August 2008 - GSL-Marina - mailman.xmission.com

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
by GSL Harbormaster 31 Aug '08

31 Aug '08

Severe Weather Warning Great Salt Lake Rest of Today, August 31st Hurricane Force Warning Gusts exceeding 65 knots (75 mph) with dangerous seas and weather are forecasted for the Great Salt Lake Marina Area. Damage to boats, properly tied and secured in their slips or in dry storage areas, is possible. A Severe Thunderstorm WATCH has been issued by the NWS for the remainder of the day. A line of thunderstorms, similar to a wall cloud, has formed in extreme west Nevada and the Great Salt Lake Desert and is presantly tracking towards the Great Salt Lake Text of the NWS Severe Thunderstorm Watch is below: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CACHE VALLEY/UTAH PORTION-NORTHERN WASATCH FRONT- SALT LAKE AND TOOELE VALLEYS-SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT- GREAT SALT LAKE DESERT AND MOUNTAINS-WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS- WASATCH MOUNTAINS I-80 NORTH-WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80- WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS-WASATCH PLATEAU/BOOK CLIFFS- WESTERN UINTA BASIN-SOUTHWEST WYOMING- 726 AM MDT SUN AUG 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN UTAH AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT BREEZY SOUTH WINDS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT APPROACHING NORTHWEST UTAH TODAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL AND STRONG SURFACE WINDS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE WASATCH FRONT AND POINTS NORTH AND WEST LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING. HEAVY RAINS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THE EXPECTED SHOWERS AND STORMS THROUGH THIS EVENING. RECENT BURN SCARS ALONG THE SALT LAKE AND UTAH COUNTY PORTIONS OF THE WASATCH FRONT WILL BE PRONE TO FLASH FLOODING AND DEBRIS FLOWS FROM EVEN MODEST RAINFALL EVENTS. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THESE BURN AREAS. URBAN FLOODING IS ALSO A POSSIBILITY WITH ANY HEAVY RAIN EVENTS TODAY. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are your dock lines in good shape? Is your boat properly secured? Are all personal objects on the boat and in the marina lashed down and secured? Are your sails properly furled and lashed? Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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Weather / Navigation Warning
by GSL Harbormaster 31 Aug '08

31 Aug '08

Weather Warning Navigation Warning Statement An approaching storm front mixing with monsoonal moisture will bring blustery SW winds w/ strong gust near thunderstorms over the Great Salt Lake area today. Winds in excess of 60mph are possible with brief heavy rain and lightning. Wind preceeding the front is pushing substantial water north away from the Great Salt Lake Marina. This has caused a drop in lake level at the mouth of the marina. This loss of water may make it difficult and dangerous for moderate to deep draft boats to access the lake or return from the lake through the marina mouth. A Storm Warning has been issued for the whole of Great Salt Lake. This storm warning will likely last through Labor Day. Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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Weather Warning
by GSL Harbormaster 30 Aug '08

30 Aug '08

Weather Warning Monsoonal moisture will likely move into northern Utah this afternoon bringing the possibility of thunderstorms with locally strong, gusty winds, lightning and heavy rain at times. Wind will be light this morning but may build by afternoon from the south bringing strong and potentially gusty winds. A Storm Warning will likely be issued by 3pm this afternoon for the whole Great Salt Lake. Keep tuned to your favorite and reliable weather forecast source for accurate and up-to-date weather information. Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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GSL Labor Day Forecast
by GSL Harbormaster 28 Aug '08

28 Aug '08

Saturday Sunny Hi 95°F Saturday Night Chance Tstms Lo 66°F Sunday Chance Tstms Hi 81°F Sunday Night Chance Tstms Lo 55°F Labor Day Chance Tstms Hi 63°F Special Weather Statement SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 311 AM MDT THU AUG 28 2008 BECOMING WET AND UNSEASONABLY COOL DURING THE UPCOMING HOLIDAY WEEKEND.. A MOIST AND UNSEASONABLY COOL PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE GREAT GREAT SALT LAKE AREA DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAY WEEKEND. MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL SPREAD NORTHWARD INTO THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT. AS THE PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM INTERACTS WITH THIS MOISTURE...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME FAIRLY WIDESPREAD ACROSS THE REGION BY SUNDAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG AT TIMES...AND BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. MUCH COOLER AIR WILL FILTER INTO NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH DURING LABOR DAY THOSE PLANNING ACTIVITIES AT GREAT SALT LAKE DURING THE UPCOMING LABOR DAY WEEKEND ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR THE WEATHER...AND BE PREPARED FOR WET CONDITIONS BEGINNING SUNDAY...AS WELL AS MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES BY LABOR DAY. Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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NAVIGATION NOTICE - MARINA MOUTH
by GSL Harbormaster 23 Aug '08

