Everyone who has arrived early in La Ventana is watching Hurricane Rick as it approaches the southern tip of Baja Mexico this morning. The hurricane developed off the southern Mexican mainland coast a few days ago, and has been building in strength and tracking in a northwest direction towards La Ventana. Sunday morning the storm reached the maximum category 5 with winds of over 200 mph at the center. At the moment, the storm is predicted to come ashore near Cabo San Luca and cross the peninsula near Cabo Pulmo. The current website of choice for everyone here is: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml?epac.
Clouds over La Ventana Bay – something is brewing
Campers at the RV Park are preparing to move to high ground and shelter from the wind. Several people left yesterday heading north in hopes of completely avoiding the storm. Arriving early in La Ventana for the winter can be a dicey proposition since hurricane season doesn’t officially end until the first week of November.
Several years ago Nancy and I were here the end of September when Hurricane Marty passed over La Paz only 30 miles to our west. At the time we were in our trailer which we had moved off the beach and placed behind an 8′ concrete wall which we thought would block the wind. We found out that when the winds are blowing over 100 mph, an RV is not the place to hide from the storm. It was a frightening way to learn a lesson about the fury of Mother Nature. The experience helped us in our decision to build a house built of steel and concrete with steel storm covers on the windows and doors.
Two days before the storm; blue skies, and great fishing. Nancy with her Dorado
Since the first of October, we’ve had a few light wind days for big sails and kites, however last Friday we did have a taste of good sailing with a day of 4.7 – 5.2 and small swells. One good thing is that the Dorado (Mahi) fishing has been outstanding. We’ll keep you updated on how the storm affects La Ventana. Good sailing, Gary & Nancy
Post Hurricane Update:
Fortunately Rick made a right turn 100 miles south of Cabo and hit mainland Mexico. The strength of the storm had diminished to a Tropical Storm before making landfall; there was no loss of life and just some minor flooding. Everyone in La Ventana is feeling relieved that we avoided the storm. Hopefully everyone who chooses to arrive in La Ventana in September and October has learned a valuable lesson from the near miss of two hurricanes this season.
