More from Santa Rosalia...

We have been at the marina for almost a month now, and are ready to head out. We had not planned to stay this long but plans change. We now have a new set of batteries (Thanks to V’Ger) and are ready for the summer. We have finished quite a few jobs, more sewing and other installs (shower connection in the cockpit and more fans).

Santa Rosalia was built as a company town for a mining operation run by the French. The building materials for the town were all shipped in, so many of the buildings are wood rather than concrete like the rest of the Baja. The town definitely has a different feel than other places. The town is proud of the past and there is a museum and there are trains and other mining equipment around town as displays. The church in town has an interesting history. It was designed by Gustav Eiffel for a worlds fair in Belgium, the building is a pre-fab design made from metal. It was bought by the mining company dismantled, shipped to Mexico (on a sailing ship), and reassembled. There are photos around town of the harbor filled with schooners and square riggers. These brought coal from England and returned to Europe with copper. The old smelter is in ruins but still stands neat the harbor. There has been an effort to fix up the area, but as seems typical with Mexico, it is only half done. There is a nice malecon area, with a tiled walk way and lights, but the old buildings are run down and falling to ruin (some would be quite nice if restored). Near the smelter they installed tile walks, lights, landscaping, but the smelter buildings are full of trash and broken windows.

In my last update I mentioned the Palapa of Knowledge, and as appropriate I gained some knowledge there. The original palapa was removed when they built the nice malecon. The current palapa is not actually a palapa at all, it is one of the old wood buildings that is in a state of disrepair. One end of the building is usable and serves as the marina office/hangout.

From here we will make a short trip out to Isla San Marcos, there are supposed to be some interesting caves to explore by dinghy and by snorkel. Should be fun. It will also be nice to get out where there should be a nice breeze. The last few days the humidity has been up over 75% so we have been hot and sticky.