23 Aug '08

NAVIGATION NOTICE Marina Mouth - Great Salt Lake Marina The mouth of the Great Salt Lake marina is now shallow again with humps, rocks and other debris in several areas. This year did not produce the moisture we were all so desperately hoping for. In fact it brought just the opposite. Great Salt Lake seems to be in its own drought with only 60% of its normal moisture since January 1st. DEVASTATING is the proper word here. If we had not dredged this year, 40% of the boats in the marina would not have had a sailing season at all. But we did dredge taking over two feet of rock and hard clay out of a very shallow mouth. Mother nature did not cooperate though and now we are restling with a mouth that again is shallow. And we are now bumping again. Bringing the Lucin down from Promontory marina helped but probably only bought us a few weeks to a month for the deeper draft boats. And August is being very cruel to us with evaporation. And so here is the problem and the warning; When we took out the two feet of mud and clay from the bottom of the mouth we also took out the "known". What we are left with is the "Unknown". Those trusty tricks and paths that we knew so well are no longer there. Everything has changed and we just don't know what the new contour is. I can tell you that there are still rocks down there in the mouth. Some of the boats have hit these in the last few days. Trust me, these are not the same old trusty rocks from last year; the rocks that you knew where they were. These are rocks that are two feet below those old pesky "bottom paint blue and red" rocks. And lets not forget all those hundreds of beer and pop cans (more on that later). When the Lucin came through here early this week it literally kicked up hundreds of these cans from he bottom of the marina. We cannot simply put the small orange buoys out this summer and guide you through the obstacles because we do not know where they are yet. The water is too murky and is not likely to clear up in the very near future. When it does I will dive in the mouth. I will find and learn everything I can about the mouth. And then I will pass it on. Until then, please use extreme caution. Don't rely on the old tricks. Consider leaning your boat over as you go through the mouth. And know that, if you hit a rock or other debris, it may damage your boat. Know when it is time to call it quits for the year for your own boat. The sailing season is almost over for a large part of us; The deep draft boats, of which I am one of. But this does not mean marina life or Great Salt Lake life is over. There are may alternatives for those that have a passion for sailing or the Great Salt Lake. First of all there are all our friends with shallow draft boats. There are always dingies and kayaks. We could make great friends with the Hawaiian Canoe Club and the Great Salt Lake Row club (won't they be thrilled). There are always socials and dock parties that can be planned. Fall is a great time for road trips to those far and exotic places around the lake. And there is always the Virgin Islands. About those beer and pop cans. The vintage of some of those cans went back nearly 40 years. There is a serious lack of oxygen inside the marina. The sulfur mud at the bottom of the lake must be shutting out oxygen. Thus, the cans, that would normally disolve in high concentrations of salt water are not disolving at all. I can attest to this from all the diving I have done in this marina. The bottom is littered with well preserved cans, sharp knives, silverware, grills, umbrella's, bottles (they never disolve), radio's, cell phones, watches, wedding rings, shoes, sunglasses, outboard motors, winch handles, winch parts, winches, rope, sails (yes, sails), game boys, canopies, scotch bottles, trash bags, five-gallon-buckets, towels, cups, etc. etc. etc. Regardless of what most Utahn's think, Great Salt Lake was not meant to be the trash repository of the Wasatch Front. Please don't throw the beer or pop cans in the lake anymore. Thanks Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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THE DREDGE REPORT
by GSL Harbormaster 19 Aug '08

