Dealing with Formalities

  It was over a month that we spent in Puntarenas. We desperately needed…wanted to get out, move on!, but we were trapped with the dilemma of what to do regarding our immigration status, the boat status and Matt recovery. The tourist visas for Costa Rica are given for 90 days, on that day or before one must leave the country for over 72 hours, not a big deal when Nicaragua or Panama are easily accessible. The boat, on the other hand, is give 90 days, but it must remain out of the country 90 days before re-entering. BIG DEAL! On August 15th our documents expire, but we must ship the boat out of Costa Rica on September 15th. Our options were the following, as we were able to find out:

•   Mechanical problems; a mechanic must issue a letter, then this must be certified by a lawyer and presented to Customs. Customs then will require you to put the boat in Bond. It means that the vessel will have to stay in a marina and we would not be able to move it without proper authorization… then we are really stuck and paying marina fees. The marina manager in Puntarenas offered to do all this for us, but he asked us to wait until the last minute. We were getting really nervous, so further our research.
• Suspend the boat permit travel out of the country and then comeback and use what is left of it. That meant for us to leave Puntarenas immediately, sail to Golfito, check out 5 days before the time expired, head to Panama and stay in Panama until 5 days before we have to ship the boat.