Paperwork "cha-cha" during Semana Santa
22 March 2016 | Marina Papagayo Costa Rica
Linda
For the boat cruisers reading this post, you will just be able to imagine the challenge that the title implies. How can we complete the necessary paperwork and fees with Customs, Immigration and the Port Captain during Holy Week in Costa Rica? We learned that these essential offices would be closed for ONE WEEK starting on Weds noon, March 23. So we decided that we had no choice but to start the process early Tuesday morning, March 22. We really did not WANT to depart that soon because the high winds called Papagayos were still blowing pretty hard and were predicted to reduce in several days. But we had little choice! Thankfully Bruce and Gina on Dream Catcher needed to do the same process, so rented a car together and drove 45 minutes to the Customs Office near the Liberia airport....only to find out that the ONE Customs agent wasn't at her office but at the airport. So we drove to the airport (thankful that we had a rental car and were not walking!) After speaking with 3 different security guards, one of them finally went off in search of the Customs Agent. 15 minutes later, the Agent appeared outside the departure gate doorway. She was cordial, took all our paperwork and returned to some mysterious office where she typed up some form which evidently allowed us to leave Costa Rica (at least in terms of the Customs Office). When she came back to us (standing in the middle of the terminal) and handed us the completed forms, Linda noticed that she had misspelled our last name as "Withan". Evidently an "m" at the end of a name, doesn't make sense in Spanish because this had happened before. So she apologized and retreated to the mystery office to redo the document. The second time she came back with our name spelled correctly but the boat name was incorrect. Back to her office....third time the boat name was STILL incorrect (by the way, she had a copy of our US boat documentation and numerous Costa Rica documents with the boat's correct spelling) Fourth time was a charm and everything was correct. Only took 2 hours for this office. Second stop was Immigration which was about 45 minutes away in the town of Playa del Coco. The Immigration office was in a small separate building with no signs whatsoever. Luckily, Bruce and Gina had been there before. The Immigration Officer was REALLY friendly and expressed concern that the Port Captain might not allow us to leave because of the high winds. Evidently there were some boaters in prior months who capsized in strong Papagayo winds, so now the Port Captain stops departures from the area if winds are too high. We listened with concern as the friendly Immigration officer telephoned the Port Captain (of course, they are NOT in the same office) and the Immigration officer got assurance that it was OK for us to leave. So more documents, more stamps, more copies. One set of docs for Bruce and Gina and one set for Dave and Linda --- oops, they have one more piece of paper than we do! QUESTION?? Oh, yes, the Immigration Officer said, I forgot to give you something. Phew! Another disaster averted and at least our name was spelled correctly. Now off to the Port Captain office near to the beach in town. But first we had to "kill" some time because the Immigration officer had learned that the Port Captain office would be closed until after lunch at 1 pm. So iced coco drinks and beers while we waited. Our first trip to the Port Captain (Yes, I said "first"!) was to turn in our documents and get a small slip of paper which we had to take to a local bank to pay the $20 departure fee. NO, we can't just give the Port Captain the $20, and NO, the Port Captain doesn't take credit cards. Besides the $20 is for the Coast Guard whose offices are many hundreds of miles away inland (why would the Coast Guard be inland????). So we drove back through town PAST the Immigration Office we had just left to a local bank authorized to take our $20 payment. Gina and Linda waited in the air conditioned rental car while Dave and Bruce went into the bank for a "quick" transaction. It was not to be! The bank was crowded with locals trying to complete their banking on Tuesday before the banks closed for one week. There was one teller. Finally getting to the front of the line, they were told by the teller that the little slip of paper wasn't sufficient for processing. "Go see that other person over there (in Spanish of course)" That person started filling another form and gave them ANOTHER slip of paper...and told them to get back in line to pay the teller. Now the line was even longer. FINALLY after the two hour bank stop to pay $20, Bruce and Dave had the receipt showing their payment of $20. Back to the Port Captain's office with the receipt -- Gina and Linda again stay in air conditioned car -- all good -- Dave and Bruce emerge after 5 minutes with international zarpes for both boats in hand. Gina and Linda review the precious document as we drive away --- OOPS! Something is missing. This time the boat documentation number is missing from the Zarpe for Dream Catcher. U-Turn. Back to Port Captain. Bruce gets a new one issued. 3rd disaster averted. NOW WE CAN CELEBRATE WITH A LUNCH AT A POPULAR BEACH RESTAURANT called Father Rooster. It is 2:30 pm!! We started at 9 am this morning. During lunch on the beach, the wind was really kicking up and we later learned that it was blowing 35 knots even back at the marina. However, now that we had checked out of the country, we were committed. The Marina was not allowed to have us stay past the next morning. (Technically we had 12 hours to leave from the time stamp on the Port Captain document which would have meant leaving at 2 am! Crazy!) So despite high winds, Purrrfect and Dream Catcher left the following morning to a nice anchorage around the corner, waiting for winds to calm down.