Sportyak "Dock", Grand Canyon Village

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-84. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon vicinity, Coconino County, Arizona Sportyak Dock is located at latitude: longitude: The point represents the building housing the Grand Canyon National Park Museum Collection. It was obtained from Google Earth on April 22, and there is no restriction on its release to the public. Date of Construction: Prior to Manufacturer: Dayton Marine Products, Inc. Original Owner: Unknown

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-84. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Sportyak Dock is significant for its association with its namesake, Otis R. Dock Marston, the famous river runner and historian of the Colorado River. Dock Marston made a complete traverse of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead in August in this boat. Description: This Sportyak II model is vacuum formed linear polyethylene and filled with Styrofoam for floatation in case of rupture.1 It is long with a 3'- 8 beam and weighs 38 pounds. The height of the bow is while the transom is 16" tall and the midship more than The boat was equipped with oars. History: The well-known river runner and historian, Otis R.

Dock Marston used the Sportyak bearing his name in a complete traverse of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead between August 5 and 31, Otis Marston s friend, Buzz Belknap, wanted to swim the river and suggested they utilize an additional three Sportyaks. The traverse was made possible by the lower water flow resulting from the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and the closure of the dam s gates. Sportyak Dock also ran Cataract Canyon between 1 Sportyak Dock has been accessioned as Catalog Number GRCA 2 Dock Marston s log of the trip is housed at Northern Arizona University Library and has been digitized here: accessed April SPORTYAK DOCK HAER No.

AZ-84 (Page 2) March 28 and April 4, as part of an expedition to find Dennis Julian s inscription before it was covered by waters impounded by Glen Canyon Dam.3 Its final trip was on the Colorado from Whitmore Canyon to Lake Mead from May which required backpacking it into the canyon via the Whitmore Trail. Upon receipt in June Sportyak Dock was placed on exhibit at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center s courtyard until December With assistance from Western Archeological and Conservation Center (WACC) conservator Bender, the boat was moved to the Science Center Warehouse for conservation as part of the Save Our Boats historic boat conservation project. The Grand Canyon historic boats were then moved again to a new storage area in the Powell Building in December

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-84. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Sportyak Dock was documented as part of the Historic American Engineering Record s Maritime Recording Program. The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) is part of Heritage Documentation Programs, a division of the National Park Service. Todd Croteau, HAER Architect, served as project manager. Ryan Pierce produced the measured drawings in Grand Canyon National Park staff provided the information for the historical report, which was formatted by Justine Christianson, HAER Historian, 3 Tom Martin, Chapter 15 Sportyak, on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/466729631, accessed April