Michigan River Sailing At It's Best

Sunday 11/13/2011, Marysville, Michigan, St Clair River

River sailing at it's best in Michigan.
When I arrived on site at 10:00, Chris was on the water ripping and looking good with his 4.7.
With a warm south wind blowing directly up the river and the river current heading into the wind the resulting swell is a rarity that is available only once or twice a year for me.
I decided to rig my 4.5 with the 84 JP, got on the water and had a decent session with overpowering gusts now and then. After about an hour the wind gusts notched up a tad so I came in and rigged the 4.0 it worked decently for about an hour when the wind dropped off considerably. I came in and rigged the 5.0 and back on the water in 10 minutes with the best non-stop session of the day the rangier 5.0 handled the lulls so much better than the smaller 4.0. Sailed the 5.0 until the wind notched up so got back on the rigged 4.0 and gave one more tired try but with gusty conditions I decided to call it a day.
Sailors were doing the rigging dance with a lot of variable conditions, sail sizes ranged from Jeanne’s 3.5 to Jerry's 7.0.
Another fantastic late fall session with 60 degrees air temperature and water temperature at least 50 degrees, very comfortable conditions for this time of year.


MB's "Riding the River" some of the Marysville action.



Session: 11:00 – 4:00
Gear: 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 Ezzys, 84 liter JP.
Conditions: River sailing in Michigan South winds right up the river with decent swells.
Weather: Air in the lower 60s mostly light overcast, water 50 degrees.
Wind: South up to 35 mph.
Schooled: Playing in swell and jibing on perfectly flat water on each side of the river.
Image: A happy camper, St Clair AP data, Freighter heading up.