Cabo Recovering From Tempestuous Juliette

Some called it the worst storm to hit Cabo San Lucas since that city became a major tourist destination in the mid-to late 1970s.

Not all are sure about that, but there is no arguing that Hurricane Juliette delivered a devastating blow just as the city was beginning to catch its breath.

“It’s like going 125 rounds with Joe Frazier, getting done with that fight and seeing Sonny Liston or Muhammad Ali standing there and saying, ‘OK, are you ready to go?”’ said Jim Dillon, a partnerin the Cabo San Lucas charter boat, El Budster.

Dillon was referring first, of course, to the tragic events of Sept. 11, which brought tourism to a standstill in Baja California Sur, a state whose resorts rely almost exclusively on fly-in tourists.

As for Juliette, she took a more direct approach, coming ashore two weeks ago and bringing enormous surf, howling winds and torrential rain. Docks were destroyed, power lines downed and water and sewer systems broken.

Baja California Sur Gov. Leonel Cota last week labeled Juliette the most destructive hurricane in the state’s history, citing damage to or destruction of 1,800 homes and the displacement of nearly 4,000 people.

Three were killed as a direct result of the hurricane, and three others--members of a crew supervising electrical restoration efforts--died when their helicopter crashed.

This week, as restoration work continues, the business community in and around Cabo San Lucas is praising state and municipal efforts.

“Who needs [President Vicente] Fox when you have communities that band together like ours have?” said Marco Ehrenberg, who owns a real estate business and Pisces Sportfishing (https://www.piscessportfishing.com), which docks one of Cabo’s most popular fleets. “[The federal government] sent Marines and some nice helicopters, but that’s about it.”

Ehrenberg, an 18-year Cabo San Lucas resident, at midweek offered a candid assessment of the situation at Land’s End, and assurance that visitors in the coming weeks will find things much as they were pre-Juliette.

“[El] Squid Roe has been open since last week, and if Squid Roe is open who cares about the rest?” Ehrenberg said with a laugh. “That’s all you really need, right? Squid Roe and fishing.”

Humorously enough, for some, a bustling night spot and waters teeming with game fish are all that’s required.

But Ehrenberg added that the highway from the airport in San Jose del Cabo to Cabo San Lucas is open, as is the highway from Cabo San Lucas to La Paz. The highway from the airport to the East Cape region has one huge break--and a flood--near La Ribera, but is passable for four-wheel-drive vehicles.

East Cape hotels are open and their staffs at midweek were either using four-wheel-drive vehicles or boats to get clients around the break.

The Cabo San Lucas area was hardest hit by Juliette, the flooding knocking out power and disrupting the city’s water system. Ehrenberg said electrical service has been restored, and water service has been restored for most of San Jose del Cabo and nearly half of Cabo San Lucas.

Tourists, by and large, will not be affected by water shortages. Many of the larger resorts have their own wells and water systems. Many restaurants have their own cisterns and this week were given clearance to reopen.

Contrary to reports circulating on the Internet, the Office, Billygan’s Island and Mango Deck--popular eateries-party spots on Medano Beach--were not destroyed.

Though severely damaged, they were simple structures and at least two of them, the Office and Billygan’s Island, were rebuilt and could reopen as early as this weekend. The Mango Deck was harder hit, Ehrenberg said, and has no immediate plans to reopen.

As for the highly popular Medano Beach, it suffered considerable erosion and is “shorter” than it had been, but much of the beach has been restored and debris removal is continuing.

Randy Lehr, managing director of the Hacienda Beach Resort, said the cleanup is complete and that clients have been strolling on powdery sand all week. Lehr said damage to the hotel was minimal: two downed palm trees and a broken pane of glass.

A fuel shortage that had been frustrating motorists and boaters for the last two weeks appears to have ended. Waits at gasoline pumps have reportedly shrunk from hours to minutes, and the main diesel pumps at Cabo Marina have been repaired and are serving local fleets and private boaters. The fuel pump at the old cannery pier, which was destroyed, has not been repaired.

