Marina News June 25, 2008 Great Salt Lake Marina Current Conditions Lake Level 4195.8 Lake Level Trend Dropping Water Temperature 78 Degrees Hypothermia Index Exhaustion 3-12 hrs/ Death 12 hours to indefinite Current Flows Bear, Weber/Ogden -> Low /// Jordan & Goggins -> Moderate Snowpack 34% Weather Pattern With the current high temperatures, we are now entering a monsoonal flow. This is characterized by hot weather with the potential of strong afternoon and evening thunderstorms. These thunderstorms typically build in the west desert and then cross into the Great Salt Lake from Tooele Valley, Stanstury Mountains or Stansbury Island. The Tooele Valley storms are particularly dangerous since you do not see them until they pop over the Oquirrh's and are on top of you. These storms can bring strong microbursts, dangerous lightning and brief heavy rain. Listen to NOAA Weather Radio, or other weather sources for weather updates and warnings. Keep a good watch towards the Tooele Valley, Stansbury Mountains and Stansbury Island for building, dark clouds. Keep Gates Locked It seems we are still having a problem keeping the gates locked at the top of the ramps. I know that 'I' and 'J' gates are particularly tough because they open downhill onto the ramps. And I know that there are those that just choose not to lock the gates. Yet there are those on the docks that pay for, and expect a secured, locked dock. All the docks, from 'B' to 'K' are considered "Secured". Even if you do not care if the gate is open or closed, there are others on your dock that do mind. PLEASE, PLEASE, keep your gate closed and secured! We have made it a policy not to rent 'L' dock to anyone except very short term transients or "Boat Jail". This dock is not secured. But, If you do not want to hassle closing and locking the gate and want a non-secured slip, we will make an exception. 'K' dock, 'I' Dock, 'E' dock, please help us out here! We have people on these docks that are not happy with them constantly being open! They pay for secured slips and deserve it. If you need more keys, come see us at the marina office. We will be happy to provide more keys. Please do not keep the gates blocked open with rocks or other objects. It damages the gates. In the meantime, we are working on a quck fix for 'I' and 'J' that may make the gates easier to close. We have also applied for money to redesign both these docks with sidewalks and fencing/gates at the top of the parking lot similar to 'K' and the north half of the marina. Ok, Lecture over. Now on to more bad news. Lake Level We are now dropping. We started the drop on Monday. Bear River, Weber River and Ogden River are no longer contributing meaningful water to the lake. Jordan and Goggins are flowing strong but are not able to keep up with evaporation. Evaporation will be significant for at least the next few weeks as the temperatures climb to nearly 100 degrees. Get your sailing in now. If temperatures do not keep moderate this summer we will have boats trapped in the marina this fall. It is possible we could see a level of 4193.9. This will put levels in the mouth of the marina between 4' to 5'. Levels near the launch ramp and on the N of 'B' dock will likely be very shallow. For this reason we are implementing our "Shallow Water Plan" which means we will not be renting anymore 30' slips so that we may accomodate moving boats off the north side of 'B' dock and into alternative slips by fall if necessay. The good news about all this is that as the water goes down this year, we will all be able to find our outboard moters, cell phones, marine band radios, discarded beer cans, handheld vhf radios, umbrellas, grills, sunglasses, keys, Park Ranger Badges and any other objects lost overboard in the marina over the past several years. Hawaiian Canoe Club Our newest user group was out last weekend and had an awesome 'Blessing of the Fleet' and breakfast banquet. The boats are cool and are located in our unsecured storage. This group is very friendly and should be a great addition to the marina. And, of course, they are just laughing about my "Lake Level" prediction. They will still be boating and enjoying their craft long after our boats are leaning over in their slips with the keels stuck on lake stink mud. The name of this new group is Hui Paoa Kalani Outrigger Canoe Club. More information can be found at www.hawaiianculturalcenter.org/waa.html Great Salt Lake Row hosts the Utah Summer Games Last Saturday Great Salt Lake Row hosted the Utah Summer Games. It appears they had good participation and a good crowd of spectators. I have not heard how this event ended up for them but we hope they had a successfull event. More information on Great Salt Lake Row and their events can be found at www.gslr.org Antelope Island Marina Update Well, we know the water is not coming up anymore. This means that Antelope Island Marina is not going to be much of a cruise destination this year. Only the shallowest draft boats will be able to utilize this marina. Only the last ten slips on the very first dock are useable. all the others are too shallow. Don't let this deter your longer destination cruises this year though. There are several great destination cruises on the lake. Some of the shorter ones are Indian Bay and Picture Rock on Antelope Island. And then there is Sandy Beach Bay and Crystal Bay on Stansbury Island. Reef Report Yep, the reef is still there. Yep, It still goes from Black Rock to the south tip of Antelope Island. No, It doesn't appear that it will be going away anytime soon (I personally think it is here to stay). I want to thank this weeks group of volunteers that were willing to confirm the existence of the reef by grounding their boats on it. Fourth of July Fourth of July is a week from this Friday. Although there are no planned activities at the marina it is worth coming out. Several communities along the Wasatch Front and Tooele Valley have fireworks shows. Anchoring a couple miles north of the marina is a great place to see almost every fireworks show from Ogden to South Salt Lake to Magan To Tooele to Grantsville. One of my favorite summer activities is to anchor out, barbecue and watch all the shows. Most fireworks begin around 10:00pm and really get going by 10:30pm Dave Shearer Harbormaster Great Salt Lake Marina Have you checked your docklines lately?