Galle (Sri Lanka) - Still Paused

 

Peace Pagoda

During most of the eight years we have lived on Perry, we have been at anchor rather than at a dock. It's also been somewhat rare that we have stayed in the same spot for more than a few weeks.  And on the occasions that we haven't been moving around, we are usually hauled out and working hard to get some necessary work finished or we are on a road trip.

Yala National Park - Look what we (caution: bad pun ahead) spotted!

 

Yala National Park borders the Indian Ocean

We took our first road trip in Sri Lanka, even if it was only for two days. What's been stopping us? First, we needed to be allowed out of the port. Check. Second, we had to figure out how to leave the boat safely.

Freedom!

 

The lighthouse at
Galle Fort

After four and a half months of being confined to the Port in Galle, we have been granted shore passes. Although we still don't have visas, we can now leave the port on our own. This means we can finally go shopping on our own and actually see some of Sri Lanka.

Waffles, anyone?

When the swell is up, the waves splash
over the rocks and onto this twenty-plus foot hill

'Waffles', because we can't seem to make up our minds about what to do next--stay in Sri Lanka or go to the Seychelles. Of course, waffles are a bit of a sore subject on our boat since I nixed the waffle-maker when we moved aboard and Matt still hasn't quite gotten over it.

Three months in Galle Port (Sri Lanka)

Old deflated volleyball +
plastic bags = 'bowl'. Not
for soup though!

You know it's been boring when the best we can lead off with is a knitted bowl.  Not much has changed here for us in Sri Lanka. From what we can gather from our brief, Navy-escorted forays and reports from those fortunate enough to be able to leave the port, Galle seems to have returned to 'normal'.

Still in Sri Lanka

The view from our stern

There is not much to report here, which is why I haven't done an update in awhile. As for most of the world, the Covid-19 virus has hit the pause button on life for us. 

Galle, Sri Lanka

Photo taken by our friend Tycho from
the mast of a neighboring boat

After a relatively fast sail, Perry is in Galle Harbour, Sri Lanka. Before we left Phuket, there were no cases of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and there were no issues for a foreign yacht checking into the country. Cases in Italy were rising, but no major changes in travel policies were occurring worldwide. By the time we arrived over a week later and even within a day of our arrival, the situation was rapidly changing.