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68 Miles on Great Salt Lake

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/28/2008 : 15:17:28

Last weekend I completed a 68 mile trip on Great Salt Lake in Utah. What a fantastic and unique place to sail. Here is a link to the first of 4 blog entries about the adventure.
This was my first long sailing trip (17 hours in one day), so I hope you all have some good insights for me, or enjoy laughing at (with) me :)

http://blog.unsinkable2.com/2008/07/great-salt-lake-will-show-you-who-is-in.html

--Skipper of the Unsinkable2
http://blog.unsinkable2.com
1977 Catalina 25 SK/SR #246 "Unsinkable 2"
1964 Lido 14 #1878 "Tomato Sloop"

Edited by - on

stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2008 : 16:02:15

Well done, thankyou for posting your blog.

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Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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3323 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2008 : 17:25:02

Great trip - with no "Tooele twisters" to spoil your day!
Say "Hi" to Dave for me - he was Race Chairman for the 2000 Nationals.

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2008 : 08:18:58

Nope, no Tooele Twisters that day. (Tooele is the name of a town & valley southwest of Great Salt Lake. Tooele Twisters are a wild wind phenomenon that wreaks havoc on anyone caught out on the lake when one strikes...)

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Stardog
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USA
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Response Posted - 07/29/2008 : 10:08:34

How is the name Tooele pronounced, too-lee perhaps?

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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273 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2008 : 10:14:14

It's pronounced "Toowilla". And the funny thing is, no one agrees on the name's origin. Some believe it was named for the Goshute Indian tribal leader, other believe it was a Goshute word meaning something like 'waving grasses'. But the main thing sailors need to know is that if you are sailing on Great Salt Lake and you see dust clouds building up over the Tooele valley, you better make a run for the marina post haste - or tie into your 8th reef ;)

Edited by - Unsinkable2 on 07/29/2008 10:17:00

Stardog
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USA
319 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2008 : 10:42:19

Nicely written, I enjoyed the read. I was surprised you didn't just back off the shore a couple of hundred yards from White Rock and drop an anchor for the night. Do the flies get out that far, or were you concerned with little or no shelter in the case of storm? How many people did you have along? I don't remember reading that, unless it was in the first couple of paragraphs; I could have miss it then because I was busy reading the map also and trying to figure out where you were, where you were going and the distances. The scale is hard to read, is it 0-5-10?

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Unsinkable2
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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2008 : 14:56:39

We tried finding safe harbor from the Brine Flies, but they were everywhere within 3 to 4 miles of White Rocks Bay. I didn't want to be further out than that because of the tendency for thunderstorms to come in rather suddenly across the lake this time of year and really whip it into a frenzy. White Rocks Bay doesn't provide much shelter from wind, but it does provide good holding for anchors. (Of course, as it turned out, there weren't thunderstorms on the lake that night, just on the mountain range south of the lake.)

The scale is 0,5,10 miles. Here is a link to a slightly better map. (White Rocks Bay is the large bay next to the words "Antelope Island State Park.")
http://www.fogsl.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=75&Itemid=0

There were 4 of us on the boat - me, my Father, and my 2 eldest sons (13 and 15 yrs - a hardy lot of able sailors if there ever was one :)

We'll definitely go back to reach Fremont Island and a few very interesting landmarks out there, but I think I'll make it a 3 day trip next time, and we won't attempt it during Brine Fly season :)

Two other interesting landmarks on Fremont Island are a rocky peak where Kit Carson carved his initials, and the grave sites of some early homesteaders who actually lived on the island for 5 years back in the late 1800's. On a side note, when early explorers first discovered Great Salt Lake, they believed they had reached the Pacific Ocean, and it was several years before someone finally realized it wasn't.

Edited by - Unsinkable2 on 07/29/2008 14:58:30

SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 08/13/2008 : 07:07:33

mike I read about you launching with a strap . So you needed a running start to back it in ? I want to try a strap retraval this fall . I guess ill have some pipe standing by .

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 09/03/2008 : 11:13:54

Normally I don't need a running start to put it in. At Great Salt lake's ramp the water was low, and the lake bottom was not very steep, so I needed more speed to get the boat in deep enough. The pipe actually is a beter solution if you have access to one (a lot of guys have a 20' piece of square channel they use to 'push' the trailer in, which would be a lot less stressful. My trailer didn't come with one, and I have had great success with the rope method.)
I always have to strap/rope launch at our home marina, and it is usually very simple. I just do the following:
1) Back the trailer to the water
2) chock the wheels
3) secure a strap/rope between the trailer and vehicle
4) raise the trailer off the hitch
5) pull the vehicle up the ramp until the rope is taut
6) lower the front of the trailer onto its front wheel (i use a spare tire carrier with rolling hub)
7) pull the trailer slightly forward so we can remove the chocks
8) back the trailer down into the water. it helps to know exactly how deep you have to be - I let her roll in until the front roller is barely submerged, which is perfect for me.
9) then it's just a matter of tying/untying the boat.
A few tips I've learned:
- Only the driver should be in the vehicle near the water. If something went wrong and the vehicle went into the water, I wouldn't want to worry about anyone but myself having to escape a submerged car
- Ramps are very slippery near the water, and under the water they can be covered with slicker-than-ice algae, so a 4 wheel drive is necessary.
- Never walk behind the trailer or step over - or near - the strap/rope
- Remember the weakening effect of knots in your strap. I use a spliced line and make sure there are no knots in it. When I dropped the boat in at Great Salt Lake, I needed more line so I used a static caving line rated at 8,000 lbs. I double it over and tied a ridiculously large anchor bight at the top so that the rope had no sharp turns in it at the knot

My first time launching at our marina I was not yet equipped to rope launch, so we backed the boat in as far as possible, but the bow was still a couple inches out of the water. The outboard wouldn't pull it off, so I just gunned the engine a couple times, lurching the trailer forward. 3 or 4 times, and the boat slid off into the water. (That committed me to figuring out rope launching for the retrieval...)

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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 09/08/2008 : 21:08:05

I have too put it in at high tide and at the top of the ramp its not so steep .
how come you dont use a chain ?

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 09/08/2008 : 22:08:27

Chain would be a good idea. I have used a heavy duty tow rope just because that is what I had on hand.

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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 09/10/2008 : 08:33:22

I was thinking chain when you said the pipe idea .
you could put the pipe without worrying about chafe .
Id rather not put on a big show at the ramp the first time I try this .
I have the fifth wheel and hub .I was thinking a practice run with no boat .
Id rather not use a pipe I was thinking chock the wheels in the water a little bit , if its not steep enough at the top of the ramp .
And a predawn pull out makes things a little calmer when nobody's at the ramp

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crystal_blue
1st Mate

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USA
72 Posts

Response Posted - 09/11/2008 : 18:29:11

Unsinkable2, is it possible to get some sort of chart or contour map of the Great Salt Lake (or Utah Lake, for that matter)? I asked the guy at the Midvale WestMarine once, and he didn't seem to know.

--Jim

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Unsinkable2
Captain

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USA
273 Posts

Response Posted - 10/14/2008 : 23:07:46

Yes, there is a nautical chart. You can buy them at the gift shop at the Great Salt lake marina. If you can't arrange to get one there, just check out the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club website at http://www.gslyc.org
Someone there will be able to connect you with a nautical chart.

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