Sunrise on the approach to Santa Rosalía
We sailed all night long on our way to Santa Rosalía. A few hours before sunrise our boat speed dropped to about two knots and I turned on the motor after we passed Isla Tortuga (Turtle Island). We docked at the Fonatur Marina inside the safe manmade harbor.
When we arrived Cliff and MaryAnn from S/V Carola were the only other cruisers in the harbor.
Santa Rosalía is different than all the other towns in Baja because of it’s foreign influence. It’s main industry was copper mining with the minerals being exported to Europe. Wooden timber was brought in from the Pacific Northwest and machinery imported from Europe. The architecture is different, the streets are paved and there are sidewalks with wheelchair ramps on every corner.
The main church downtown. Designed by Gustave Eiffel, the same guy who designed the Eiffel Tower.
It was just after Dia de los Muertos and art was on display made by the local schoolkids
Paved streets and houses with air conditioning
OK, not every street was wheelchair accessible
The wooden buildings in town are painted bright colors.
Tree lined streets
The local fire department and ambulance
A large library
We made a stop for ice cream to celebrate our successful crossing of the Sea of Cortez
The hospital. Painted outside the building is an encouragement to wash your hands with soap and water. When I took Sully inside the use the public bathroom there wasn’t any soap to be found.
We hiked up the hill overlooking the town and looked down at the marina
The old mining equipment, a major part of the town’s history, has been preserved in static displays throughout the town
We walked through the old copper refinery. All kinds of equipment is still there
More of the refinery
The area by the old refinery is now a museum
There is a large panga fishing fleet based here
The aftermath of Hurricane Odile is still evident in the harbor
We walked out on the long breakwater around the marina. The breakwater was made from leftover slag from the copper foundry.
Panorama of the harbor area
This is a close up of the slag from the copper refinery that makes up the breakwater. It looks like obsidian or glass.
We had awesome hotdogs with everything for dinner downtown across from the church
Sully took this selfie, probably his first
Cute puppies in the abandoned buildings near the harbor
Sully thought the pups were cute
We took a hike up the hill on the south side of town
View from the top of the hike
The cross says, “I am the bread of life”
Then we walked back down toward the main road
It was still very windy when we walked all the way down the malecon. Even on a sailboat there can be too much wind, so we decided to stay in port instead of sailing south.
The black beach south of the marina
The Navy has five boats stationed here. Two are marine rescue boats
I got to trade Navy shirts with Francisco, a Mexican Navy sailor
We keep track of Sully’s growth on the inside of the door jam. He’s grown a lot since last year!
We had a great five day stay in Santa Rosalía and were happy to get back out of the marina and head south. We sailed south bound for Punta Chivato on our way to Bahía Concepción on November 14th.