San Blas Island Fees

[belizesailor]

I'm wondering if there might not be some intent lost in translation here. The phrase below, from the resolution in question could be interpreted in different ways.

"...por un lapso de treinta (30) días de permiso..."

One way is that for a lapse in your permit of 30 days the fine would be $5/sq ft. That would make a lot more sense.

My Spanish is decent, but anyone else have an opinion on the translation?

[Steel sails]

There is a San Blas cruisers page on Facebook. You might want to join. There is a lot of information about this new Congresso resolution. Seems most likely it's meant to be a linear ft and something got lost in the translation. There is a campaign to email the Panama Maritime authority requesting confirmation of the legality of these charges as everyone pays the panama cruising permit for Panamanian waters.
Also some bad feelings out there as some cruisers are blaming the illicit charters. As you are probably aware a lot of cruisers are taking paying customers. There doesn't seem to be any charges for the columbian backpacker type vessels offering transport tours between Panama and Columbia.
Seems 5$ per foot is not cheap but payable. 5$ per square foot and we do not return to San Blas, over 6000 $ per month for Cheorae.
Regard
Paul

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Steel sails

There is a San Blas cruisers page on Facebook. You might want to join. There is a lot of information about this new Congresso resolution. ...

Yes, that's where the update I referenced came from (SV Gilana maintains the FB page). I don't do FB, but read it.

As suggested on FB, I think maybe there was a typo or something got lost in translation. To me the use of the term "lapso" infers a penalty for an expired permit, not just a normal monthly fee.

[enovillo]

Thanks again, guys.

Like I said in my first post on this thread, I'm a native Spanish speaker; there's nothing lost in translation. The document clearly says that they will charge u$5/sq.ft. plus the existing anchoring fees. The resulting total charge is ridiculous.

I'll join that fb group.

[Symphony]

Read the San Blas salvage story in the September issue of SAIL magazine. Online free. The Reefs are there, and the Kuna are one step away from "wreckers". The story made it seem to be quite common lately.

[simonpickard]

We were in San Blas about 8 months ago. No big fees. Cost us something like $180 US for our 37' mono.

Amazing place, one of the highlights of our trip.

No one mentioned a $5 per sq foot.

Regards,
Simon