Coronavirus: Couple sailing round the world had no idea about scale of pandemic

'We were in total shock, our jaws dropped and everything'

Elena Manighetti, 32, and Ryan Osborne, 33, were unaware of the scale of the Covid-19 while crossing the Atlantic on their boat Kittiwake. (Sailing Kittiwake/YouTube)

A couple sailing around the world had no idea about the scale of the coronavirus pandemic for almost a month.

When Elena Manighetti, 32, and Ryan Osborne, 33, set off from Lanzarote to cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean island of Bequia on 28 February they asked their families not to send them any bad news.

At this point the Covid-19 outbreak was mostly confined to China and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had not yet declared it a global pandemic.

The first person known to catch the novel coronavirus within the UK – a man in Surrey who had not been abroad – was diagnosed that same day, and the first UK death came almost a month later.

The pair had no internet signal as they sailed the 3,000 nautical miles across the ocean and relied on a handful of people sending them weather and border information via a satellite phone for the 25 days they were at the sea.

But on 25 March, just hours away from Bequia, they managed to get a signal on their phones and were stunned to learn the virus had swept across the entire globe.

Ms Manighetti, who is originally from Bergamo, in Lombardy, the Italian province worst hit by coronavirus, told The Independent: “I read about it online and immediately got in touch with my family to ask if anyone had contracted the virus.

“They are all safe, although a few family friends have passed away. It was very emotional for me.”

She added: “We were in total shock, our jaws dropped and everything.

Elena Manighetti, 32, and Ryan Osborne, 33, were unaware of the scale of the Covid-19 while crossing the Atlantic on their boat Kittiwake. (Sailing Kittiwake/YouTube)

“Before we left, the news reported that the virus was slowing down in China. It was a concern in China, it affected older people with respiratory problems.

“The WHO didn’t call it a pandemic and it was likely to be similar to the Ebola outbreak.”

The couple, who have been sailing around the world for three years, decided to quit their jobs and buy a boat after struggling to afford a house where they lived in Manchester, and after Ms Manighetti had two cancer scares.

They set off from Falmouth, in Cornwall, on their 11-metre sailing boat in March 2017 and have so far visited nine countries, covering more than 6,000 nautical miles.

They document their experiences on their YouTube channel, Sailing Kittiwake, while also doing freelance copywriting, content marketing and web design from their boat to make ends meet.

The couple are now safely anchored in Bequia until the pandemic passes and they can move on.

“We’ll just sit tight and wait – no one knows when this pandemic will be over,” said Ms Manighetti.

“We feel extremely lucky to be here, we’re very grateful.”