Jason Hite Updates Us on Hurricane Polo in Mexico

Hurricane Polo looked devastating as it traveled north along Mexico’s west coast. Fortunately, it turned out to be much less severe when if finally turned east across Baja as a weakened storm. Mexico cruiser and yacht broker Jason Hite gave us an update.

I live in Banderas Bay. We expected some weather from Cat-5 Polo, yet its closest point of contact came and went. That night, despite the predictions of rain, it was quiet. A day later, we got a pretty good storm. Nothing unusual, just a decent storm. The next day I woke up, looked out the window at the bay, and was shocked at the waves I saw. The waves usually appear close to shore when they break, yet today I saw 10–12 sets back from the beach, many of them breaking. Ten sets off the beach! There were reports of numerous people drowning, and one large motorboat sank over by Bocas.

The hurricane made landfall in Baja as a Cat 2 hurricane. In past seasons, cooler water had a tendency to help these storms fall apart. Then the Baja terrain helped some more. Finally, cooler temps in the northern Sea helped prevent them from intensifying further. This storm was forecast to be exceptionally dangerous, coming to shore as a major hurricane, then hitting the mainland at hurricane intensity. The major cruising areas in Baja that were in danger were Puerto Escondido (Loreto) and Santa Rosalia.

Checking in with friends in both of these ports, I was so happy to hear it was a non-event. One cruiser reported 35-knot max winds in Santa Rosalia. My friend Michael, who keeps SV Sea Dream in Puerto Escondido, told me, “All good. Nothing like Hurricane Kay … Kay made her presence known. This one felt incredibly polite and gently knocked on the door. I felt like I was waiting for it to hit all night. Gusts reached 64 knots at the end of A dock; my instruments showed a max of 49 (when I was watching). Felt like 50 at times. I walked the marina; everything held well. I took extra precautions in my slip, and tied it to the building. After a short nap this morning, I took the dinghy around the moorings … found one sailboat on the rocks in the north window. Radioed for help, and we were able to pull it off the rocks. No water in the bilge, seems OK. It was high tide. That’s about the only casualty.”

The community then held its breath for San Carlos/Guaymas. Every cruiser’s fear there is a bad storm that knocks over boats on stands, and they fall like dominoes. Cruisers were posting photos and videos of the rain, another case of the storm not hitting as hard as predicted. No docks were destroyed; all the boats were still standing in dry storage.

The worst direct damage from the storm was in Mulegé; there was a fire in their sacred palm grotto right before the storm that wiped out a lot of their palms. The storm hit Mulegé exceptionally hard and flooding caused a lot of damage. Overall the community and the Mexican authorities did a great job; the Mexican navy staged a relief ship with a helicopter, food and water in Mazatlán ready to respond if needed.

We’re happy to hear that Baja escaped what could have been severely damaging. Hopefully Polo marks the end of this year’s Pacific hurricane season.