As Covid-19 vaccinations began to ramp up in Canada and potential for travel seemed possible we started thinking of how, and when, we could get back to Curare in northwestern Spain. She has been by herself since October, 2019 and even though she is mature and can look after herself, we were still worried as to how she had fared through two winters. Or more correctly, did the crew store her in good shape?
The day after we had both had our first vaccination at the end of April we took a leap of faith and booked our flights for July 21, gambling that we would have had our second vaccine two weeks before that date. It took a lot longer to get organized than we had anticipated, probably because our brains were out of sync with the usual six month rotation schedule of boat-Canada-boat, and buying, ordering and packing everything seemed a huge chore. Fortunately we had made a parts list before we left in October 2019, and anticipating possible repairs we added a few more items including a new water maker membrane. We have used our water maker membrane since 2007, pickling it each time we store Curare, but pickling is only good for six months max, and we had been away for 21 - probably not good. LE prefers to travel with only a small backpack, this trip we had three large bags.
Planning our return to Spain was a tortuous event. At the time we were searching for a flight Covid-19 infections were high in Madrid and the regional border between Galicia and the rest of Spain was closed to travel, but the border between Portugal and Galicia was open so we booked a flight to Lisbon. A week later the Portugal - Galicia border was closed - and then there was the constant fluctuating red, orange, green designations for international travellers with Canada classified as red up to a week before we left. We tried to anticipate as many potential issues as possible, even asking the marina to document our travel as "essential" since Curare really, really missed us. Then all we could do was wait, government pandemic restrictions were not something we could control.
In the end, it all worked out. We had our PCR tests done on July 19 and arrived at YVR three hours before our flight (thanks Barb!) with 60 kg of luggage and only a spare t-shirt each. After checking our luggage we headed to the lounge to de-stress and wait for the flight to Heathrow. When boarding commenced the gate agent informed us that we could only get on the plane if each of us had a UK Passenger Locator Form filled-in and submitted on line (even transit passengers had to fill this out). This information would have been nice to know at check in, not at the gate, so we panicked, scrambled, cursed and managed to complete the forms before the gate closed. Then it was a comfortable seven hour flight to LHT, a five hour layover (that's another story) and on to Lisbon that evening.
Travelling during this pandemic may be restrictive and it has different requirements but it is possible (although not recommended). Airport waiting areas had widely spaced seating, masks had to be worn at all times and masks were also required during the entire flight (except when eating). Quite a contrast from March 2020 when we returned to Canada from Nepal and no one seemed to be taking the pandemic seriously.