Marina Troubles
We sail on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Which is an amazing place to sail, and we really love most aspects of it. Except for the spiders and flies really, everything else is great. There could be more places to go, as there is one usable marina on the lake and that's it. I feel like it could be the last place of solitude left in the state right now.
It may all come to an end. We began receiving email in January that the marina was going to likely close due to low water levels. The region is in a massive drought right now, the lakes "normal" level is 4200 feet, though it's only 35 feet deep. If current projections hold, the lake will hit 4190 feel by the end of summer without a great increase in rainfall, which isn't projected.
That will have the marina too shallow to get in and out of, or even pull boats out. Keel boats are asking to be craned out by the end of April, with our boat projected to be needing to be pulled by mid summer unless something miraculous happens.
If we do end up pulling out, there is some boatwork I will do, things like repaint the entire deck, remove all the railings, and perhaps repair a soft spot on the cabin. After that we will look at another local marina to put the boat in next year.
Next year if we don't have the snow we need, we have a few options.
Willard Bay-
The closest option, it means we will use our boat more, and sail more. The issue is that many powerboaters are idiots, too many drunk morons. It is still probably our most likely top pick.
Strawberry Reservoir-
About two hours from home, sailing trips would almost always be camping trips as well. The sailing can be good, I know friends with sailboats in the reservoir that enjoy it. It's not ideal because of the distance though.
Utah Lake-
About an hour and a half from home, this lake is a good choice really, it has a larger sailing community than any other lake in Utah. Traffic is terrible though. It's also at an odd distance to decide whether to camp overnight, or come home every night. It is not on the bottom of the list though.
Bear Lake-
Three-ish hours from home, this lake would be amazing to sail on, it's blue water is awesome, and the winds are generally really good. Slip space is far more expensive than our Great Salt Lake, but that's not a huge issue. The issue is there is a never moving waitlist for a slip. We would likely never get a spot in the marina.
We really don't know our next move, but our hope is that we say right where we are.