2005-2006 Ice Report

Tuesday,  February 21, 2006

Posted by: dave zoll on February 22, 2006 at 15:42:01:

As of now no reports of any raceable ice in the Region.

Glen Lake was a bust. lots of ice but too rough. 3 inch plateaus and launchers.

The glass ice on Elk blew out last night. Lake Charlevoix is no go. Crystal Lake had snow drifts and launchers.

Lake Chippewa was checked near Big Rapids as well as many other lakes.

There will be some new spots checked out this weekend, we need someone to scope out Hardy Dam reservoir south west of Big Rapids on the Muskegon River.

Many thanks to all the ice scouts.

Keep the faith! Good luck to the Centrals team at the Worlds!
 

Tuesday,  February 21, 2006

The Maumee Bay Broke up last night.

Report from Dave Zoll regarding the potential Central Regatta site:

Ice scouts have been busy in the Central Region. Attention is currently focused on Big Glen Lake and the South end of Elk Lake. Both will be sailed on Wednesday morning. Reports from both were positive. Launch at Elk Lake would be from the Whitewater Park. Current ice down there is 2 inches of grey ice over 5 inches of black ice. But the north end is not ready. South end also has 90% snow coverage of ½ inch snow.

Big Glen Lake (west of Traverse City) was walked but not sailed. It has ¼ inch snow over 90% coverage. No weather issues and single digits with sun during the day could smooth it out and clean it up.

Many other lakes have been checked and are not suitable, including Cass Lake, Crystal Lake near Alma, etc. and points south. Next Update will be Wednesday. We will know a lot more after the above lakes are sailed Wed. If we can get it in this weekend we will. It looks like a favorable forecast.

If you have ice in the Central Region please report in. Thanks to all ice scouts. Be careful and don’t check ice alone.

 

Monday,  February 20, 2006

The Maumee Bay has a beautiful sheet of ice on it now.  No idea how thick it is, but will check it out if it stays looking like this for another day or so.  No new reports on Sand Lake or Wamplers lake.  Both were pretty messed up in the recent high-winds.  6 TIYC sailors traveled to Gun Lake, near Kalamazoo and enjoyed some nice ice and scrub raced with about 5 locals.   Winds were shifty, puffy and 10-18 MPH.  Probably rates a 6 or 7 out of 10.  Few bumps and dry drifts less than 1", but will degrade as soon as temperatures increase. 

George Reis gave a report on the DN website about Lake Lansing.  He rated it a 4 out of of 10.  Bumpy, soft snow ice. 

There are lots of small lakes to sail on right now.  We need to make sure that we give reports of great ice to the Central Lakes Commodore, DAVE ZOLL so he can pick the best ice for next weekends regatta.  (you may do so through the DN site or through the  mail link on this site)

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Thursday,  February 16, 2006

Posted by: David Zoll on February 16, 2006 at 14:21:53:

Centrals Postponed one week. While the bulk of the storm went south, the conditions on the ice have deteriorated significantly. Sailors on the ice have advised we postpone. 2:00 report was 1 inch of snow on the ice and coming down fast.

Good news is that the forecast is for single digit low temps which may bring in some new ice for next weekend on the lakes that are still open, including Elk Lake.

Next update for regional's will be Monday Feb. 20th.
 

Tuesday,  February 14, 2006

We had a bay full of ice the last two days but today it broke up and blew out in the heavy wind and warmer temps.

Glen Betzoldt reports that there is new ice on Sand Lake, but it is not yet safe.  He is keeping an eye on Wamplers Lake that may be safe for sailing sooner.  He will report back when he has more information.

Our own Dave Zoll, Central Region Commodore has called for the Central Region Championship to be raced at Lake Charlevoix with the following report:

Report on the east arm of Lake Charlevoix: "5-7" of hard clear ice. It's smooth. Most of the Lake I would rate a 9. 80% clear with up to 1/2 inch snow." It was sailed today by the J-14 crowd. I spoke with J. Jacobs and he will be back sailing it again tomorrow. The plate is 1.2 x 3 miles at least.

