It's been clear sailing this winter for the tug-barge Great Lakes Michigan which delivers petroleum products to the dock in Greilickville

As of Wednesday morning, West Grand Traverse Bay remained open for the fifth straight winter, according to the Coast Guard sector office in Sault Ste. Marie that is responsible for maritime search and rescues, marine safety responses, port operations and vessel inspections across the U.S. boundaries of Lake Superior and the northern ends of Lakes Huron and Michigan.

"It’s been generally ice-free," petty officer Jonathan Allier said. "There’s been no more than a skim of ice all winter."

While East Grand Traverse Bay froze over this winter, the last official recorded freeze on West Bay was Feb. 15 to March 29, 2003.

The Coast Guard uses satellite imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as reports from vessels such as Great Lakes Michigan to identify where traffic on the Great Lakes could be impacted. Until last winter, staff from the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce monitored ice on West Grand Traverse Bay by working with officials from the Coast Guard station in Traverse City. Staff member Patricia Hobson watched the water, and declared it frozen after consulting with Coast Guard following a fly-over when ice reached Power Island, located about 6.5 miles north of Traverse City between the Old Mission and Leelanau peninsulas.

"I don’t know where she got them, but Pat had records dating back to the 1800s," chamber receptionist Kathy Cosolino said.

But the bay fly over was stopped due to liability concerns.

"We had no way of verifying whether it was frozen after the Coast Guard said they couldn’t do it anymore," said Laura Oblinger, senior vice-president of the chamber. "We didn’t want to be the spokesman. What if someone went out on the ice … we didn’t want to be liable."

Jerry and Nancy Zachary of Elmwood Township have witnessed many bay freezes from their home on West Grand Traverse Bay since 1960, but few in recent years.

"About every year, you could count on it freezing," said Nancy Zachary, whose home is .6 miles north of Cherry Bend Road on West Bay Shore Drive. "Jerry used to ice fish. But he hasn’t fished in the past four or five years."

This year has been no exception. As of Tuesday evening, TV 7 & 4 meteorologist Greg MacMaster reported that West Bay was frozen about 1½ miles north from Traverse City. The freeze line as observed from a live shot from the television studio on Morgan Hill, west of Traverse City, was still short by some six miles of Power Island, which has been the measure required for the bay to be considered officially "frozen over."

Cool, windless conditions are needed to freeze the bay water. But the combination of still water and cold temperatures have been infrequent this winter.

The water in West Bay may have an opportunity to go from liquid to solid form this weekend. The National Weather Service in Gaylord is calling for a low of 10 degrees Friday night and a high of 16 on Saturday. The mercury is expected to bottom out at 5 degrees on Saturday night before rebounding to the mid-20s on Sunday.

"It will get slushy and then the wind will wash it out again," said Nancy Zachary, whose children spent many a winter day on the ice rink which formed in front of their West Bay home. "It will freeze along the shoreline and the wind will open it up again … I just wait and hope the water’s blue again in the spring."