Ice-Blogger

The DN Worlds and North Americans have been called on for Torch lake this week from February 8th-14th.

Strange weather forecasts make for nervous officials who have chosen this site for reliability, and because of alternate sites nearby.  More details soon…

Meanwhile, it looks as if Maumee Bay and Sandusky Bay will be sailable as soon as the crust on top of the snow softens.   (Friday Afternoon??)  This weekend is a big Ice Festival in Sandusky.

There are Renegades and Stern-Steerers already on the Maumee Bay.  I hope they will sail this weekend, Better yet, it would be great if they get some racing in on Saturday or Sunday…  or both!

Right now we are dealing with lots of snow locked in by very cold weather.  A thaw will be just what we need to get rid of the snow and fill in the cracks and bumps.  And that seems to be what is on the way.  The troublesome part is that there is a lot of rain and a prolonged warm spell coming with it.  This could spell trouble for ice integrity. 

My hope is that with the extra thick ice (up to 2′ in Maumee Bay and Sandusky Bay) and with cold temps at night the “Zamboni” process will happen in small enough doses to keep the drain hole to a minimum, or make them heal each night. 

Meanwhile it is reported that all ice on the east coast is already degraded too much from the warm spell.   Offcials are looking at many sites, the best looking one in southern Illinois - the problem is that site is on the Missisippi River (like Lake Pepin) and we dont know how it will do in a warm spell.   A small current in the river could thin the ice from underneath and we wouldnt know until too late!

Torch Lake, Elk Lake, and the Traveerse City area lakes are still sailable.  They too suffered snow cover, but with the warming trend and the northern location, I think that area is a safe bet for the NA’s / Worlds.  We will wait and see what is posted tonight…

Very good conditions were reported on Saturday at Alum Creek, North of Columbus Ohio.  Ice was snow ice with some shell ice on it.  High speeds were reported on the scrub races there, and the ice proved to be a bit rough for 50+ mile an hour type speeds.  4 of us from Toledo went on Sunday and got there just as the snow was hitting.  We rigged and sailed in light air and very low visibility for about 45 minutes.  We did get a few good rides, but no speed records.  The wind died, and we took a break and tried it again after a while.  There was now at least 1.5″ of soft snow over the ice.  We gave it another shot a little after 4:15 P.M.  then tore down and headed home.  Traveling with good freinds always helps get you over the dissapointment of a less than phenominal day of sailing.  I practiced my starting techniques.  I hope I have made some improvements on how I set my body into the boat.

Meanwhile up north on Maumee Bay, rumor has it that the Renegades are rigging up and sailing.  The big boats have decided they can and will sail this rough ice.  And with the Winterfest now less than a week away, they have motivation to go ahead and start their sailing season.  Hopefully, we will see our full fleet of Renegades, Nites , Stern Steerers, and Maybe some arrows and sweet 16’s out there by Friday.  Conditions should only improve, as long as we can avoid any more significant snowfall.

Further north, they sailed Torch Lake.  They reported 4 inches and growing of nice black ice.  This could be the site of the DN Central Championships, or even the upcoming DN Worlds Feb. 8-14.  Hopefully they can dodge snowfall.

I rigged up this afternoon and sailed out toward Grassy Island.  As I said before the snowmobile ruts are nasty.   I hoped to find a good chunk of clearer ice, but probably needed to check it out further east.  There were still some giant slush pots.  The best ice was actually in the river.  I was able to get some fast rides up and down the open area between RVYC and ORYC.

overall, I would rate ice conditions rate at a 0.75-3 , howver the good news is there was no open water that I saw in my limited travels.

This is marginal stuff.  John Greiners 15 meter is set up.  The Burrzerker is set up too.  Looks like we may have several other stern steerers joining in.  Light - med air sailing possible, but with caution!  Beware the big ruts! 

I am not reccommending sailing for novices at this point.

John Greiner has done some sailing … rough ice.  Myself, lester and tim are all rigged and ready to scout some ice.  report on www.tiyc.net when i can put it all together tonight.

I checked out Maumee Bay and the Ottawa River this afternoon.

Temps in the low 40’s today are melting and evaporating much of the snow.  Saturday and Sunday temps are for highs in the teens which will refreeze anything wet on top, including open water.  The only downside is that the water is down today.  That might put some stones and mud in our ice near shore.  There are certainly rough spots everywhere, and little or no chance of finding a Race Course.  But that is not to say there would be no sailing however.

Wind was too high today to rig and do some exploratory sailing. 

