Lowell Leaves Little Damage; Ike Thrashes Texas
Tropical Storm Lowell had been traveling northwest along a gentle arc last week, when it suddenly made a radical right turn and marched directly toward the southern end of the Baja Peninsula.
Despite maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, the storm apparently did little damage as it passed over Baja near Todo Santos, then across the Sea of Cortez to the Mexican mainland. We checked in with marina personnel at Cabo San Lucas, La Paz and Mazatlan, and no one reported damage to boats or infrastructure. As with Tropical Storm Julio, which drenched Baja in late August yet caused little damage, boaters and peninsula residents have dodged yet another bullet. The theoretical end of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season is November 1.
Meanwhile, boaters — not to mention millions of residents — along Texas’ Gulf Coast were clobbered by Hurricane Ike‘s 110 mph winds this weekend. "I thought you might like to see our marina in Kemah, Texas," wrote reader Scott Harris. "I moved our Island Packet 45 Seasons to another part of the marina last June and fortunately she’s fine. Keep in mind that Ike was ‘only’ a category two!"