It will also be sailed by experienced DN'rs tomorrow 2/14. Launch is at the DNR site off Lake Street in Boyne City. FOrecast is for SNOW showers every day this week, so stay in touch and check the hotline which will be official site for information

Hotline will be updated again after report from sailing tomorrow. We need to watch the snow up there.  Hotel info will be posted as soon as available.

Sail safe! Web Link to launch site:  http://www.fishweb.com/maps/charlevoix/lakecharlevoix/eastarm/index.htm

For Hotel information go to: http://cerebus.winsite.com/laser/DNboard/mesgRegat/653.html
 

Wednesday,  February 8, 2006

Woke up this morning to see a large flock of migrating Lesser Scaups.  I don't put a whole lot of stock in the various methods of determining how much winter weather is left (especially groundhogs looking at their shadow)  but I have always felt that ducks somehow know something.  Good news is - Scaups like it cold and don't go very far south, so we may have a few weeks left?

Monday,  January 9,  2006

What a great day Sunday was!  We held the Greiner Open with 5 races.   Good winds were affected by the nearby hills making for some challenging puffs and lulls.  By the time we were done with the last race, the ice was beginning to soften.  Looking forward to next week -  we have to wait and see what the weather does for us.  Looks like it could get smoother ...

Saturday,  January 7,  2006

Sand Lake:  We had about 10 boats sailing and anywhere from 4-6 DN's Scrub Racing.  We had 5 races in light to medium shifty winds.  A few great rides in there.  Ice was very cold, hard and dry and did not go soft during the warmest parts of the day.  Little bumpy here and there, but race-able.  there is a 4 foot gap of water, or thin ice at the ramp, but there was a plank there to get  across.

Race Commitee has called to sail the Greiner Open on Sunday.  Skippers meeting 9:30 AM at the public access, racing starts at 10:00  Call the hotline at 419 726-9811 to verify.

Friday,  January 6,  2006

Sand Lake:  Glen Betzoldt called in with a pleasant surprise report of 5" of ice probably more by morning.    Call the TIYC Hotline ***419-726-9811*** after 9:30 PM Friday night to get an update.  Plan is to go early and do scrub racing.  Right now Ryan Lashaway and  I are definitely going.  With Glen and the Sand Lake guys there we will have probably at least 5 boats.

Maumee Bay:  Is completely open soft-water.  Ready for new ice by the winter festival.

Monday,  January 2,  2006

Happy New Year from Maumee Bay!   Some weather and high water blew the ice out- then blew it back in accompanied by thunder and lightning.  Hopefully it will blow out before we get another freeze.  If the forecasts are correct we should get a SW breeze by Wednesday Evening to blow out the ice chunks.

Friday,  December 31,  2005

Maumee Bay:  Nobody on the ice.  It looks better than you would think after all the rain we had.  Now with the high water in the river, it would not surprise me if it breaks it up... that might be for the best as we would do well to start out on a clean slate.

No word from the Sand Lake people...   some possibilities there if/when it refreezes.

Saturday,  December 24,  2005

Maumee Bay:  Still Sailing.  The Ice is softer now, but the wind made up for it.  We had an Arrow and a Renegade burning it up today.  Lots of Good rides.  Christmas day sailing is not out of the question...

Friday,  December 23,  2005

Maumee Bay:  Good News Bad News...  Bad news is the sailability of the ice is down.  It is very soft in reponse to the higher temperatures.  The good news.  It is still relatively safe to walk on, (so far today) and this will help melt down the drifts and rough spots and make for better ice when it re-freezes.   We just need minimal snow and probably not too much rain either as that could result in some ugly drain holes.

Race Committee is hoping to be set up and ready for racing New Years Weekend.  (Get Your Insurance Forms in!)

Thursday,  December 22,  2005

Maumee Bay:  Last night Ryan and Robbie Dragged a few barrels out on the ice and set up a course for scrub racing.  At one point we had 7 DN's  and a Renegade doing 3-lappers.  Very raceable, but challenging with the drifts.  I did get out and push once, after that you learn to check your lanes a little better.  Foeller put his Renegade on and that brings the Renegade Count up to 3 now.

Noon today it is quite a bit windier.  Foeller sailed his Renegade for a while around Noon.

