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Hurricane Beatriz Fizzles

About to board our Alaskan Airlines flight yesterday morning from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta, where we would pick up Profligate for a Baja Bash, we got the news the flight was postponed indefinitely. The reason given was thunderstorms at the extreme exterior of Hurricane Beatriz.

Although NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center has forecast a below-normal hurricane season — five to eight hurricanes — in the Eastern Pacific (mostly Mexico) there have already been two in the first three weeks of the season. The first was Adrian, which built to a powerful Category 4 hurricane, but fortunately started well out to sea and continued further out before dying in the cooler waters to the northwest.

Hurricane Beatriz has since dissipated and left overcast skies in her wake.

© NOAA

Beatriz started well offshore also, but then took a northeast turn for the coast, coming ashore near Acapulco, Zihua and the Gold Coast, and laying a path for Cabo Corrientes, which is at the south end of Banderas Bay, the bay where Puerto Vallarta is located. Fortunately, Beatriz only reached Category 1 status, although four people were killed ashore. One boy was swept into a river, and three others died when rain from the storm caused a floor to fail, resulting in a woman falling into a septic tank. Tragically, her husband and son both perished in a failed attempt to rescue her.

Beatriz‘s collision with land sapped her of nearly all her strength and, well south of Corrientes, she limped west away from shore. Having gotten a weather update, the folks at Alaska decided to take off on time after all. We landed in a humid Puerto Vallarta that was under cloudy skies for the first time in many days. So we’re now off to the boat, the boatyard, and hopefully to start a Bash within two weeks.

By the way, it’s our understanding that this has been one of the most difficuilt Bash seasons in years. Anybody have any war stories to share?

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The proof, in case you needed any, that this editor got the short experience of sailing on an AC 45.