Santa Rosalia, Mexico

Thursday, June 9, 2011

027-20.240 N
112-15.670 W

Ahoy from Santa Rosalia, Mexico!

We've been enjoying a nice, laid back stay in Santa Rosalia for the past 5 days. Santa Rosalia is an interesting town and it has a different feel from many of the other towns that we stopped in. The primary difference is that it's a working town and isn't a tourist destination. The area isn't particularly beautiful, the restaurants all serve the same local food, but they've got a nice marina and there are enough stores that you can find what you need to restock the boat.

We departed from Concepcion Bay last Saturday along with Endorfin. As you may recall, Dan from Endorfin hadn't intended on heading this far north, but somehow he acquiesced and decided to continue N with BlueJacket and Makana. Dan hates sailing in fog and as soon as we hit the channel to Conception Bay, we were immersed in a dense fog which lasted for hours. Luckily there was little traffic and we navigated without any issues.

It's about a 50 mile trip from Concepcion to Santa Rosalia, but due to favorable tides and no wind, we pulled into the marina mid-afternoon. Luckily there was room for all of us and as a result we've been enjoying dock power, air conditioning and we have clean boats. Unfortunately we found out too late that the water isn't potable, as Dan has been down with a stomach bug since arriving. It sure would have been nice for them to have informed us upon arrival about the water.

Despite Dan's issue, we've been having a great time hanging out together. We have daily happy hours at the swimming pool at around 5 or 6 when the heat of the day really bears down and we've been either eating out or sharing meals about one another's boat. That's been a lot of fun. We've also had a lot of time to explore the town, which has been very enjoyable.

Santa Rosalia has an interesting past. In the late 1800s copper was discovered here and a French mining company came in and built a mine. Since there was nothing here, they had to build the entire town and bring in workers. According to one book that I read, a big part of the work force came from Santa Rosalia Mulege. Not only did they steal a large portion of the population of the town, but they also took the name Santa Rosalia for the name of the town and Santa Rosalia Mulege is know just known as Mulege.

Not only did they mine the copper, but they smelted it in a foundry. One can only imagine what the conditions were like while this was in operation as the reports that I've read painted a dark picture of dense pollution and disease. In order to reduce the pollution, they actually built a smoke stack on top of a hill about a mile away and piped the smoke up to that. Amazing! Despite this, the beaches are black "sand" (granular black slag). The foundry operated for 100 years and in 1986 it closed down. The ruins of the foundry are now an interesting museum.

The town was built on 2 levels, with the Mexican workers living down below and the French workers living on the hills above. The wood to build this was imported from the Pacific NW and many of the original buildings still stand. Those that have been maintained retain their grandeur, but it's sad to see many of them in disrepair. It's interesting to see that above everything stands the cemetery. I guess that the hills that the cemetery is built upon where either too high or too steep the build upon (at that time), but you sure get great views from up there.

Either tomorrow or the next day we'll be departing for Bahia San Francisquito, which is 78 miles away. That'll be a long day, but there's no place to stop in between. Endorfin will be headed S, but we hope to meet up with them again next year.

-- Geoff

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For the cruiser:

I have had a couple of experiences which left me feeling like I was being being ripped off due to being a Gringo. When we got fuel, the final price was much too high. The next day I discussed this with the marina manager and got a refund for the difference. I strongly suggest that you carefully watch the fuel pumps (which are located 20' overhead) and get a receipt for the fuel. Note that if you take fuel directly aboard you boat, that they add 20% to the cost. If you fill jury cans, there is no upcharge.

Another time I went to the auto parts store just E of the marina to get oil. Most products aren't priced, so you rely on the staff to tell you how much the item costs. Well, they tried to charge me $300 ($26 US) pesos for 5 liters of oil and I refused and left. I later got it for $20 US at another store.

The marina charges $10 pesos/ft/night, but the weekly rate is slightly less than what 4 nights costs, thus our extended stay. Note that the marina is a standard Fonatur design, so if you've been at another Fonatur marina, you'll know your way around.

Note that the water is not potable, but the marina can arrange for water in 5 gallon jugs to be delivered to the dock for $15 pesos.

There are lots of little tiendas and stores where you can buy fruit, veggies and supplies. Just spend time wandering around town to see what they have.

Log ID: 1453