Looking on the bright side, I won't be worried about my genoa this saturday. Paul Schocker ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Shearer" <dshearer@gslmarina.com> To: "GSL Marina Email List" <gsl-marina@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 10:06:40 AM Subject: [GSL-Marina] HEAVY WIND WARNING SATURDAY GSL/Antelope Slip Renters and Marina Users This spring has been a very frustrating year to try to forecast weather for the Great Salt Lake. The lake has been sitting right smack dab in the middle of the convergence zone between a high pressure system to the east over Colorado and every passing low approaching from the west. It is as if the Great Salt Lake is stuck between the sprockets of two grinding gears spitting everything right through us and then over the top and around. What this means is that every storm or low heads right for us and then gets spit up and around at an accelerated speed so that little moisture is able to dump on us. Yet we get the violent winds associated with this convergence zone. Is the storm going to score a direct hit bringing bountiful moisture and some wind? Or is it going to score a glancing blow yet funnel hurricane force winds right over the top of us? It all depends on which way the gears are going to wobble on any given day. I look at several forecast models each day. It has been the rare occasion where the models agree with each other this spring. Enough of an explanation of trying to forecast wind and weather this year over Great Salt Lake. It is now time for the point of this email. As many of you experienced with sail cloth and pocket books on Monday, spring at Great Salt Lake can be very windy and destructive. 88mph max gusts with 70mph sustained winds shredded six genoas, dismasted one boat, catapulted one dinghy over to the next dock downwind and broke a multitude of dock lines. Well, we are facing an even greater destructive forecast for this Saturday. If the current models hold true (and for once all the models agree so far), we could see EXTREMELY STRONG WINDS developing Saturday. The potential for 80mph to even over 100mph winds is there for Saturday afternoon. Go down to your favorite marine store and buy some fresh dock lines (3/8” minimum ½” preferred). Come out and secure mainsail covers. If you are one of the fortunate who still has a furling genoa rather than some scraps of cloth attached to a foil, I recommend you come out and wrap your genoas with your spinnaker halyard. Lash down your dinghy’s and anything else that may become a projectile. The towns of Bountiful and Farmington are tired of being bombarded by GSL Marina debris. Welcome to Spring at the Great Salt Lake Dave Shearer Harbor Master Great Salt Lake State Marina Antelope Island State Marina 801-209-9142 _______________________________________________ GSL-Marina mailing list GSL-Marina@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gsl-marina