Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Here’s some news from New Hampshire. Ignore that nasty line about spring: just fake news. The real news is that Winnipesaukee is being scouted for the Hard Way. Be ready to roll!

Strong and gusty winds kept many sailors away today, but with temps in the low thirties, full sun and snug rigs on the Whizz, it was wonderful day. Ice is still rough at the north end, nice south of the narrows. The River, again, has the nicest of all. A nice spot out of the wind was found for lunch:

And just to hit all the spots before we loose the ice we made a visit to dear old Deep Cove. It was flukey getting in there with the west wind, but well worth it. Note the ice quality here. The camera got all emotional and fogged up:

Slightly softer winds forecast tomorrow, but if you think about the number of days not sailed due to strong winds, it behooves the hungry sailor to prepare as best he can. Storm sail, storm mast, sharp runners and all pins taped. On rough ice in big winds like we had today one is reminded yet again what a thrashing a well found iceboat can take and come out smiling. Big smiles on the skippers, too.

Jordan Bay access at Raymond Beach. I drove onto the ice with my VW and launched my DN. There was no wind at noon so I pushed my boat out to the smooth ice in hopes of enough wind to get my DN moving. Indeed, when I got to the smooth sheet there was enough wind to make a few tacks and get me out to the middle of the bay. The wind then vanished and I walked the 1.5-2 miles back to the car. It was about 1430 when I got back to the car and I was going to break down the boat and pack up. Just as I got out of my boat the wind started to pick up, so I picked up the bow and pointed it back out, gave a shove and hopped in, I sailed a couple of tacks back and forth across the bay in the launch area, and the wind seemed to be increasing. So I headed out to the bay area that I just walked back from, and I was rewarded with a half dozen upwind downwind full speed runs. Life was good, The wind did hold, and sailed back to the car/launch with a smile. 

About a quarter of a mile from the launch area the ice smoothes some, then 1/2 mile out the ice quite smooth, not glass, but textured. At about 2-2.5 miles out there is a pressure ridge, I did not cross it as I did not need to. I did give it a look, and there were places that were crossable. When I asked ice fishermen the thickness about a mile out it was 12 inches. When I was inspecting the pressure ridge the thickness appeared to be 6-8. I was told that the entire bay was frozen, but I did not get the chance to inspect it. Just wanted to share what I have seen and sailed. It is a good size sheet of ice. I had a few good pictures, unfortunately my skills with WordPress not sufficient Cheers, Dave  

While at a long glance the plate looked good, and a short walk yesterday had us thinking that it will certainly be better further out, the only big improvement from last week was the elimination of the packed snow. The surface is still rough. With plenty of wind it’s no problem, just loud and crashy.
There was a great turn out of boats today, and a few made it deep into the south end down the river nearly to The Mills.

There were open cracks and pressure ridges to navigate, and they won’t be getting any better, so be careful:

A couple of back door passes led us to our launch at Vannah Rd:

The ramp is a bit rotten, but the ice down there sure was nice.

The forecast is nothing but wonderful so until a nicer plate of ice appears we’ll be smashing and bashing around this one.

After the warm rain of the last day and a half the pate has smoothed out considerably, although as those of you who sailed here last week we were starting from a pretty low bar. There are patches of thin shell ice which will be annoying but not a big deal. We don’t know if they become less further out. It’s so thin that as we were watching a gust of wind got hold of a bit and sent it flying away.

The ice down the river might be a bit better; it always is on the other side of the narrows/pressure ridge/fence:

Access to this very special part of the lake is unknown at this point. There are significant hazzards to navigate.

Launch at Lake Farm. We’ve chopped down the heaves on the beach and marked the pass.

One may be able to drive down, but trailers can certainly be backed down, unhitched and rolled onto the ice. We might be here for a while so it makes sense to move right in! Be sure to leave room for others.