Today reminds me of the time many years ago that Lloyd and Jory drove to Plymouth Pond to check the ice at about this time of year. They’d been watching the weather and had a hunch. What they found was two inches of black ice, very sailable. All they had with them was an ax. No boats, no skates.

Today on Farm Pond, near Howland, we found this lovely little launch leading out to two inches of almost black ice, thanks to Bob Lombardo. Almost black because the plate has been rained on, snowed on rained again and then froze. It’s been through the mill, but the surface was excellent. There was one spot that returned consistent zippers, but at the same thickness as the rest of the plate. Interesting.

The wind came in lightly from the south, perfect for the first day with skate sails. We established top and bottom marks and duked it out until the arms and legs were shot.

Bottom line is that your iceboat and all the gear should be ready to deploy if you get a call at eight PM for a dawn departure to new ice.

Bill and Guy. Couple of wingnuts. youtube.com

Here’s a link to a video shot by Bob.

Forecast looks grim, but don’t give up the search!