Marina News Great Salt Lake Marina June 18, 2008 Current Conditions Lake Level 4195.9 Trend Steady Water Temperature 78 degrees Current Flows Low to Moderate GSL Snowpack 106% SAILFEST 2008 Sail fest was incredible. Kudo's to Christie Simpson, her volunteers, sponsors, and contributors! And thanks to everyone who helped our parking situation. By Saturday afternoon we only had a couple parking stalls left. Almost all the gravel overflow was taken up with camping vehicles. With all of that, we only had two vehicles that created a traffic flow problem and that was worked out by midday Saturday. We had significantly more vehicles and campers this year yet had much less traffic flow problems than last year. Fire Restrictions: Antelope Island State Park Due to dry conditions, Antelope Island State Park managers have implemented a fire restriction beginning Friday, June 20 until further notice. Only charcoal fires in designated fire pits and gas grills are allowed. No open wood fires allowed. Water Level Prediction and Current Status Unfortunately it looks like my Water Assessment prediction was correct. The Bear River has stopped flowing into Great Salt Lake with any significant water. So has the the Ogden and Weber Rivers. The snowpack for those three rivers has also dropped significantly below normal. The only hope is the Jordan/Provo flow. This river is still flowing into the lake and the snowpack for this area is still well above normal. Yet this river system only contributes 10% of the water for Great Salt Lake. Our hope is that scenario number one (in my prior Water Assessment report) will play out. That is that the temperatures will stay moderate causing little evaporation and that the rivers continue to contribute water to keep the lake level stable as long as possible. Otherwise we could see lake levels lower than they have been since the 1960's. The current charts show that the Bear River peaked at 1910cfs (average is 1610) on May 21st. Weber/Ogden peaked below normal on May 20th. Jordan/Provo may not have peaked yet but the flow on May 21st was well above normal. What this all means is the lake peaked on March 31st at 4196.1 and has now stabilized at 4195.85. The latest we have ever maintained a level before dropping was June 22nd. That is next week. Hopefully we can stretch that out. Spider Spraying Well, the "Lotion Spiders" are now out in force. We will continue to keep active with the spider spraying. This could even mean evening spraying to keep them knocked down. You can make a difference too. Spraying underneath your slips with a hose will knock the spider egg sacks in the water. Raid Ant and Roack (Green Can) killer works well on these Orb Weavers. Brine Flies They have hatched. Remember that, although they are nuisances, they are completely harmless. They do not carry diseases and are partly responsible why Great Salt Lake is the cleanest water in the state of Utah. Mosquito's and West Nile VIrus Yes, the mosquito's have hatched too. West Nile Virus has already shown up in some dead birds in Utah. Human cases usually do not show up until late summer or early fall. Although West Nile Virus is now established in Utah, an important thing to remember is that less than 1% of people who become infected with the virus will develop severe illness. Most people who get infectded do not develop any disease at all. Of those who do develope severe symptoms the fatality rate is from 3% to 15% and are highest among the elderly. Dogs and cats seem to not develop any symptons. We have two common types of mosquito's here at the GSL marina. The mosquito seen up by the restrooms and near the common lawn is brown in color and will bite at any time of the day. This mosquito does not appear to carry the disease. The other common mosquito is darker in color (dark grey) and appears on large swarms near sunset and sunrise. This mosquito is a potential carrier of West Nile Virus: Ways to prevent mosquito bites: 1. Stay indoors during sunset and sunrise 2. wear long, dark clothing (I don't know why this works but it does) 3. Use a repellant carrying deet. Avoiding the Reef. Boy, that reef over by the old Saltair site and running up to the south tip of Antelope Island sure has been a popular cruising destination this spring. Surprisingly even some very experienced sailors have tried their skills at running aground on this reef. For those that want do avoid this popular grounding area, here are three secrets. 1st, Draw a line from the Marina mouth to the tallest peak (Frary Peak) on Antelope Island. Stay west of that, 2nd. Never venture east of 112d 11m on your GPS. 3rd, Don't leave the marina. For those that still want to cruise over the reef, be patient. We will come and pull you off after we can't find anything else to do. Summer Solstice Summer is nearly upon us. It officially starts this Friday at 5:59pm mdt. White Rock Cruise hosted by the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club For those interested from the Great Salt Lake Marina or the Antelope Island Marina, here is the information that Rock Simpson provided about the cruise this weekend: "Ahoy cruisers, hopefully you've got the White Rock Cruse circled on your calendar. It's this Saturday and Sunday, June 21st and 22nd. I know the GSLYC website indecates the skippers meeting is at 10am, but I just can't wait to get started so I'm changing the skippers meeting to 9am. The water's warming up and we'll have temperatures in the 90's so floating in the brine should be great. Bring some of your favorite nibbles to share at the raft up, and I'll see you this weekend. Should you have any questions call me (Rock Simpson) at 258-1238" Upcoming Events June is going to be a very busy month of activities and oportunities for our marina users. Here is the list of upcoming events Tonight: Wednesday night race #5 hosted by GSLYC June 20: Junior Sailing Night hosted by GSLYC June 20: Concert at Saltair (This could clog traffic along SR 202 and I-80 making it difficult to get to the marina) June 21st: Hawaiian Canoe Club Blessing of the Boats at Sunrise June 21st: Utah Summer Games hosted by GSLR June 21st: White Rock Cruise hosted by GSLYC (see notice above) June 21st: Private event retirement party at the marina pavillion (pavillion will not be available in the afternoon for any other event) June 22nd: White Rock Cruise returns to GSL Marina June 25th: Wednesday Night Race #6 hosted by GSLYC June 27th: Junior Sailing Night hosted by GSLYC June 28th Mystery Cola Cup hosted by the GSLYC June 28th Wine (Whine) and Cheese Social hosted by the GSLYC July 2nd Wednesday Night Race #7 hosted by GSLYC July 4th Independence Day (cruising on the lake is a great way to watch several fireworks shows throughout Davis, Tooele and Salt Lake County July 5th Movie Night hosted by the GSLYC July 9th Wednesday Night Race #8 hosted by the GSLYC July 12th Partner's Cup hosted by the GSLYC July 12th Luau Social hosted by the GSLYC July 16th Wednesday Night Race #9 hosted by the GSLYC July 16t Concert at Saltair (this could clog traffic along SR 202 and I-80 making it difficult to get to the marina) July 19th Summer Regatta #1 hosted by the GSLYC July 19th Concert at Saltair (this could clog traffic along SR 202 and I-80 making it difficult to get to the marina) July 20th Summer Regatta #1 hosted by the GSLYC July 21st Concert at Saltair (this could clog traffic along SR 202 and I-80 making it difficult to get to the marina) July 23rd Special Wednesday Night Race hosted by the GSLYC July 30th Wednesday Night Race #10 hosted by the GSLYC Aug 23rd-24th Camp-Around-The-Lake Road Tour (more information to follow) More Information on Clubs and Organizations using the Great Salt Lake Marina Great Salt Lake Rowing www.gslr.org Great Salt Lake Yacht Club www.gslyc.org Utah Crew / Waterford www.utahcrew.org Hawaiiian Canoe Club Information to follow Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?