Chris Frederick sailed his 15 meter on the bay today. Very Tall T-runners he had on. Snow is slushy 1-3 inches drifting to nearly 6 inches. He did see a couple drain holes. 6-9 inches on top, but funnel down to 2-3 inches. Shouldnt swallow any thing bigger than a skimmer runner.
Will need some wind to get through this stuff!
Sailflow Forecasts for 5-6 knots Saturday and are variable for Sunday. 
Maumee Bay ice February 18th, 2010
AS OF RIGHT NOW:
Walked out on the Bay this afternoon. Ice was drilled to 6 inches without going through to water.
There is about 90% coverage of snow. Typical drifting was 2-3 inches, but there are some drifts up to 6 inches.
We are anticipating winds at 10-15 out of the west and 40 degree temps for Friday. This should work on the ice some more.
Saturday and Sunday may be cooler, there could also be some light snow in the forecast.
Sailability: Depending on snow conditions, temps, and sunlight. We could have sailable ice! We will need 10-15 mph to get going for sure. Runner selections could go from snow plates to slush runners.
Lots of potential, espescially for the big boats. So dont give up!
Weather Advisory: Snow accumulations of up to a foot by Wednesday morning. Suggest all small boats be removed from ice (DN’s, Skimmers, etc.) All boats left on ice should be moved a minimum of 50′ from shore and extra wood put under the horses. Snow weight will push ice down and possibly freeze boats in. In addition it would be a great idea to shovel snow from the areas surrounding any boats left on to keep weight to a minimum. Remember: It is easier to remove a boat before a storm than it is to chisel one out afterward!
Sustained wind gusts well over 20 mph last night and into this morning are polishing the ice and moving snow. We hope that drifitng will be minimal but we wont know until the wind begins to settle down this evening. The weather station mount was twisted in the wind last night, so now the WIND DIRECTION reading is incorrect. Hopefully we will fix this Sunday when the wind is lighter.
Race Committee is to have a meeting at 11AM today. To check conditions, and hold racing in case conditions allow. It doesnt look likely until Sunday morning.
Maumee Bay was sailed today by three DN’s. Conditions probably havent changed a lot since last week, except the wind came up this afternoon and started blowing the snow off the ice. Forecasts are for 23 knots of wind until about 5AM Saturday. Then dying down to about 13 by early afternoon or so. SUNDAY LOOKS GOOD with 6-9 knots of air. Should be great racing Sunday, and Saturday afternoon might be okay for sailing or scrub racing.
Up north in Elk Lake, 4 sailors went all over the lake and found 4+ inches of nice ice. About 85 percent 8 or 9 ice with an inch or so of soft snow on top. The rest of the lake was about a 6 or 7. It sounds tempting, but not sure how many of us are up for the drive…
rough ice and more wind than needed for those conditions didn’t stop about 16 boats from lining up for 3 races for the Greiner open on Saturday. Amongst the competitors, were 3 from the Detroit are including Doug Harvey, 84 years old and still enjoying the sport.
Top Finisher of the day was John “Hoops” Harper from Detroit, Followed by our own P/C Richard Potcova and Jim Grogan of Detroit Ice Yacht Club. Although there were some rigs down, no major damages occurred. By about 1PM, it was decided that there would be a short break, then a “Race Around The Horn”
Because of the questionable ice conditions, this became a game of wits, intestinal fortitude, and perhaps more likely lack of brains would have helped. As you can imagine nobody wanted to lead this race in the middle 1/3 of the course, so several boats lined up single file, and alert heads stayed up out of the cockpit. Sailors held their breath with each crack crossing, and each time he passed over a patch of ice that looked different.
George Reis took the bait on the start and led Mike Deye and Kent Baker to just past the halfway point. Suddenly, on the last stretch of new, smoother ice near the mouth of the river, Mike went full-throttle and racing went back to no-fear mode as he passed George who appeared to be quite willing to give up the unenviable lead position.
Kent Baker stayed close behind the action, and decided to make his move in the river. It was neck and neck in the River between Baker and Deye to the finish, with Deyeahead by a boat lenght. But at the finish Deye did not see the length of the finish line, and steered to the weather side, while Baker steered to the leeward side of the line, picking up speed, and taking the “Round the Horn” by inches.
Fast Eddie was following close behind all the action in the middle point, when suddenly his leeward runner went through. Somehow it popped back out, but not without an explosion of water with it, witnessed by layer of ice now frozen on the left side of his Jacket.
At the end of the race, our timing was perfect as we got to watch the North Wind finally rig up, and take her “second maiden” voyage. Her first ride since being extensively rebuilt. About 50 yards into the ride, Skipper Chris Frederick, and Owner Bill Jockett gave a high five and all the spectators cheered. The boat looked magnificent as she made several passes up and down the Ottawa River!
Cold and Thirsty, the sailors headed inside ORYC and discovered the Commodores Reception was still in full Swing! Past Commodores Baker, Potcova, and Reis did not hesitate to crash this affair with their Boner Suits on! The guests (especially the women) loved it, and it brought even more life to a great party.
With a big party ahead, and needing a good meal, we all headed back around the Horn a second time to get our boats home to the Bay. Needless to say that without a shot of adrenalin it is even scarier going back the second time. There were no incidents this time, but there was a snowmobile that had fallen through off of Lost-Peninsula when its rider (who will remain nameless, pending rum payments) went too close to shore.
Walked out on Maumee Bay today measured 5-6 inches thick. Ice was unusually clear (black ice) there is some light snow ice present on the surface on about 10% of the area. Ice is SMOOTH but not flat… there are ripples present, which are some sort of remnant of the snow that was once on the ice, but was thoroughly soaked by Sundays rain. There is an area that opened up on Monday morning just northeast of Dynamite dock. It has already re-froze, and will likely be safe for checking Friday.
A Skimmer was out sailing the south end of the bay. reported bumps, but fast ice, and no holes to report there.
Hope to see some boats back on the bay Thursday. I should be rigging mine Thursday afternoon.
Maumee Bay is rough. If you DO decide to sail it stay in the areas previously sailed (in the south end) also do not go near grassy island or too close to shore. The warm weather has created potential for hazards. That said, DEFINITELY do NOT try to sail around the horn, or in the river or North Bay until further notice.
Three boats got wet last night, and one still needs retreived this morning. So I would just let mother nature do her thing, keep your fingers crossed, and we might have some great ice next weekend!
We are going to scout ice in Maumee Bay and North Bay for Friday Scrub racing and Saturday Club racing.
Weather does not look good for Sunday.
Re-freeze this week could bode well for winterfest regatta conditions. If Maumee Bay is good we should have the Greiner Open and see if we get some other sailors in from out of town!
Despite the warm weather we have had very little sun to work on the ice. There is still bumpy white frozen snow on the surface. This morning it looks as thought the Bird holes opened back up.
Weather forecasts dont look good for sailing, but maybe it will flatten out the ice this weekend. If temps drop during the week, it looks as though we could have great conditions in time for the Winterfest!
Pending ice scouting reports, some of our sailors may be headed to Anchor Bay on St. clair to get some scrub racing in.
Also this weekend is the Western Regionals to be held in Green Lake, WI, but the combinations of other events held there, questionable weather, and long trip is casting doubt on making the journey.
Snow was around 2.5 inches deep drifitng to around 5 inches or so. Snow was hardened and tough to sail through. Noon may be a good time to attempt sailing over the next few days as the sun and warm temps may soften the snow just enough. Hopefully the snow will melt or evaporate in the warmer weather the next few days. Ice should still remain thick and safe, but care should be taken near shore, as usual.
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