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The Rest of the Story
by Dave Shearer 17 Apr '19

17 Apr '19

We focus so much on snowpack for our summer sailing water depths at Great Salt Lake. But that is just part of the story. On average, we get half of our annual lake level from snowpack runoff. And that is sitting at 148% today with the all-important Bear River Basin sitting at 139%. Very good numbers. But the other 50% of our annual lake level number comes from direct precipitation. I base a "Water Watch Year" on the amount of precipitation we get from October through May. These are the months the lake has a chance of coming up despite evaporation. Well we are sitting at 109% right now with March being responsible for 207% and April at 119%. Remember that April is only half way over and we are already at 119% of expected precipitation for the whole month! These are very good and important numbers. We are in solid territory for a net-positive lake level year. That means the lake will be higher this year in the fall than it was last year in the fall. We have learned, at Great Salt Lake, that times can be tough. We may have another tough year next year. We may also be out of this drought and may finally see a few good water years. We don't know. So let us get on the water and enjoy what we have been provided. The Harbor Master Eardley Spit Cruise (June 1) is just around the corner. Lets get those boats prepared for a great cruise and picnic! See you on the water! Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina 801-250-1898 [DNR Parks Logo]

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GO GET ON THE WATER!
by Dave Shearer 17 Apr '19

17 Apr '19

Looks like we are in for a bit of a stretch of good weather. GET OUT ON THE WATER! ENJOY the lake levels! And don't forget to come out and check on your boats. We have had over 2 inches of water this month. That is enough to sink a boat with clogged scuppers. Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina 801-250-1898 [DNR Parks Logo]

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CRANE DAY
by Dave Shearer 17 Apr '19

17 Apr '19

I have not had much response on when people want the spring Crane Day to be so I have finally set the date. It will be Tuesday, April 30. YOU MUST RSVP TO BE A PART OF THIS CRANE DAY. Please RSVP by email to dshearer(a)gslmarina.com<mailto:dshearer@gslmarina.com> If you are interested in putting your boat in the lake or pulling your boat out please let me know ASAP. This is likely to be the only public crane day this spring. I feel confident we will be able to keep all the boats in the water this year. Thanks Dave

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WOW! Expect to have a wet spring
by Dave Shearer 15 Apr '19

15 Apr '19

We have FINALLY hit some critically important numbers for the Great Salt Lake. Our snowpack is now 140% with the very important Bear River drainage being at 131%. These are the numbers we NEEDED to see this year! I feel fairly confident thinking the lake may come up another 0.7' this spring giving us a net-positive year with a lake level this fall of 4192.8'. That would be a net increase of 0.6' for the year. These are not great numbers by any means. But it is a start and is likely to give most of the boats a summer sailing season. All but one boat can get out of the marina now. It is possible that we may come up more than that but not likely. The National Weather Service is predicting a much-wetter-than normal spring, summer, and fall. Their predictions are very often wrong. But this year it seams like they are on track. And the other bit of good news is that the mouth of the marina, unlike last year, does not seem to have silted in this time. The Catalina 30's, which draw 5.25' are getting out without hitting. So get out, sail and enjoy the nice recreation days that Mother Nature will provide us this year. Dave Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina 801-250-1898 [DNR Parks Logo]

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Sad News
by Dave Shearer 14 Apr '19

14 Apr '19

We have lost another member of the Great Salt Lake Community. Wally Wright died peacefully on March 24, 2019. Wally had a Tollycraft motor boat at the Great Salt Lake Marina. He was one of the original concessionaires managing the marina for the State of Utah back in the late 1970's and early 80's. He was also instrumental in the construction of the new Saltair back in 1980. He believed greatly in the tourism potential of Great Salt Lake. His obituary can be read by clicking on the following link: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=wallace-adria…

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Sailing Clinic Tonight
by Dave Shearer 10 Apr '19

10 Apr '19

** iWednesday April 10th at 7:00 PM Junior Program Overview and Racing for Beginners All, please join us this Wednesday for our final seminar. The club will have a brief 10 minute overview of the Junior program planned for this year. Following the overview we will have a 50 minute presentation on racing. The presentation is intended for beginning or new racers. If you enjoy day sailing and are looking to join the Wednesday racing series, this is your seminar! We'll see you there! Racing Agenda: ------------------------------------------------------------ * Preparation * Essential Rules of the Road * The Start * Upwind Considerations * Mark Roundings * Downwind Considerations * Finishing * Q&A Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina 801-250-1898 [DNR Parks Logo]

