Notes on Nautical Ladder Project – June 2004
by Capt. Charles Moore
The nautical ladder project in general terms being a series of marinas along the Baja California coast, was proposed originally in the 1960’s. It has been revived in various forms since then, the most recent, and most heavily promoted being that of the current President of Mexico, Vicente Fox. The project was never one of constructing major ports, but rather of creating harbors of refuge for yachtsmen, principally from the west coast of the United States. The rugged terrain of Baja California, and its lack of water, has made increasing tourism and development difficult. Economic and natural resources are also scarce, and most residents away from the major cities of Tijuana, Tecate, Mexicali, Ensenada, La Paz and Los Cabos are engaged in artisanal fishing, ranching and farming. Increasing tourism through the nautical ladder project is touted in the Fox version’s literature as a way to provide jobs and increase the standard of living for these subsistence residents.
Presidents of Mexico are limited to one 6 year term of office. It is seen as important for them to leave a lasting mark by creating some form of “brick and mortar” project which will bear their imprint. Obtaining land for these projects can be a major problem. The government typically promises the concession to operate tourist related and other businesses around the projects to the landowners who allow the government to carry out the projects on their land. Such was the case at Santa Rosalillita, and this may have played a major role in deciding where the marina was to be located. The site selected appeared to be the most sheltered part of the bay, and the owner made the land available, but there were other factors that were overlooked. The environmental impact study that was done prior to construction did not look at sediment transport. The sheltered area behind the dunes on Santa Rosalita Point, where wind surfers go because of the shallow sandy reef that creates rideable waves and has offshore winds, is also the center of what coastal engineers call a littoral cell. A littoral cell is a unit where sediment transport is occurring. If you don’t want to be impacted by sand build up, you need to do construction at the end of a littoral cell. The marina jetties at Santa Rosaliita were constructed in the middle of a sand transport system and thus interrupted sediment transport. The moving sand was blocked and tended to build up on the upcoast side and disappear on the downcoast side. It was remarked by workers dredging the new marina, that the deepening of the marina created by dredging one day would be gone when dredging started the following day. On our last visit to the area just before work was stopped, the sand at low tide was exposed out to the mouth of the marina entrance. It is apparent that the jetties would have to be much longer to protect the entrance from sand filling up the inside of the marina and that as currently designed, the constant dredging necessary to make the marina workable would be economically impractical. As of the current time, all work has stopped and the project appears to be abandoned.
This fact is not mentioned in the glossy literature that continues to be produced by the Fox Government. It appears that the embarrassment of admitting failure of the first marina to be created as part of his Presidential Project would be enormous. Furthermore, the concept of Santa Rosaliita was to bring boaters down the rugged west coast of Baja California to a point where their boats could be transported by truck across the peninsula to the Gulf of California at Bahia de Los Angeles, a warm water tourist destination that was to be the gateway to boating in this frequently visited area. The west coast of Baja California is characterized by cold water, clouds and fog, and strong winds with rough seas. The Gulf is calmer and warmer. Predictions of thousands of boaters coming to Santa Rosaliita to be trucked to the Gulf were unrealistic, and emphasis by those managing the Presidential Project now seems to be on increasing boating infrastructure in areas already frequented by tourists. Two focuses are Bahia de Los Angeles and Loreto. In Loreto, a Canadian development company has begun a mega project to create an entire resort city.
Posted: 6/28/04