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DREDGING UPDATE / WATERLINE
by Dave Shearer 24 Jul '25

24 Jul '25

First of all, let me apologize for my slow response to your emails. I have had my time consumed by dredging issues (more on that in a second), The massive waterline leak and now broken waterline and other issues. I have hardly been in my office over the last three weeks. I am now spending more time back in the office and am beginning to answer emails. So bear with me. DREDGING: the dredging project has actually begun! They have been working on the retention area where the spoils will be going shoring it up for the trucks and equipment so when dredging starts in earnest they are ready to go. Mobilization for dredging is only about three weeks away with dredging a few days behind that. So dredging should begin in just less than a month. Dredging should only take a few months and is slated to wrap up mid-October. Parking is going to be a BIG issue during dredging (at least until Labor Day when traffic to the marina eases up some). We are going to have to shut a large chunk of the parking lot off for dredging equipment and trucks. As I've stated in earlier emails, we have no plans to shut down the marina mouth during dredging so boats can still access the lake. But there may be restrictions at times. We will keep you posted on the plans for any restrictions. WATERLINE: We have tried so many ideas to keep water flowing to the park including a temporary water tank only to be shot down at every turn by powers that be. We have consulted with some very smart experts but there is no easy solution to fix the waterline. The original leak, which was MASSIVE, is in an area VERY difficult to get to, let alone, work on safely. We were finally left with digging up the line on the opposite side of the railroad track with the intent of cutting in the line and sending a camera up it so we could identify the exact location of the leak and to see what it would take to fix it. Unfortunately, while the crew were digging to uncover the line, a boulder fell down and broke the line causing the water pressure to drop to zero. We were able to cut the line, once it was finally dug up, and send the camera up the line. The leak couldn't have been in much worse of a spot. We are now pumping water out of the pond where the leak is located. It is going to take several days running multiple pumps to dewater the pond so work can begin. In short, I don't know when the line will be fixed and when it will be repaired as we won't know what we are dealing with until the water is out. After repairs are completed it will take about four more days to decontaminate the line before it can be turned back on. I will keep you posted as we know more details. In the meantime, I know that everyone has noticed the water truck and tanks over by the fenced in dinghy storage area. Several have asked if they could use that water. Unfortunately the purpose of all that water is to keep enough water running through the sewer system to keep the system from petrifying and clogging up. If sewage doesn't flow daily through the system it will petrify and create a problem almost as bad as the broken waterline. Also, the lawn is dying because we originally didn't have enough water pressure for the sprinkling system to work properly. Now we have no water. We will just have to deal with the lawn after we get water. On a good note (besides dredging) the phone lines have finally been repaired by CenturyLink. There was a lot of damage to the lines from the two fires near the marina. Dave

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Dredging and Waterline Disaster
by Dave Shearer 11 Jul '25

11 Jul '25

A couple important notes for our marina community. First, dredging. Dredging is on schedule to begin mid-August. They will start over at the launch ramp and dredge from there out through the mouth of the marina. They will then dredge the channel from the rescue dock to the mouth of the marina. Then they will move out into the channel and dredge the whole channel to the elbow buoy. From what I've heard, the plan is to dredge to an elevation of 4185'msl which would make these channels about 7 feet at current lake levels. This will suck up ALL the money we have for dredging. There is no money to dredge the slips which means we might be pulling all the boats next spring while the lake is at its highest point unless we have a great winter this next winter. Pray for an early winter and lots of snow in the mountains. Second, Waterline disaster. We have a MAJOR water line leak on the line that feeds the park with water. And I mean MAJOR. We have done everything we can to try to fix it the simple way. The leak is in a very tricky spot. We are now faced with turning the water off to the park and cutting into the line so we can send a camera up the line to see what we are dealing with. This line is over 14' deep due to the building up of the infrastructure during the floods of the 1980's. It is likely the water will be off to the park for two weeks or more while we investigate exactly where the leak is and how it can be fixed. We will be bringing in nicer end temporary restrooms while this happens. But there will be no water to wash off your boats. I am so sorry for this inconvenience but we really have exhausted all efforts to fix this line with the least amount of inconvenience. The legislature has provided us funds to replace the whole water line. But that will take time to run through the process and build the new waterline. In the meantime we need to fix the existing line. I will keep you posted on both these issues. Right now, dredging looks like it should take about two months and wrap up mid-October. It also sounds like it will have minimal impact on getting out and boating on the lake. Dave

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SAD NEWS
by Dave Shearer 08 Jul '25

08 Jul '25

Sad news. One of our marina community members passed away in May after a brief battle of Lung Cancer. Gary Gordon had a few boats at the marina including a Balboa 27 named Spanky's 8 and a Catalina 30 named Radha of which he lived on both for about 10 years. Gary was a regular at marina events and was always willing to help out with work around the marina. He would help weed in his free time and help cook during the Turkey Fry events. Dave

