would continue. They also want to launch a YouTube channel soon.
As a result of our first article, the public broke with the Dominicans. From Balázsék’s radio show to Reuters, many media outlets reached out to them. As they say,
the explosion of the press came into our lives quite suddenly, a little unexpectedly, without being prepared for us, since we had no experience in this field. In the meantime, we were pleased with the many positive reactions.
As a result of the apparitions, they received much encouragement and support from Hungary and many parts of the world (for example: Italy, Spain, the United States, China, Korea, Japan, India, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Fiji). At times, they were met with quite touching bounties as well.
Everyone from teens to seniors appeared on our “message board.” One of the big surprises was the 7th graders of an elementary school in Csongrád County, who began to follow our path through their teacher, and also include in the geography lesson material the areas we go to that we wrote. They sent a photo with an inscription “Good Slice!” Painted by them on their hands. It was a great pleasure for him. Many people have written that we travel through them, they reach places we only dream of.
An American couple thanked them for taking photos with them 40 years ago, right now It happened on the island of Saint-Martin they remembered the moments of their honeymoon. TBays has written about rethinking her decisions that have been postponed until now in the wake of Anna and Domi’s trip; the most poignant thing, however, was when thelearned that a parent would integrate their travel experiences into a nighttime story to their children so that the little ones open up more to the world.
(Cover image: sailteatime.com)
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