Elizabeth Jardine-Pereira and Patrick Pereira continued a longstanding family tradition last week by spending a few summer days at Lake Berryessa’s Steele Park Resort.

The resort is less than two hours from their Newark home and on the edge of Berryessa’s shimmering blue waters. It is also a safe spot for their three kids, Ashley, 18, Kyle, 14, and Jacob, 11. The family’s three Chihuahuas seem content, too.

“We love this place,” said Patrick Pereira, 43, a heavy equipment contractor, as he and Elizabeth set up their RV campsite while their children searched nearby for lizards.

But the lake seems quiet this year, Pereira said. He is not the only one to notice the change.

Four out of seven resorts along the western edge of the lake remain closed this summer, as the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that manages the lake, seeks bids to run the sites. More than 1,000 mobile homes that once dotted the shoreline have been removed or destroyed over the past two years as the bureau works to revamp the lakeshore.

But problems with the old operators moving out and difficulty bringing new ones in are making for a low-key summer at the lake.

That’s good for many visitors, but bad for ones who find their old haunts closed. It is bad for many businesses, but good for a few where things have picked up because the resorts are closed or diminished.

Steele Park Resort remains open this year under a temporary agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation.

But its day-use area, restaurant, rental cabins and the ice cream shop are no longer in business.

The Pereira’s motor home was parked in a mostly empty RV park Tuesday.

Visitors not complaining

Visitors are swimming, camping and launching their boats at four boat launches open this summer — at Steele Park, Markley Cove, Pleasure Cove as well as Capell Cove, the free boat launch run by the Bureau of Reclamation on Knoxville Road.

But they are noticing that the number of boats is down this year, and are wondering about the future of the lake.

“It’s sad,” said Klaus Berkner of Martinez as he, his daughter, Judi, and grandchildren, Ryan, 10, and Rachel, 13, walked toward his boat moored at Steele Park.

Berkner, a 71-year-old retired physicist, said he used to keep his boat at Lake Berryessa Marina Resort, but that resort has closed and is in bankruptcy.

He came to Steele Park after a friend told him it was open this summer.

“I’m hoping we’ll have an open lake next year,” Berkner said.

Lori and Jan Sears of Fairfield came to Capell Cove on Tuesday with their three children, Kayla, 16, Jace, 7, and Savannah, 9.

“For a weekday, this is not crowded,” said Sears after the family returned from an afternoon boating and swimming.

“I’m not complaining,” added Sears, 41, who prefers to come to the lake during the week because it is less crowded. “This is good,” she said.

While some visitors missed the energy that larger crowds bring to the lake, some motorcyclists last weekend said they enjoyed riding on less crowded roads.

“Actually, this is better,” said Joan Bogart, 29, of San Francisco, a passenger on her husband’s bike.

New this year are 90 camp sites and about 15 RV sites at Oak Shores, a facility run by Forever Resorts under a temporary contract with the Bureau of Reclamation. The campground opened in late June.

Last Saturday, Victor Vu, of Woodland, and his family and other relatives, came to camp at the lake for the first time. “We just want to check it out,” said Vu, 40, adding the children love the water.

The campsite is really nice, even if there is no hot water for the showers and the lake is a short hike away. It’s semi-rough camping, he said, “But it’s OK.”

Nearby, Teresa Tingley of Vacaville was hanging out with friends at their campsite near an area known as Coyote Knolls. They came “to get away,” she said. “These (campsites) are really nice,” said Tingley, 41.

At Oak Shores’ day-use area, run by the Bureau of Reclamation, Oscar Tapia of Napa said the park offers all he and his family want, close to home and for free, he added.

Yet he, too, notices changes at the lake.

“Right now, there’s not too many people,” said Tapia as he relaxed in the shade with relatives.

He said he wonders how stores at the lake will survive. After all, he said, one always forgets to bring something.

Businesses on the edge

For business operators, this summer has brought mixed fortunes.

Linda Frazier, the co-owner of Markley Cove, a resort near the Solano County line on the way to Winters, said summer has been very good for her resort.

The 400 boat slips are all rented out and as many as 175 boats have been launched at Markley Cove on busy weekends, she said Thursday. The resort is also renting out six cabins for the first time, for up to $200 a night in the high season.

Customers who launch boats at Markley Cove come primarily from the Interstate 80 corridor, she said, while those who rent the boat slips are from all over, including Napa.

Markley Cove has drawn customers because the other resorts are closed, Frazier said. “I think we’re doing very well. We’re very happy.”

At Berryessa Corners, near the intersection of Highway 121 and Highway 128, James Keller — a real estate broker who has been running the store, restaurant and bar since business owner Mike Schildknecht’s sudden death in June — said business is OK.

“(Visitors) are still coming up here, figuring to find a place to launch. I’m pleasantly surprised by the traffic.”

Across the street, Ron Watt, owner of Berryessa Quick Stop, said business has been better this summer than last year because several of the resorts are closed and because his goods remain reasonably priced. “I’m the cheapest of the entire lake,” Watt said.

But many Lake Berryessa businesses continue to struggle. A Mexican restaurant closed a few weeks ago at Spanish Flat on Knoxville Road. Nearby, Cucina Italiana survives. But co-owner Sharyn Simmons said, “It’s really bleak up here.”

Simmons, like others, blames the Bureau of Reclamation’s flawed process for restoring the lakeside concessions for the slow summer.

“They’re completely incompetent,” she said Saturday. “They’re water people. They should be measuring water levels.”

Marty Rodden also blames the Bureau of Reclamation. His rental boat business, which he moved from the closed Berryessa Marina to Markley Cove, is down 40 percent, he said.

To survive, he has opened a new boat repair business and may set up a future landscaping operation.

“I’m happy that I’m in business, that’s for sure,” said Rodden, 47, who lives at the lake and has operated the boat service for 17 years. “But I don’t know if I’m going to be in business next year.”

Whether all the resorts are operating or not, it appears some visitors, like Rich and Kathy Burke of Hercules and their cousin, Jerry McCortney of Las Vegas, will make the trek.

“It’s very nice up here,” said McCortney, 36, after the group pulled their boat from the water at Steele Park. “Lake Mead is horrible compared to this lake.”