Marina News For Week of May 19th 2009 Current Conditions Lake Level 4195.9 (Evaporation seems to have us in its clutches) Lake Temperature 72 degrees Snowpack 110% Lake Analysis The outlook for the lake level is not looking so hot anymore. The runoff is so late this year and the lake and air temperature is getting warm enough that evaporation may keep up with inflow. We have taken a couple trips up the lake to where the rivers flow in. With the exception of the Goggins Drainage, the currents are pretty week. Flow is just not getting here yet. The encouraging news though is that in 1983 the floods didn't begin until Mothers Day and Memorial Day Weekends. If we don't see significant flows by the end of next week I think our lake level situation may be quite grim. Brine Shrimp Hatch We have had a couple hatches this spring just to have them die off when the lake gets cold again. We finally had a decent hatch this week. I don't thing we will have another significant cold spell that could kill this hatch off. This means that the lake should start clearing up quickly as the brine shrimp begin to eat the algae. Spider Spraying We will begin to spray for spiders starting tomorrow. This first spray will concentrate on the breakwall rocks and parking lot where the baby spiders hatch. After this weeks series of storms we will do another spray on the docks. Spider Control The spiders are just beginning to hatch. You, as a slip renter, can greatly reduce the spiders around your slip. The most effective means is to put a pressure nozzle on a garden hose and then spray water underneath your slips and docks. Get around all the floats and braces and spray off all the egg sacks. This is what I have done on my slip on 'K' dock. I usually spray off my slip, the slips on each side of my boat, and the slips across from my boat. I do this once a week for about three weeks. It cuts down on the amount of spiders greatly. Another method of getting rid of the spiders is to spray them with with Black Flag Ant and Roach Killer. This comes in a green can and can be purchased at any grocery store. "Hot Shots" also works well. Also spray along the edges of your dock. Orb Weavers The spiders that are most common in the Great Salt Lake Marina are called Orb Weavers. This means "Web Spinner". Although they can bite they are quite harmless. Most bites will be no worse than a mosquito bite. Orb Weavers are not agressive to humans. And they do have one benefit; They are very agressive towards other species of spiders, namely the Black Widow. Black Widows are very common on the Islands and shores of Great Salt Lake. We do have them in the marina too but not in as large of numbers as Other areas on Great Salt Lake. Slip Payments A few of our slip renters seem to be sending their payments to the wrong address. The correct address is: Great Salt Lake State Marina PO Box 16658 Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 Some of you are sending the checks to the main Natural Resources address which is: P.O. Box 146001 Salt Lake City, Utah 84114 Sending checks to the DNR address could slow down payment processing by months. Please check the address you or your bank is sending payments to. Bill Garcia Memorial Trophy It is that time of year to award the Bill Garcia Memorial Trophy. For those who do not know who Bill Garcia was he was a gentleman who was very much a part of the Great Salt Lake community. He was always unselfish with his time and contributed greatly to the sailors out here. Bill and his wife Leslie owned an advertizing company called Scopes Garcia Carlisle. Back in 1996 Bill was killed in a plane crash in Idaho with several others including Coca Cola executives from Swier Coca Cola. Each year, during Sail Fest we award the Bill Garcia Memorial Trophy to an individual in recognition of an outstanding acheivement in sailing, contribution to the sailing community, or in recognition of an attitude that exemplifies the community spirit of sailing. I am looking for nominations for this year's presentation. If you have a nomination please email me at gslharbormaster@hughes.net The Reef Yes, there is still a reef out front of the marina. Thank you, to all those who have recently run aground and confirmed this. And thank you, again, for helping us keep our "Vessel Assist" numbers up. Memorial Day Weekend This weekend is the first big holiday weekend of the boating season. Early forecast charts showed an unsettled or stormy weekend. Now they are trending to some nicer weather by friday with slowly climbing temperatures. The marina could be busy. Weather Warning Looking at the current weather charts I expect we will be issuing either a Gale Force warning or a Storm Warning sometime tomorrow. Chances of lightning and thunderstorms on Wednesday. Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?