Wayne Bisbee, whose annual Bisbee Black and Blue Marlin Jackpot Tournament https://(www.bisbees.com) will go on as scheduled Oct. 23-27, said those piloting boats down the peninsula are able to buy fuel in Turtle Bay and Magdalena Bay.

What the fishing will be like during “the world’s richest billfish tournament” remains to be seen. This week, however, has been extremely productive. Pisces anglers enjoyed a success rate of 94%, scoring mostly dorado and huge tuna, but also marlin, wahoo and sailfish.

Said Ehrenberg, “We still have the best fishing place in the world.”

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Preceding the big-money Bisbee event is the For Pete’s Sake charity marlin tournament, Oct. 18-20. It raises money for cancer research in the name of Pete Lopiccola, a popular Cabo San Lucas skipper who died of leukemia when he was 29.

Organizers decided Tuesday against canceling the tournament, headquartered at Hacienda Beach Resort, and ask that those interested in participating call Terri Brodeau at (619) 475-4636. Cost is $350 per angler and a portion of proceeds will go to the ill and disabled children of Cabo San Lucas. The Web site is https://www.petesake.com.

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La Paz, as popular among scuba divers as it is among fishermen, also continues to clean up after Juliette, which stirred things up both on land and in the Sea of Cortez.

Rocio Lozano, director of the dive company Baja Quest (https://www.bajaquest.com.mx), said this week that visibility had improved from less than 10 feet in the days after the hurricane to 40 feet “and getting better every day.”

Diving, she said, has been as interesting as ever.

A week ago, more than 100 pilot whales appeared at the boat and the divers were able to swim with them. The next day, about 20 orcas, or killer whales, “surrounded our boat and stayed with us for about 30 minutes.”

On Monday, divers swam with more than 1,000 large mobula rays at Punta Lobos southeast of Espiritu Santo Island.

“The mobulas swim syn-chronized; they all open and close their wings, or fins, at the same time and you can see all white as they open the wings and black as they close them,” Lozano said.

“We don’t normally see them for a long time, usually only a few seconds, but Kazu, our guide, reports they saw them first for about 10 minutes and then a second time on the same dive for about three or four minutes.”

News and Notes

* Snow time: With winter close at hand, those planning ski vacations might want to jot Deer Valley on their destination list. This year’s Ski magazine reader resort survey lists the Utah resort No. 1 in North America. Vail, Colo., and Whistler/Blackcomb, British Columbia, were Nos. 2 and 3. The top California resort was Mammoth Mountain at No. 13.

Whistler/ Blackcomb was named the top snowboarding resort in a similar poll run by Transworld Snowboarding (https://www.twsnow.com). Mammoth was No. 2

* Show time: The California RV Show begins a 10-day run today at Fairplex in Pomona. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and free for children 11 or younger.... The International Sail and Powerboat Show begins a five-day run Wednesday at the Long Beach Convention Center. Hours are noon-8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $9 for adults and free for children 12 and younger.

* Blind dates: Prospects are poor to fair for Southland duck hunters manning the blinds on opening day Saturday. The Pacific Flyway’s fall flight will be sharply diminished this year because of drought in western breeding grounds, and recent warm weather has kept many birds well to the north.

There are ducks around, however. Imperial Wildlife Area near Brawley reports teal, mallards and pintails on its grounds and will have 100 hunting sites available. IWA can be reached at (760) 359-0577. Conditions are similar at San Jacinto Wildlife Area and Lake Perris State Recreation Area, which are open to hunters Saturdays and Wednesdays. Details: (909) 654-0580.

* Fishery business: An emergency closure of offshore rockfish and lingcod fisheries will go into effect Oct. 29. The California Fish and Game Commission last week ordered the closure in waters 120 feet or deeper, from Cape Mendocino to the Mexican border, in an attempt to protect depleted stocks of bocaccio and canary rockfish, which swim in deeper water. The closure will be lifted Jan. 1, when new harvest limits will take effect for recreational and commercial fisheries.