Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Denis Guertin reports that behind the Covid Curtain two of our favorite early season lakes will be sailable any day now.

The larger of the two, Abenakis, above,is a bit of a mess, but just down the road and a bit higher is Lac Joli:

Denis says:

“What a better way to wish you Happy Thanksgiving than sending you pictures of frozen lakes.
Abenakis seems not safe. Cannot access it from the shore, and visible hazards from the shore.
Joli seems quite solid. I walked on it, and hit the surface with a hammer (drill battery was too low!!) , and it was very solid.
Unfortunately, there are very mild temps coming up, but I am confident that Joli will survive very well. At least, it will wet out the snow and resurface the ice. Maybe sailing late next week??

It seems that YOU may be the first ones to be sad about the closed border !! But make no mistakes: I am very sad also !!”

The autumnal tease begins. Ice has come and gone in shady corners of local lakes. The rain barrel has had up to an inch of black ice and each morning on the way past I’d give it a whack just to see it crack. So in spite of the nice Indian summer we’re heading in the right direction. Be thankful for that! The warm weather has been a guilty pleasure for long enough.

Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Ice Thinking!

Here’s a lightweight, DN powered, fast and comfortable Pocket Skeeter. Fuselage and springboard 75#. Glass/carbon mast, 1DL full power sail. Flat bottom makes for easy car topping.

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Harken blocks, tapered sheet, cam cleat, foot steering.

Lumbar supported recumbent seating, trunk behind for lunch, spares and throw rope.

Sarns 30″ black beauty plates sharpened and aligned, Hamel super chocks. Includes dolly and cockpit cover. Plank tuned for 150-170# skipper, can be made stiffer if desired. In Maine, $3500.00. Contact Bill: 207-975-6980

Thanks to the great efforts of CIBC Tech Guru Ryan Haskell and the generosity of Camp Wavus we now have an awesome view of Damariscotta Lake. Watch it freeze!

Go to the web site and find it under the web cam header.

This is a tough time of the year for iceboaters, so it might be adding insult to injury posting this video by Denis Geurtin from 2016. But what it actually does is to remind us of the splendor of our sport, and that every season has its highs and lows. And with this warm start to winter its a good shot of faith in the arm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzTff3mBJs

Enjoy!