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WEATHER WARNING
by Dave Shearer 09 Apr '19

09 Apr '19

The storm approaching Great Salt Lake today and tomorrow appears to be significantly moist. Please remember that it is not our job to watch out for your boats. Some of the boats out here have water in the cockpits that is not draining. And there are a few boats with open hatches. Both of these can lead to sinking hazards. PLEASE COME OUT AND CHECK YOUR BOATS if you haven't done so recently. Thanks Dave Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina 801-250-1898 [DNR Parks Logo]

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Water Watch Report
by Dave Shearer 09 Apr '19

09 Apr '19

Normally, in March, I give my predictions for the water year. Well this year is being a tough one to do that. And that is very good news. We are breaking water watch models right now. We have impressive snowpack numbers. Not record snowpack by any means but impressive. The Bear River snowpack numbers have been a bit of a disappointment though. Yet I mean that in relative numbers. We are only at 115% snowpack for the Bear River basin which gives us 60% of our snowpack runoff. But the good news on the Bear River basin is that their reservoirs are at near saturation. The Weber/Ogden basin and the Prover River basin are at very high numbers. They, collectively, give us 40% of our runoff. The ponds right near Great Salt Lake are at saturation and are actually flooding over in some spots. I have never seen that happen before. That is an indication of ground water saturation. So here is my prediction based on 21 years of experience grinding the numbers on the lake level, ground water saturation and snowpack. Drum roll! I have no Idea how much we will come up this year. But what I can tell you is that we had a plan to pull all the boats from the marina and put them back in the parking lot this summer. THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN NOW. At minimum we will have a net-neutral year. That means, at minimum, we will end up back this fall at the same depths we were at last fall. Based on the numbers I am seeing right now and the forecasts coming from NWS that is a Worst Case Scenario. It is more likely that we will have a net-positive year on lake level. National Weather Service came out a week ago with their predictions for precipitation this spring, summer and fall. All seasons are showing much-wetter-than normal precipitation. This does not make for the best sailing conditions so get out on the water on those nice days as they come up. The other good news is that the mouth of the marina did not silt in this winter. We are looking at current depths near 6 feet at the mouth of the marina. Some lake level news by the numbers: During March the lake usually comes up an average of 0.4 feet. We came up 0.6 feet. April we usually come up 0.2 feet. Well we already did that. And we have a large, very wet storm barreling down on us with more storms on the way. May we usually come up just 0.06 feet. I can guarantee that we will exceed that number. If all other numbers hold steady at average we will have a net neutral year. So you can see it is more likely that we will have a net positive lake level year. GET OUT AND SAIL! Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina 801-250-1898 [DNR Parks Logo]

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WARNING
by Dave Shearer 08 Apr '19

08 Apr '19

Just a friendly warning about your boats at Great Salt Lake Marina. And I must say this is a nice warning to give out compared to the last few years. April is looking like it is going to be very wet. We have noticed several boats with clogged scuppers (cockpit drains) and water filling up cockpits. Once that water starts pouring into your cabins from the cockpits it isn't long before the boat starts to down flood and sink. PLEASE COME OUT AND CHECK YOUR BOATS!!!!!!! It is a royal pain to refloat a boat that has sunk. And it is even a bigger pain to refurbish a boat interior once it has be inundated with salt water. Please don't take this email lightly. There are boats at the marina that have cockpits filling with water now. And enjoy the sailing season. The depth at the mouth is deep enough for almost all the boats now. Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina 801-250-1898 [DNR Parks Logo]

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Some Good News
by Dave Shearer 04 Apr '19

04 Apr '19

We just had a sailboat with a 5.7 draft get through the marina mouth. He did have to push through the silt some but he made it through. Still use caution though when going through there. This also means we will start charging summer rates for ALL boats except for the one or two with very deep drafts still. Have fun sailing Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina 801-250-1898 [DNR Parks Logo]

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