Osprey
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Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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Easter update on our marina
It’s Easter Sunday morning and it might be a good time to talk about our local marina. I know a lot about it because for years I fought to keep free
access to the beach because when the project purchased the land, they bought the one and only vehicle road to our lovely beach. The beach is very
important to the local townspeople and our fishermen who use it as a platform from which to fish for their families.
Each Semana Santa has been a test for the marina: will they close the road, turn away the 2000 campers this year? So far they have not closed the
access or the beach but they have fenced off a large part of the marina near the jetties/slips/clubhouse.What a test it is! For the last three days
hundreds of vacationers from Los Cabos have been camped on $800,000 dollar beachfront lots sold years ago to people who are now suing to get their
money back. For reasons unknown to the people of the pueblo, the project was far from complete when they pulled the plug and shut down all operations
except boat slip rentals and a small launch ramp.
The slips are full most of the time ($900 dollars a month for 30 feet) and there are no gas, maintenance or storage facilities – boat owners must haul
gas in 6 gallon cans from the stations to the slip each time they need to fill the tanks.
In years past, when I saw the campers enjoying light breezes, warm water and clear skies my heart would soar but now my feelings are mixed. I used to
believe that the campers were the poorest of Mexicans who can’t afford to take a break any other way --- now that I see all the new cars, trucks,
quads, waverunners, huge tents, I’m changing my view of the visitors.
They aren’t tourist service people because they are all working like mad at the hotels and restaurants in the cities to the south and north. That
leaves all the businesses and offices that are usually closed for several days around Easter; city and county offices, admin services of all kinds,
some city services, school workers and teachers, transportation people and a whole world of pencil pushers. Absent would be the upper management folks
who can afford trips to Mazatlan and Guadalajara with the whole family. Probably not many day labor people can get here, stay here, get home.
The place is tailor made for the campers --- the little town has many little stores for ice and eggs and beer. There are two gas stations. Police
patrol the beaches day and night while the city provides water and sanitation stations.
Time will not stand still. The music is newer, the trucks are bigger, the quads are faster. At amanacer I can still smell the sweet, spicy onions and
chorizo wafting up the bluff to my little house and if I get my wish, that will never change.
[Edited on 4-5-2015 by Osprey]
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woody with a view
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the smells are the first thing i notice when we cross the border heading south. even before the signs and people speaking a different language it's
the smells of a different culture....
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Pescador
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There are those who would turn the whole peninsula into a Cabo-ized version of Turistica, but there are those little places that defy development and
the rush for the dollar. Just hope we never run out of those places. Thanks Jorge for your insight.
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CaboMagic
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Hi Osprey, as always .. I enjoy the time of escape reading your posts brings - thanks for that .. I share your conflict of how things are vs how
things were vs how things are looking like they will become. I haven't the years of viewing as you do, I've watched the changes only since 1991 and
mostly in CSL - some I think are wonderful, allowing many to raise their level of life . and, I also (yearn) for the time when things were simpler,
less complicated, when it was not necessary to wonder if every person encountered was going to try and sell me - or you - 'a dream' or 'time for a
vacation' under the guise of friendship ... Its led me to be guarded about how I respond to questions asked.
Woody, your comment reminded me, when I first started living in Cabo, when walking along, an approaching local would step aside and allow me to pass
.. if I offered a smile and gracias, their smile would erupt .. I wish things could have remained as they were then, where smiles and the sharing of
simple delicious meals were exactly as they seemed at face value, without worrying if 'friend' was going to lead to 'can you do me a favor?' or 'my
friend, this is the buy of a lifetime.' etc.
I still love what we do . .. LG
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Osprey
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Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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Lori, I once drove all the way to San Lucas to buy a fishing license down by the marina dock at the Pesca office. When I got there the office was
closed. I was sorely disappointed. Just then a fishing charter hawker hit me up "Would you like to go fishing?" I said yes I would but the license
office is closed.
He smiled and pointed to a guy having lunch at a table nearby. He told me he was the guy and he was just taking a lunch break. When I saw him go back
to the office I walked in, got my license, drove back to La Ribera ready to fish for another year. If that guy worked for you, I owe him an apology
and a Pacifico.
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Udo
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Thanks for your insight, Jorge>
For the many times that I have come to visit with you, I have always wondered about the grandiose plans for he marina. I even wondered if there was
drug money behind it (i figured there wasn't, or the place would have been finished by now.)
Too bad they went through all the trouble of hiring workers that never got paid. Created all the dust that landed near or on your property, and sold
lots they created, that are never going to get used.
As is the idea behind many properties throughout Mexico, dreams are never going to get fulfilled, and down payments are going to disappear.
At least the "tortugueros" will still have their patches in the sand for their turtle coops.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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grizzlyfsh95
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Quote: Originally posted by Osprey  | It’s Easter Sunday morning and it might be a good time to talk about our local marina. I know a lot about it because for years I fought to keep free
access to the beach because when the project purchased the land, they bought the one and only vehicle road to our lovely beach. The beach is very
important to the local townspeople and our fishermen who use it as a platform from which to fish for their families.
