May 2018 - GSL-Marina - mailman.xmission.com

Sailing Seminars
by Dave Shearer 02 Jun '18

02 Jun '18

We had quite the large response to the sailing seminars email. The Great Salt Lake Emergency Response Team will begin offering these seminars starting Tuesday, June 5 at 7pm. These sessions will be held at the marina shop/office. The first clinic will include: * Predicting and understanding Great Salt Lake weather * Pre-sail checklist * Basic boat maintenance and responding to an emergency situation If you are planning on attending please let us know so we can provide enough material and seating. Thanks Dave

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Waypoint Database/File
by Blair White 26 May '18

26 May '18

Hi Dave, When I got pulled off Goggins reef last year I thought I heard there was a database of waypoints for safe navigation. I've found the waypoints associated with that reef (https://www.gslmarina.com/gps-coordinates) thanks. Earlier this spring I was near the northern end of Antelope, about mid-way in the water east to west and saw a buoy up there. It was raining and the wind was gusting near 30 so I choose to keep a distance such that I could not make out what it was for, nor did I record my coordinates. I thought I even heard there was a file I could download straight into my GPS that would import all of these markers. Does a database/file exist that would include markers like this? If so, where can I access it? Thanks, Blair

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Cardboard Boat Races - Saturday, June 16, 2018
by Janet Robins 24 May '18

24 May '18

Time's running out to get those cardboard boats built! [cid:image003.jpg@01D3F385.7C23D780] The annual GSLYC Sailfest cardboard boat races are Saturday, June 16, 2018. Registration is at 10:00 on the lawn at the YC pavilion, and the race starts at 11:00 am! The event is FREE and open to everyone! Please see the attached pdf file for complete rules and guidelines!

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IMPORTANT - GSLYC Memorial Day Cruise CANCELLED
by Janet Robins 24 May '18

24 May '18

***IMPORTANT*** GSLYC Memorial Day Cruise to Fremont CANCELLED due to typical unpredictable weather on Memorial Day! Let's pray if Mother Nature won't let us cruise that she at least rewards us with water!

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Opportunity to learn more about the lake and its weather
by Dave Shearer 23 May '18

23 May '18

Most of you are aware that we have a volunteer search & rescue team out here. One of their missions is to help educate the boating public about Great Salt Lake. We held several seminars a few years back that were quite popular. Well we are going to do those seminars again. Some of those topics are: * Navigating on the Great Salt Lake (GPS and dead reckoning) * Weather forecasting and understanding Great Salt Lake weather * Anchorages and where to go * Boating safety * Radio operations and etiquette There are several places to go and not to go on Great Salt Lake. Obviously places not to go are where the reefs are. The navigation seminar would be a great one to learn where the reefs are and where great destination areas are. I know there are some people new to Great Salt Lake. These seminars would be a great opportunity to become more familiar with the lake, its weather, and maybe your own boat. Some thought is to have these seminars on weekdays after work. Another thought is to do them on weekend mornings. What do you prefer? Let me know. Is there a subject you would like to learn more about? Let me know. Thanks Dave

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Marina Mouth Closure
by Dave Shearer 22 May '18

22 May '18

It will be necessary to close the mouth of the marina tomorrow (Wednesday) morning from 10am to about 2pm. Sorry for any inconvenience Dave

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Missing red buoy
by Dave Shearer 18 May '18

18 May '18

The Great Salt Lake Yacht Club has lost a small round red buoy. If anyone has seen it please pick it up or report it to me. Thanks Dave

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Lake Level Update - Better than expected
by Dave Shearer 18 May '18

18 May '18

Well, after the horrible winter snowpack, it is nice to bring a bit of good news. We were expecting lake levels to top off late April at about 4194.5 and begin dropping early May. But the wet spring with cooler-than-anticipated temperatures has helped out the lake levels. Instead of topping off at 4194.5 we actually have now hit 4195.0 msl. That is only 3/10ths of a foot lower than last year's stable high level and a half a foot higher than we anticipated. Yet, if NOAA's long-term forecast is accurate for this summer, we will still see lake levels at least a half a foot lower this fall than last year. Let's hope NOAA's forecast for a hot-dry summer is inaccurate. Their forecast for last winter being wetter and colder than normal certainly was wrong. Also please bear with us while we continue to work on a solution for the silting in the marina mouth. Luckily about 80% of the silting has mysteriously disappeared. Dave

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Crane Day
by Dave Shearer 08 May '18

08 May '18

There is some interest in having another crane day so I am seeing who might want to utilize the crane. Let me know Dave

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Water Level forecast
by Dave Shearer 04 May '18

04 May '18

As most of you know Mother Nature was not kind to us this year. Although NWS predicted we would have a wetter-than-normal winter and some forecasts showed we may have been entering a six-year wet cycle, it was not to be this year. October saw only 68% normal precipitation. November was 84%. December at 63%. Then we moved into the crucial months for snowpack. January was 57% and February 77%. That pretty well settled the fate of the lake level for the 2018 sailing season. March brought some relieve at 142% with April being about normal. But the damage was already done. We are now in the first part of May and the long-term forecast for May is dry. And NWS is predicting we will have a hotter-than-normal and drier-than-normal summer. This does not bode well for a long sailing season for much of the fleet. Lake levels right now are comparable to where we were last August. Some of the deeper draft boats are already running aground in soft silt at the mouth. The lake is showing signs that it has already topped off or is about to top off. If NWS's forecast holds true we may even see the four foot draft boats starting to have trouble getting out late fall. On a good note though is that NWS is very often wrong on their long-term forecast. They certainly were this winter when they predicted a wetter-than-normal winter. My recommendation to all of you is to make the best of the sailing season while you can. We are still measuring depths throughout the marina but I think we can probably get by with all the boats staying in the marina by juggling some slips where boats will need to be located. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I feel it is important to inform you of where we sit for this year. Our best hope is that we finally end this 18 year drought and have a phenomenal winter coming up. Dave

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