Not really; but it is time to leave Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is spectacular in scenic beauty, it is populated by some really nice people that exemplify “Pura Vida”, and the facilities here for support of the tourist industry are second to none.

However- the government could stand to learn some things about cruising sailors. While we become used to paperwork shuffles, there are a few places to come to mind when as it relates to restricted lengths of stays. and all of those actually are impinging on tourism dollars.

Indonesia has a one month cruising permit to see its wonders, French Polynesia, while generous with the amount of time the boat can remain in the territory, is very strict about visitor visas which makes a visit there a whirlwind tour, and Costa Rica has implemented a non-renewable cruising permit for 90 days.

If it was renewable we would stay and continue to spend ridiculous amounts of money. But it is not and we are off to Panama- which with it’s one year cruising permit- has a better shot at hosting cruising boats in transit and all of the associated business growth.

Politicians everywhere screw stuff up. Rant over.

Since the Thanksgiving fiesta was such a blast we did the same thing with new crews for Christmas. Again with the turkey breasts- yum. Spread the workload out a little bit though as Kelly was at her folks and I am notoriously lazy when it comes to housecleaning.

Our friends Darren and Jody off Gratitouille came into the bay to celebrate with us. Erlin off Ventured did as well. There were also cruisers from Switzerland, Germany, England, Costa Rica, and of course, Canada, making this a multicultural event. Suffice it to say, Papillon is happy to be the host boat for these parties! "Ain't no party like a Papillon party!"

New Year’s Eve found about 20 folks, again from all over, being hosted once more for fireworks and festivities. All I can say is thanks to great Costa Rican coffee I made it through to the new year!

So now we are getting set for the run to Panama, I will post some boat chore updates and the rest of the daily poo on the next post.