The news is full of stories and dire warnings about the Covid-19 virus and we thought you would like to know our plans should the infection spread more widely.
Life on a boat means being in close quarters and sharing with other guests, possibly strangers from different places in the UK or overseas. However, once on-board most of our activities are away from other people and can be biased towards off-grid experiences away from marinas and towns. So our first step is to try to avoid the disease getting on board in the first place.
A couple of weeks before the event we will be asking our guests if they have recently or have plans to travelled to a high risk area or if they have been or will be involved in any activities that might bring them into contact with others who might be carriers of the virus. We must rely on them to self identify and let us know. We would rather they cancel than risk infecting the others passengers To simplify this decision we are temporarily waving our refund conditions and will give a 90% refund up to 48 hours before the event and 50% up to the start of the event. We will not refund no shows. Alternatively, instead of a refund we will give a full credit towards another event within a year of cancellation.
Although we normally encourage our guests to come to South Devon by public transport this raises its own risks of infection and coming by private car might be preferable. We can put guests in touch with each other if they wish to arrange car shares.
Once on-board we will encourage guests to follow the recognised guidelines on hand washing, contact and personal hygiene. We have plenty of hot water for basins and showers, loads of sterilising hand wash and soap and clean, fresh towels and linen, laundered on board at a suitably high temperature. We have sanitising sprays for the kitchens, bathrooms and other surfaces as well as for yoga mats and other shared equipment.
As crew, we will also do our best to avoid transmission risks and keep a close watch for symptoms in ourselves and those we come into contact with. If we believe we might pose a risk to our guests we may be able to bring in suitable checked substitute crew but it is more likely we will have to cancel the event. We will give as much notice as we can and will refund any payment made to us. We can not take responsibility for other related costs and guests should ensure this is covered by their travel insurance policy.
So with a little care we will still be able to provide all of our guests with a wonderful and memorable experience.