On a tip from a skater we checked Auburn Lake and Marancook, in Winthrop. Marancook is the more interesting lake in a north wind: a long beat up and joy ride back down. The launch area is horrible, but a boat will move through it.

Right at the horizon is this kind of surface:

Ice is hard and 7” thick. Most of the snow does not hide a slush pit. There is about three miles of good ice before hitting snow near the north end.

At Auburn the plate is much better. Same thickness and hardness, almost no snow, just the bands that are seen below:

There is a crossable pressure ridge separating the north and south halves:

There is enough real estate for a good course on the other side of the ridge (of course) or maybe enough for a short course on the near side. You can plot this ridge on the map by locating the pumphouse at the boat launch ramp at one end and a point at the other, running SE-NW roughly.

The downside is the parking. There is room for maybe six cars, and then a few more down the street a bit and maybe a few on a side street. Carry on or RoRo only, no trailer access.

Looks like Saturday could be the start of something big. Great wind and sun stretch out into the next week. Thus-Fri no wind and chance of light precipitation. Nothing to worry about, really. Looks like we could sail here until we got bored and then go give Marancook a shot. Neither of these lakes, to our knowledge, have been sailed in recent history.

First one to find the leaf on Marancook wins. This was not staged!