We arrived back in Gulfito in the late afternoon and were surprised to see so many boats there. We met up with "Homers Oddesy" from Duncan and Sea Whisper from Ladysmith.
The saga of the Customs and Jovietal in Costa Rica
Michel checked in the following morning with the Port Captain and regular Zarpe run around town visiting, port captain, immigration and customs. It was at Customs where we encountered a major obstacle. We had not checked in Panama to get a Panamanian Zarpe because there was no place on route to do so. We had handed in our Zarpe when we left Costa Rica and not asked for a temporary exit zarpe. Our old zarpe was good for 90 days and we had only been in the country for 20 days so we thought they could just reopen the old Zarpe file…. Apparently not so!
Customs told us we can not enter or should I say Jovietal can’t enter Costa for 3 months because we asked for an exit Zarpe. Who knew to ask a temporary exit and why did they not offer one when we checked out? I talked to other cruisers and they have never hear of such a thing.
We were left with an option of putting the boat in bond until Yachtpath or Dockwise (deepsea frieghters) arrive to put our boat on board if they had room.
Dockwise was schedualed to arrive within a month. We were allowed to tie up at the marina until they arrived. Banana Bay Marina was full and Fish Hook had space available. We were told we would have to pay 100.00 per night plus a bond fee .
Now, we have been in the loop about how reliable the dockwise schedual is as they lease space on the ships and the dates are often much later than scheduled. ( today they are 5 weeks behind)
The cost to ship 30,000. Plus bond and dock fees and we may as well buy another boat.
I remember that there is an international law that states that a port must accommodate a foreign flagged vessel in port for repair if unseaworthy. Well we have repairs to make so we make it very clear that this is our intention and that Gulfito was the nearest port to do so.
We have to hire Brokers to help us out because we did not want the boat to go in Bond. Which means that the marina has stewardship of the boat and it can’t move until customs has released it. Basically, stuck until Dockwise or Yachtpath take the boat. ( yacht path is full and Dockwise doen’t arrive until December)
The Customs broker offers us another option; he has friends that work at a machine shop which has a dock that we can tie up to and repair the rudder.
We move to the dog shit covered dock and endure endless stares by the workers at the shop. We actually have to pass through the interior of the shop and step over piles of metal work to get to shore. We are told we are not allowed to anchor in front of the shop we actually have to be tied up at the dock. It is gross and has little to offer at low tide we were on the bottom which really added to the stress.
I hate Gulfito, it is humid, hot and really wet. There is black mold everywhere and all my clothes and bedding are damp. I just got rid of the rash I developed last time I was here and now it appears its coming back. I am beginning to have melt down and I just want to go home. The girls want to go home .
Thankfully my mom has offered to take the girls till I get back and out of this mess.
I decide to get the hell out of Gulfito and take a trip with the girls to Panama City where we will meet Mike and Neila who have our new Credit Card that was courierd by a visiting friend. I also needed to shop for an auto helm part.
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