January 2021 - GSL-Marina - mailman.xmission.com

Power Outage
by Dave Shearer 26 Jan '21

26 Jan '21

I have been informed by Rocky Mountain Power that we will be without power much of Thursday due to necessary repairs on equipment. Please plan accordingly. Thanks Dave

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WARNING - PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS MESSAGE IF YOU HAVE A BOAT IN THE MARINA
by Dave Shearer 26 Jan '21

26 Jan '21

GSL Slip Renters, The situation out here is dire. As I have stated before, our water year begins October 1st. Our lake level is VERY LOW already. We can afford to lose October and November. But losing December and January was a horrible scenario for us. We just lost all four of those months as far as precipitation. And now it looks like we are going to lose February too. The "Dome of Death" high pressure over Utah and the Pacific is just too strong. For a long-term forecast, the first half of February was looking pretty good for precipitation . . . but not anymore. The storms hit the Pacific NW of the US and then just get torn apart. There is little hope at this point for keeping boats in the marina. The lake should have come up a half a foot by now. It has come up 1/10th of a foot. If we had a normal snowpack (and we don't!), we would come up almost another foot over the next three months. That is VERY unlikely to happen now. Many of you already have boats trapped in their slips. B dock has already silted back in. We need to get boats out this spring WHILE WE CAN. Barring a miracle, the decision is now upon us. PLEASE do not take this warning lightly. It is now time to find trailers, cradles or stands for those that don't have them. For those that have them it is time to work on your trailers, cradles and stands NOW. I plan to have the first Crane Day mid to lake March to get all boats out with a draft of over four feet. The second crane day will be scheduled for mid to late April to pull the rest of the boats with drafts over 2.5 feet. But if the winter and spring continue to bring dismal snowpack and direct precipitation, we will be forced to pull ALL the boats while we can. I am SO SORRY we are in this situation. But there is little hope this weather pattern will change anytime soon. As I have stated before, we would need the miracle of 1983 to fix this problem. If that happens we will reevaluate our situation. But that miracle is very unlikely to happen. We need to be prepared. Again, I am so sorry we are here again forced to pull boats from our beloved lake. But we are there. Please take this email seriously. Dave

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DISMAL NEWS
by Dave Shearer 18 Jan '21

18 Jan '21

Last year was not a good year for many reasons. COVID-19, Confinement, face masks, earthquake, a great winter followed by a disastrous spring - water wise. Well, 2021, as far as precipitation, seems to be much worse. Our snowpack today is 60%. The water year starts October 1st. Below are the stats since the water year began: October - 18% of normal precipitation November - 49% of normal precipitation . . . that was in one storm. December - 28% of normal precipitation January - 1% of normal precipitation. Let me state that again - - - 1% of normal. The Great Salt Lake runoff can afford to lose October and November and still recover. According to water watchers, we can't afford to lose December and January. Well we just did . . . and in a catastrophic way. The lake usually comes up 0.13' in November. It normally comes up 0.21' in December. And it usually comes up 0.2' in January. We have only come up 0.1' since the low in October. That means we have already lost a potential of nearly ½ foot. On average we come up 2 feet during spring runoff and drop 2 feet during summer evaporation. In other words we come up and lose the same amount of lake level between spring and summer. Last year we had a net loss of 1.5 feet. NWS long-term forecast states the Great Salt Lake Drainage area has an equal chance of being wet or dry . . . they don't know. But almost every storm is going way over the top of us. The hard truth is that we would have to have a miraculous 1983 spring to pull us out of the situation we are in now. The lake, rather than coming up, is stabilized at 4192.3' MSL. We are in serious trouble. I'm afraid we are looking at pulling most, if not all, of the boats this Spring, while the water is high enough to do so. It is time to start working on trailers. Working on cradles. Preparing to pull boats if we are faced with this real possibility. Right now, the target to start pulling boats is mid-March to mid-April. I am so sorry for this hard news. I just don't have much hope that we will see the miracle of 1983. I was at Jordanelle yesterday. There is no snow up there. I have heard from Rangers patrolling the back country. They report that, what snow is up there, is very dry. It contains very little moisture. We are in serious trouble and need to plan accordingly.

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Fremont Island
by Dave Shearer 06 Jan '21

06 Jan '21

We finally have an official announcement about the status of Fremont Island. The island was recently donated to the State of Utah. There is a conservation easement by the Nature Conservancy to protect the island though. This makes the land now accessible to the public through some strict rules. Here is the link to more information about how to visit Fremont Island and the rules that pertain to any visit. Fremont Island | Utah DNR - FFSL (Forestry, Fire and State Lands)<https://ffsl.utah.gov/fremont-island/> It is always a good idea to let us know if you are going to the island because communication is not reliable up there. Letting us know is NOT a requirement though. At minimum, file a float plan with us or a loved one. A float plan copy can be found at www.gslmarina.com<http://www.gslmarina.com> Enjoy Dave

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Water to Marina
by Dave Shearer 05 Jan '21

05 Jan '21

The water line to the marina has been repaired and the water is back on to the marina restrooms and freezeless faucets in the parking lot

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Christmas Decoration Contest
by Dave Shearer 04 Jan '21

04 Jan '21

We had a great showing for the Christmas Decoration contest this year! We will make this an annual event (as long as we still have boats in the water). We had two categories possible; Christmas Lights and Non-Christmas Lights category. But, because of one ambitious person, we added a third category after-the-fact! The winner of the Christmas Lights category was John Unferdorfer. He went all out on Christmas lights including lighting up the dingy on the back of his boat. The winner of the Non-Christmas Light category was Mike and Jennifer Green. Not only did they decorate their boat but they also figured out how to do Christmas lights on a non-powered dock. And the category we added was Christmas Decorations in Dry Storage. Pete Webb won that one. He decorated his boat in unsecured storage and did Christmas lights. Congratulations to all the winners!

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