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CRANE DAY - CLARIFICATION
by Dave Shearer 26 Jun '25

26 Jun '25

Crane Day is tomorrow starting at 10:30am. I am not running this crane day. The crane was hired by Troy Burton. I plan to help where I can though. Plan to be here on time either way. I think I had 9 people on the list from what I heard. If you are craning in or out tomorrow please let me know. Dave

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Sad News
by Dave Shearer 21 Jun '25

21 Jun '25

I just heard today that we lost another member of the marina community last December. Harry van Soolen died peacefully at his home on December 30th, after a year-long battle with cancer. Harry's story is impressive. He was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on April 24th, 1940 three weeks before the German Luftwaffe carried out the Rotterdam Blitzkrieg. Harry spent the rest of the war with the German military occupation of the Netherlands before his family emigrated to the United States shortly after the close of World War II. They ended up in Salt Lake City. Harry had a few boats at the Great Salt Lake Marina. His last boat was a Merit 22 named Dutch T(h)reat and he was active on the race course. You can see his full obituary by going to: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/harry-soolen-obituary?id=57162269 Dave

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DREDGING UPDATE
by Dave Shearer 19 Jun '25

19 Jun '25

I have been receiving a lot of emails and question about dredging. Many of the questions were answered in previous emails so I hope everyone is getting my emails. We have been having regular dredging meetings lately and I'm happy to announce it looks like dredging is FINALLY just around the corner. Dredging is on target to begin around August 1st. The contract has been awarded to the dredging company. The company that was awarded the contract has a great deal of experience in dredging and even dredging on Great Salt Lake. But there is a very big caveat to dredging that I hope everyone understands. There is not enough money to dredge the whole marina. Although we have twice as much money as last time the money just isn't going that far. They will be dredging from the Rescue Dock out through the mouth of the marina. They will also dredge from the launch ramp out through the marina mouth. And they will be dredging 10 slips on E dock for the rescue and patrol boats. And they will also be dredging the whole channel from the mouth out to the elbow buoy (R4). These channels will only be 35 feet wide from toe to toe (base of the channel to the base of the channel). And that is it. That will eat up all the money that was set aside. We have had a bad winter for moisture. Although the deep part of winter was great, the Fall and Spring were dismal. Not much of the water got to the lake this year. It went into the ground before it had a chance to get down here. And this summer has been hot and windy which does a LOT of damage to the lake level by accelerating evaporation. I'm afraid if we have another bad winter, we will be pulling ALL the boats again next year while the water is high enough to get to the launch ramp or crane out area. I'd advise the deeper draft boats plan on pulling this summer before your keels are stuck in the mud. There is a Crane Day planned for the 27th of this month and another can be planned if necessary a little later in the summer. I hope I'm wrong about next winter but, right now, there is not much brewing out in the Pacific that points to a good winter right now. Dave

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CRANE DAY UPDATE
by Dave Shearer 10 Jun '25

10 Jun '25

Crane Day has been changed to Friday, the 27th of June to avoid Crane overtime and to avoid making the parking lot a living nightmare on Saturday. Dave

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CRANE DAY
by Dave Shearer 10 Jun '25

10 Jun '25

Rumor is that there will be a crane day out here on June 28. Lake levels are NOT doing well. A dry fall as well as a dry Spring has set us up for challenging times again. It is advisable that the deeper drafts may want to pull out sooner than later to avoid being stuck in your slip. Unfortunately, if we have another bad winter next season, we may be faced with pulling ALL the boats again. I hope this is not the case but Mother Nature has not given us a lot of breaks over the last 25 years. If you are interested in Crane Day let me know and I will put you in contact with the right people. Dave

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EARDLEY SPIT CRUISE UPDATE - IMPORTANT
by Dave Shearer 28 May '25

28 May '25

Eardley Spit is almost here! Important note to those that are planning on taking the Exclusive Excursion tour boat out to the Spit and back. 1. Be here by 10:45 at the latest to check in with Exclusive Excursions. He has a prompt schedule he must maintain. 2. They will shuttle you out to the Spit. But you must RSVP with ME for the boat ride. 3. We are paying for the charter but the captains also work for tips. So tips for the captain will be greatly appreciated. 4. There will only be one departure time from the Spit back to the marina so make sure to pay attention to the Captain to know when you will leave the spit back to the marina. For those sailing their own boats, Exclusive Excursions will be available for a short time in the morning to shuttle you from your boat to the beach. Again tips are appreciated by the captain. We will be doing Nathan's hot dogs again. Very tasty! But side dishes are greatly appreciated. BYOB. If you haven't RSVP'd for either the Spit or the Exclusive Excursions boat please do so now. Be specific on what you are RSVPing for (ie: RSVP for the picnic AND RSVP for the tour boat if that is your intentions). See you this Saturday! Dave

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Favor.....Mike
by Mike Hessick 27 May '25

27 May '25

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