Each Semana Santa has been a test for the marina: will they close the road, turn away the 2000 campers this year? So far they have not closed the
access or the beach but they have fenced off a large part of the marina near the jetties/slips/clubhouse.What a test it is! For the last three days
hundreds of vacationers from Los Cabos have been camped on $800,000 dollar
chfront lots sold years ago to people who are now suing to get their money back. For reasons unknown to the people of the pueblo, the project was far
from complete when they pulled the plug and shut down all operations except boat slip rentals and a small launch ramp.
The slips are full most of the time ($900 dollars a month for 30 feet) and there are no gas, maintenance or storage facilities – boat owners must haul
gas in 6 gallon cans from the stations to the slip each time they need to fill the tanks.
In years past, when I saw the campers enjoying light breezes, warm water and clear skies my heart would soar but now my feelings are mixed. I used to
believe that the campers were the poorest of Mexicans who can’t afford to take a break any other way --- now that I see all the new cars, trucks,
quads, waverunners, huge tents, I’m changing my view of the visitors.
They aren’t tourist service people because they are all working like mad at the hotels and restaurants in the cities to the south and north. That
leaves all the businesses and offices that are usually closed for several days around Easter; city and county offices, admin services of all kinds,
some city services, school workers and teachers, transportation people and a whole world of pencil pushers. Absent would be the upper management folks
who can afford trips to Mazatlan and Guadalajara with the whole family. Probably not many day labor people can get here, stay here, get home.
The place is tailor made for the campers --- the little town has many little stores for ice and eggs and beer. There are two gas stations. Police
patrol the beaches day and night while the city provides water and sanitation stations.
Time will not stand still. The music is newer, the trucks are bigger, the quads are faster. At amanacer I can still smell the sweet, spicy onions and
chorizo wafting up the bluff to my little house and if I get my wish, that will never change.
That's one way to spin it. Have you considered that the ejido got and spent their money, and then for a number of years had lots of jobs there? The
road to the pescadores beach is not and has not been closed. That was part of the original purchase contract. That this was a money-laundering scheme
was not known at the outset, and sometimes people really can be trusted. This was not one of those times. If you are no growth, anti development,
"keep 'em in the pueblo" kind of person, you can view this whole thing with hatred and skepticism. I prefer to think that if it ever comes to
fruition, it will be a real shot in the are for a sickly little out of the way fishing village. Time will tell, and the veracity of the new owners
will be on display. I find it interesting that they have removed the grand entrance sign, and there are signs that work will again be going on there.
(there is a little going on now). If you want a place with absolutely no development allowed, look no farther than the coast of California.
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The harder I work, the luckier I get
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Osprey
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Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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The workers were actually fishermen and farmers who bought or leased dump trucks. From time to time they were asked to work on credit contracts that
didn't work out and they are still owed billions of pesos. The only thing locals can point to as proof of the ejido's instant wealth was, for a time,
a parade of new shiny trucks and cars, paint on their homes, toys for their kids. All of that was short lived but the unfinished blight of a project
gone wrong is out there for all to see. Right now. In your face.
Your spin, your turn now I guess >>>
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chavycha
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Registered: 1-20-2014
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They appear to have made at least a few friends among local pangueros by offering them free use of the marina launch and mooring.
I sure haven't heard many more good things about that project.
Wonder when the golf course is going in? 
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Lori, your tale reminded me of my travels thru Oaxaca in the late 80s. Memories come in all forms. Cherish the good ones!
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Whale-ista
Super Nomad
Posts: 2009
Registered: 2-18-2013
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Sunny with chance of whales
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Is this the project just outside of la Ribera?
When I passed through last summer I thought they were promoting model homes and making promises... (Apparently- empty promises.)
| Quote: Originally posted by Osprey | The workers were actually fishermen and farmers who bought or leased dump trucks. From time to time they were asked to work on credit contracts that
didn't work out and they are still owed billions of pesos. The only thing locals can point to as proof of the ejido's instant wealth was, for a time,
a parade of new shiny trucks and cars, paint on their homes, toys for their kids. All of that was short lived but the unfinished blight of a project
gone wrong is out there for all to see. Right now. In your face.
Your spin, your turn now I guess >>> |
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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The skeleton of the proposed marina lies right on the beach and touches the village. Many decades ago the village sprawled right down to the water's
edge but several huge hurricanes flooded the lowlands near the shore (where the defunct marina now resides) and the government forced the villagers to
abandon the lowlands, move themselves up the hill and out of harm's way.
So the marina paid through the nose for 800 acres that the authorities deemed unsafe for occupation and/or development of any kind. That must have
been reversed by the powers that be when they saw lavish proformas and renderings of the pipe dream.
[Edited on 4-17-2015 by Osprey]
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