A good iceboat racer will attempt to learn something from every race. A touring iceboater should do the same, especially with predicting conditions. Today we learned that even after a fifty degree day with a soft rain falling on spring ice the surface can come through hard with a mere few hours below freezing. The strong March sun didn’t make a dent in the ice all day, except in the pit area. And we had written off today as a bust, best for a quick scout and home for lunch.

But the entire lake, top to bottom, miles and miles of fabulous ice was just superb. Perhaps a 6.5-7. We did the whole plate twice, just to be sure. Both of the south-east arms are good, as is around the little islands at the top of Hoyt just to the east. The straight at the bottom of Hoyt is still open and cannot be crossed. The big crack across the east broads is still there, and wider, but by the dawn’s early light we could see that our flags were still there:

They were knocked down and froze in but did not leave their post! We raised them back up and the crack can be crossed close to the flags on either side. This could change overnight so don’t go blasting across without looking first.

Which brings us to the next two days, traveling and the virus. There are no hotels or restaurants in the area. Traveling is not advised at this time, and indeed, some of you reading this might be in a lock down situation already. For locals to come for a day sail for Sunday and/or Monday, please make your own call. The Irving convenience store a few miles before the launch is open.