19 Aug '08

The Dredge Report Great Salt Lake Marina Trestlewood, the company that did our dredging this spring, brought the tug Lucin back down to our marina this morning. They were able to tackle the two areas we were not able to dredge this spring. This included the silted-in hump adjacent to 'B' dock and the remnants of the old coffer dam between the north breakwall and the west breakwall at the extreme inside of the marina mouth. The marina is now full of thick black stinky water. Thank god for the Gale Force winds pushing the stink towards Woods Cross. but this black water renders our depth sounders totally useless. And they will likely be useless for a day or two. So we do not know how successful we were although it appears to be a major improvement. This is what we know: The Lucin draws 6'. The Lucin, when first entering the marina, hit bottom at both 'B' dock and in the center of the mouth. When the Lucin was done, it did not hit bottom near 'B' dock or in the mouth. It is possible that these two areas are now blown out to a depth of 6' to 7'. The Lucin also worked on the area between the mouth and the launch ramp. We don't feel we were as successful in this area but we were able to make a difference. There are some boulders and rocks on the ramp that we were not able to do anything about. We would like to do a two hour volunteer project in the near future. this volunteer project would mean wading in the water on the ramp and removing any rocks. If you are interested, please email me. The other area the Lucin tackled is the sloughing west breakwall where it bends behind the rescue dock. This was a shallow spot that was more of a nuisance than a challenge but, while we still had some operating time, we pushed it out. This is what we don't know: The Lucin parked its bow on the breakwall, opened up its prop and literally flushed the *!&$ (insert your favorite word) out of the shallow areas. It was quite impressive. This process though could have created new shallow spots or dislodged boulders. We don't know if this is the case. Nor do we know, if this is the case, where these new challenges may be. Use caution going through the mouth. Yes, we found that there are still rocks down where the old coffer dam was. None of these appear large but could still ding a keel. Unfortunately the north side of 'B' dock probably suffered some more silting in this whole process. Our Suggestions: First of all, I cannot stress too strongly two things: Cooperation and Safety. We all need to cooperate and be more cognizant of each other. This means that the sailors and paddlers need to understand each others limitations. The mouth is very narrow now. Not much more than the width of a stream. Each group has its unique limitations. the sailors have deep draft boats which keep them more centered in the mouth. And the sailors are operating heavy boats with lots of inertia. This means that they cannot stop on the quick. The paddlers, although narrow boats, need a wide area for their paddles. These paddles are part of their stability. Without them the shells become more tippy. And then you have two blind corners when entering the marina mouth. Please keep it slow. Do not try to get two boats at a time through the mouth. Do not pass a boat in the mouth. Realize your limitations and the limitations of other vessels around you. Boats in the main marina channel have right-0f-way over boats entering the channel from the slips. DO NOT CUT BOATS OFF when entering the main channel. Be cautions. We don't know if there may be more shallow spots. Our Hopes and the Reality of Where We Are At Now: We hope that this bought everyone the rest of the sailing season. But the deeper draft boats may still have challenges in a month. Hope for the best. We have also done everything we can now. Anything more this season is just too cost prohibitive. If you are still running aground, or you begin running aground this fall, it is what it is. We have put in a request for funding to dredge the whole marina. This will require an act by the legislature. So if we still have problems we must hope for substantial money from the legislature or a very moist winter and spring. There is a Wednesday Night Race tomorrow evening. I'm sure, by the end of the race, we will know how successful the Lucin was. I want to thank Trestlewood, Dave Phillips, Francisco and Fred for their time, experience and efforts. And thank you Dan, Bill and the main Parks office for funding the project. Good Sailing and Good Luck Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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Weather Warning
by GSL Harbormaster 19 Aug '08

19 Aug '08

Weather Warning Great Salt Lake Great Salt Lake Marina Area Gale Force Warning for the remainder of the day. Blustery SW winds with strong gusts 31 to 45 knots possible. Choppy seas near the marina with 2' to 5' foot seas uplake. Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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GSL MARINA OPEN
by GSL Harbormaster 19 Aug '08

19 Aug '08

GSL MARINA IS NOW OPEN. NO MORE CLOSURES FOR THE DAY. Thank you, for your cooperation and understanding. Safe boating! Dave Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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MARINA CLOSURE - LATE NOTICE
by GSL Harbormaster 19 Aug '08

19 Aug '08

MARINA CLOSURE (in the water only) - GREAT SALT LAKE MARINA. TUESDAY, AUGUST 19TH 8:00AM THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY. VERY LIMITED ACCESS TO THE LAKE FROM THE MARINA SORRY FOR THE VERY LATE NOTICE We just received word this evening that the "Band-aid" fix to the marina shallow spots near 'B' dock and in the marina mouth has been approved and will happen tomorrow morning beginning at 8:00am. Because of the nature of the work we will need to close access to the lake, from the Great Salt Lake Marina, and request that no boating goes on inside the marina from 8:00am until around 4pm (work may finish earlier than this time). You will have access to the marina and your boats but please do not take your boats out of the slip during this time. For the kayakers and scullers, we are quite concerned for your safety if you try to boat during this time. If you can postone your paddling activities until after 4pm it will be greatly appreciated. Again, I apologize for the late notice. We had given up hope that the work would happen this week. Now that the powers-that-be have approved the project, we only have one day this week that will work. That is tomorrow. If we don't take this opportunity we will not have another for a week or more. I hope that this work tomorrow will be successful, buy the deeper draft boats another month or more of boating, and create a safer boating environment for all at 'B' dock and the marina mouth. I hope this is not a great inconvenience to you. Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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Buffalo Run Forecast
by GSL Harbormaster 15 Aug '08

15 Aug '08

Buffalo Run Cruise Forecast Saturday Sunny Hi 80°F Saturday Night Clear Lo 64°F Sunny, Temperatures slightly below normal with a high near 80 degrees. Light north winds with mild seas. Cool night with a low near 64 degrees. Thermal SE winds with the potential of moderate 2' seas. Full Moon Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?

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