 

Tuesday,  December 20,  2005

Maumee Bay:  Yesterday Ryan Lashaway and Robbie Linden Set up and sailed DNs, along with Mike Deye who made it on the day before.  Today Les Lashaway Put on his Renegade and Sailed along with Mike Stark in his DN and two other DN's.  Les says tomorrow the "Roast Beef" (a stern-steered A-frame) will go on.   The fleet count right now is 7 DN's, 2 Renegades, and 1 Skimmer. 

The Ice conditions are very stable now.  There were some slushy spots under some drifts that have now frozen and can be very rough when you hit them at speed.  Snow still at about 40% coverage with drifts maxing out at 1.5".  Runners cut through this pretty well when you are powered up.  There are some Ice heaves to look out for, most of those are mostly close to shore of course look out for the same old log impressions we get every year.  All holes seem to have been frozen up since last weekend.  Right now it appears to be fairly safe sailing in the area West of the line between dynamite dock and the East point of Grassy Island.  There was one crack running from around 140th St. area out to the island but was pretty smooth.  Best Ice and Wind is out aboat 2/3 of the way to the island.  Go too far East and you run into more snow.

Forecasts are for slightly warmer conditions that could bring snow or rain on Friday and Saturday.  Warmer temperatures and bright sun will be good for flattening out our ice as this ice looks like it is here to stay.  Just do some sort of tribal dance to ward off the snow...

Monday,  December 19,  2005

Maumee Bay:  Still looks pretty good.  Yesterday we had a total of 4 DN's and 1 skimmer sailing.  Once you get about halfway out into cleat air, you no longer need to push to get through the drifts.  Everbody got some good rides often hiking.

Many are on Holiday break this week so I expect to see more boats set up every day.

Sunday,  December 18,  2005

Maumee Bay:  Rigged a skimmer and looked around and was disappointed to see no one else rigged up.  Had to walk it out a ways and through the drifts.  Then caught some great rides out toward Grassy Island.  I think I was doing in excess of 15 MPH and was powering through the drifts out there.  So no doubt a DN will easily cut through the snow and sail with much less effort.

The drifts are no deeper than an inch and a half.  The hard styrofoam type stuff that you can walk on, but your runners will slice through.  There were no holes (though there were some spots where recent 6-12" holes had recently frozen over.  No bad cracks.  Overall pretty decent cruising ice.  Need to sail around some more and see how much acreage we have to play on.  Looks really good though.

Saturday,  December 17,  2005

Maumee Bay:  Brent Marriott and some neighborhood kids shoveled off a hockey rink area down by 119th Street Friday and it was pretty nice today.  They skated all around and saw other people, dogs, and a 4-wheeler on the ice.  The observed some small holes here and there - not more than a few inches in diameter.  No people or boat-swallowing holes found yet.  No cracks either for that matter.  Will skate around and drill some test holes tomorrow.  Mike Deye might be bringing his DN to set up.  Mine is still waiting for a new mast and sail that will be here this week so might have to settle for a skimmer. 

 

Friday,  December 9,  2005

Maumee Bay:  The snow blew in around 7:00 PM and did exactly what we feared it would.  The ice was about one day out from being "walked" by the first brave (or foolhardy) souls.  Now with the snow cover it will be very difficult if not impossible to assess the conditions.  Wind probably kept the snow depth on the ice at 1/4"-2 inches.  There are lots of "wet spots" in the snow where there was water on  top of the ice or the weight of the snow pushed it down at the cracks. 

We are hopeful that the snow stayed south of Sand Lake and are awaiting a report from Glen at this time.

Thursday,  December 8,  2005

This in this morning from Glen at Sand Lake:

Well I think it's over before it even started.

Last night we had almost 2" of ice.  I was walking on it ok.

So today it's probably safe, but i'm going to wait, don't want to get my shoes wet!!

Tonight "Blizzard Bill"  is predicting 4 or more inch's of snow.

Maumee Bay conditions:  Still some water standing on top of ice within 50-100 yards of shore.  It appears that the water level has been up and down since it froze and causing cracks and holes.  If possible, we will inspect the ice up close this evening - but only if there is no snow on it.