Obviously we knew. We all did.
The Corona virus was out there in Asia and somehow in Italy as well. But now over one week into our passage west we have learned through friends back home of the speed of its spread. The extent of the measures now taken.
It's crazy.
A town is surrounded by national guard troops to quarantine them because one lawyer infected about 100 people. I guess he'll be called Typhoid Larry from now on.
Flights are suspended into the US from Europe and China. Who saw this coming, where we are more concerned about infectious disease from Italy than Africa?
Schools are closed, the NBA season cancelled, hockey games played in completely empty stadiums, travel restricted. I don't even want to know what's happening with the stock market.
And meanwhile here we are, in this space of oceanic isolation. Somehow the safest place on the planet is in the middle of the Pacific.
Once we get to French Polynesia, the local authorities are being rightfully diligent to make sure their tiny populations are safe, and anyone coming in will have to be shown to be well. This is reassuring for us, emerging from our cacoon of isolation, to know that controlling exposure to the virus is much more manageable for them, and therefore us.
After we land, we will have months before we get to a first world country (Australia) where we will have more risk from covid. Hopefully by that time it will have worked it's way through the population and the impact of this contagion will ease.
In the meantime, all we can do is sail through the night, steady as she goes, and pray for the health and safety of our friends and family.