Puerto Madero
We anchored in one of the lagoons of Puerto Madero. First thing, the navy came and boarded our boat with their sniffer dog. Nice dog! It’s a black lab. He sniffed everything and I kinda felt sorry for him – the boat is always such a mess after several overnighters. There were 4 guys and a dog. More paperwork. Burt just went over and talked to some other cruisers. They came into Puerto Madero to rest, like us, and ended up having to get a new zarpe. It took them 2 days. I’m hoping that we don’t have to redo all that paper work. We are hoping to get diesel, ice, and some cold drinks before the day is over and then leave tomorrow early for Bahia del Sol, El Salvador.
Just as I was writing that last paragraph, someone from the Port Captain’s office came to look at our papers. We have to go through that whole rigmarole again. And it’s not cheap. We were misinformed by Charlies Charts, and by Enrique (a federal employee) at Marina Chahue and others. Oh well, live and learn. This is precisely why we plan to bypass several countries. Once you have a permiso to be in the country with your boat, everything is much easier. But we have to have those international zarpes or the next country won’t let us in. Did I ever tell you that I hate borders? I understand the reasoning for these zarpes, but it would be a whole lot better if there was no need for them. Something tells me we won’t get out of here as soon as we planned.