My plan is to Rig up Saturday AM and do some slow sailing in the bay and ckeck out a report (which matches my visual) of a sheet of nicer ice near Manmade island.

-then I would like to sail around to Ottawa river, which looks pretty good right now.  All ice will be rough, but the river looks like it will be smooth enough to give er full throttle.

It is my hope that conditions will improve or at least be sailable for the Winterfest.

Rumor has it that the Burrzurrker might launch Saturday as well.

If there is any experienced ice scouts that want to come with me let me know!

Maumee Bay is Currently frozen solid with 6+inches of ice.  Surprisingly there is at present only .5 - 2″ of dry snow on the surface.  Bad news is that snowmobiles drove across the snow when it was thick, fresh, and waterlogged and these spots are now refrozen and represent nasty bumps.

It looks unlikely that there is a racable area at this time, perhaps further out we may find 1/2 mile mini-course.  This is all stuff that we cannot determine until someone actully sails it.

First sail would have to be light to medium air to allow snow speeds for stopping or quick turns to get around obstacles.  Hopefully one can find their way to a good sheet of ice further out.

We need someone to check out the north bay too.

I committed myself to leaving town this weekend,  but I am dissapointed that I am not hearing of enyone trying out our local ice. 

My in-laws were shoeveling a skating rink near 125th street and reported nice ice under 1-2inches of powdery snow.  They claim there are even areas of clear ice out there. 

Snow mobiles were seen on the bay all weekend, riding on the confidence of the recent sub-zero temps.

If I can get off work early enough these next few nights I will check it out myself!

Maumee Bay was checked in the vicinity of 136th street this afternoon. 

We currently have 2.5 - 3.5 inches of ice under 1/2″ - 3/4″ of snow. 

Ottawa River has 3-4″ of ice near PPBC.  Same snow conditions, with grey areas near docks and shores, where snow drifted and formed snow ice on top of 2+ inches of ice.

Both locations may have sailable areas, perhaps good enough for an oval track, however general sailing on this thin of ice will eventually reveal the thin spots somewhere that someone will go through if they venture out.

If snow continues as it is now, my advice is to stand by and wait until after the cold spell blows through next week and re-check.

Meanwhile, the Central DN hotline reveals that the Detroit area sailors are being stubborn and still planning on sailing Lake Wawasee, Indiana despite the posstponement of the Western Lakes Region DN championships.  Still 5+ inches of ice, a little smoother than last week, and now 1-1/2″- 2 ” of snow, so it is plate / snow runner conditions.  Right now, Wawasee is the only reported sailable ice in the Nation.

John Harper will update the Hotline tonight, and again tomorrow morning to give us an idea how the lake fared in the storm system which appears to be staying north of that area. 

DN Central Hotline : 248-988-0851

Western Regional Regatta postponed.  V/C Baumker spotted about 4 cars with DNs on the Turnpike.  Poor fellows probably traveled a long ways looking for Ice.  I hope the weather spares them (and Us!) some clear ice somewhere around here.

Meanwhile, Ryan Lashaway and myself are going to do a little ice checking on Maumee bay before the snow gets ridiculous.  Maybe it will miss us, but if it doesn’t it will be nice to know what is underneath that snow.  Will followup with a report here when I can.  Meanwhile, get your runners sharpened and everything ready.  This is the season for sailing…  Somewhere…

Maumee Bay and Ottawa River are both looking pretty good now.  Will have to do some checking this evening to see its progress with thickness.

Report in from Lake Wawasee is that it has improved vastly since Saturday.  This may make it a favorite spot for the Western Regional DN Regatta.

No Reports in from Sand Lake at this time.  I assume that it is still sailable, but would love to get some surface conditions posted.

There were about 36 boats sailing on Lake Wawasee on Saturday.  Two dozen were actively scrub racing all day.  Top Ranking Gold Fleeters including past and current World Champions were there setting the bar high for what will hopefully be practice for the Western Regional DN Regatta this coming weekend, and then the Central Regional DN Regatta the following weekend.

TIYC was represented by 11 sailors and 2 support crew that all made the 2.5 hour trek.

Ice was pretty nice, but there were frozen drifts up to 1″ that would really put the brakes on you.  Plenty of wind out there too!

Thanks to Wawasee native, and fellow DN competitor, Rick Lemberg for scouting us this great ice!

Photos to be posted soon on www.tiyc.net

Full Article to be published in the Chills and Spills newsletter coming out First week of February.