The deep cold snap has allowed us to leap frog over dear old Plymouth and move directly to Pushaw. Plymouth is a mess anyway, as shown by Ryan Haskell’s photo from today:

There’s 3.5” at the ramp but the surface is uninspiring to say the least. These are the days of new black ice, not the crud we accept to sail on after a long dry spell in February.

Today at Cooks Landing, Pushaw, there was 1.5” of black ice as far as the eye could see. Granted, the eyes were cold and tired and didn’t scout extensively but that’s enough to get our attention. There will be cleats on the ice tomorrow for a more detailed report. The weather looks great for many days, so keep your fingers crossed, runners sharp and gas tanks filled.

If this shapes up to be as amazing as last year’s early season Pushaw we will have no regrets in not going to the Western Challenge, where they are sailing in snow:

Nonetheless, best of luck to Jeff and Paul, and all the sailors there.

By the way, there were two correct responses to the “where’s the photo” quiz: Eddie Velonish and Ramblin Roger. Hopefully, the next few days will put us just where that photo was snapped!