From now on it’ll be all ice all the time, but this final beach sail of the year on Morse’s Beach in Maine is worth sharing. Access to Morse is very difficult as one end is all private, the other end is a state park, and the backside is all forest with a two mile walking path to the beach. And both ends are bound by rivers.

Sailors are drawn to the sea, but for some, like the intrepid little Sandpiper, just getting the toes wet is close enough.

On a low spring tide just after dawn a couple of sand sailors accessed this remote beach by fording a knee deep salt river, basically the outflow from a large inland marsh.

The Blowkart was carried across easily, but the bigger boat had to be rolled through, finding a few spots of quicksand on the way.

The beach is two miles long. The wind was 10-15 from the east, making for a nice slant both upwind and down.

To get the wind and tide on the same page is easily as challenging as getting the wind and ice conditions to line up. In this case there are only three or four days each month with a tide low enough to create a wide venue.

The Blowkart is great in these conditions, especially off the wind. It’s so light the wheels just skim across the wet sand.
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We got into some very rough, hard courregated sand and the boat with the big wheels slammed and crashed through while the little wheels rolled happily in and out of the gullies.

But for the most part, the beach was as smooth as black ice and the sailing could not have been better. It wasn’t as clean as a place like Loring, though; it took the good part of a day to completely rinse and de-sand the boats.

Speaking of Loring, the dates for the Spring Regatta are May 11-15, Wednesday through Sunday. A more formal announcement will be forthcoming.

We met two new CIBC members at yeaterday’s fall meeting. Big welcome to Randall Fairman and Craig Hackett. Craig lives near Masabesic Lake in New Hampshire, and Randall is just minutes away from Plymouth Pond.
Bothg are looking forward to a great season on the ice!

Linc Davis Cup to be held on the first good ice at Plymouth Pond. Might be short notice. Be ready!