Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Lee and Karin skated all around Hoyt Island and found the east side to be flawless, but the west side, the plate directly north from the pits, had some old pressure ridges and one water filled depression about halfway along the island.

We’ll make an effort to locate and mark these features, but you need to sit up and look out. We had a discussion on Pushaw last weekend about marks and if there was a way to define marks the same way as soft water marks insomuch as each mark displays a certain hazzard or channel location. What does it mean when you see a cone or a flag out on the ice? Do you stay away, leave it to port, starboard? We resolved that one needs to be briefed beforehand and told what the mark indicates. If you see a cone or a flag or a branch sticking up out of a hole and don’t know why it’s there then it’s incumbent upon you to stop, approach it carefully and figure it out. Usually it will become obvious.

Great day shaping up for Great Pond. Don’t worry about that little snow creeping into the forecast…

Lee Spiller is skating and scouting Great Pond as we speak. He sends this:

The ice is 6″+ and grade 10++. They launched from the boat launch, which has a thin covering of hard packed snow, and skated to Hoyt, through the straight, and headed south. There is a pressure ridge from Oak Island to the shore, which they stepped over. There is no evidence of any ridges in the north end.

There is great wind tomorrow, going light Thursday and Friday before scattered showers over the weekend. Tomorrow’s the day: seize it!

Thanks Lee and Karin!

We’ve been hearing about the fabulous ice in New Hampshire. Here’s a video of one of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=Ep4H23VSEDI

As the sun was going down and the last trailer hauled up the ramp, a clutch of DN’s could still be seen in the near bay milking every last puff of the dying breeze, The wind was on again off again most of the day. There were big holes in on the northern run; we’d be hiking one minute and pushing the next. The DN racers set up a scratch race course and managed a few laps every now and then, but where else would you rather be that on a big plate of ice with good friends waiting for wind?

And while we’re waiting why not lay down on the ice looking for interesting angles?

There’s always time to meet new people and try to convince them that this sport makes perfect sense. We didn’t get much dissent from this little sport:

There’s great ice coming in all over the place. The next good day in sight for local ice is Wednesday, with winds around 10. Pemequid Pond looks like a good possibility. The south end will be checked tomorrow morning and we’ll post a final call here if it’s a go.

As the sun was going down and the last trailer hauled up the ramp, a clutch of DN’s could still be seen in the near bay milking every last puff of the dying breeze, The wind was on again off again most of the day. There were big holes in on the northern run; we’d be hiking one minute and pushing the next. The DN racers set up a scratch race course and managed a few laps every now and then, but where else would you rather be that on a big plate of ice with good friends waiting for wind?

And while we’re waiting why not lay down on the ice looking for interesting angles?

There’s always time to meet new people and try to convince them that this sport makes perfect sense. We didn’t get much dissent from this little sport:

There’s great ice coming in all over the place. The next good day in sight for local ice is Wednesday, with winds around 10. Pemequid Pond looks like a good possibility. The south end will be checked tomorrow morning and we’ll post a final call here if it’s a go.

The NEIYA got in six races with fifteen competitors to complete the New England Championships for 2018. Stand by http://www.theneiya.org for final results.

The rest of us continued our exploring and match racing the six miles top to bottom.

This was a fascinating feature of ice crystals, the only thing like it on the entire lake.

Sunday’s forecast is for light winds. Boats are still on the ice, so if you haven’t yet gotten a slice of this lovely lake this might be it. Good wind forecast for the middle of the week and then rain next weekend. Great ice is popping up all over, though. SW Maine and Wentwoth in NH are showing some lovely black ice. Get it while you can!

The south end is indeed a bit rough, especially with fifteen knots and gusting. But once you get past the pressure ridges, passing behind Dollar Island, and get into the north end the grade goes from a low five to a very high eight. The ice is hard hard hard, so be sure to show up with sharp runners. There was a skim of snow in the morning, but as soon as the wind came up it blew off in great clouds.

Because the ice was invisible below the scudding cloud it felt like flying a Sopwith Camel in 1917, scouring the depth of the mist for the lurking Fokker. Above, the quality of the surface in the north end.

DN racing is ON for tomorrow. The NEIYA plans to hole both the New England Championship and the Eastern Championships. The hazzards are serious. Do NOT leave the pit area until you know where the plate is safe. This not just a declaimer. This is about saving your boat.

Beautiful ice features, and not as bad as it looks. Show up and play!