See it and weep, for by this time tomorrow it will all be gone.

This is Lake Champlain on the Plattsburgh side, from Andy Sajor: https://www.dropbox.com/s/egwtjpyqki0l46r/VID_20210131_150431136.mp4?dl=0

Lee and Randy skated in no wind yesterday from Leavetts Beach at Winnipesaukee:

Plattsburgh is at the west end of the system, and it’s known for not getting snowed on so if it survives we’re headed west.

And just to help get through the week, here’s Harken’s newsletter. This is issue is all about iceboats. Great Stuff! https://spark.adobe.com/page/4pzqWkIKAzM6X/

It appears that all the ice we’ve been watching in Maine, and probably NH, is now covered with varying thicknesses of snow. Some wet, some dry. Most of the ice is now too thick to be submerged by these few inches so It’s a matter of waiting for other kinds of recovery.We had a great three days on Great Pond, two of which were cold. Sub zero wind chill is only fun if you’re sailing in it, and now here comes word that it may actually be good for you. We know it works wonders on mental health!
This is about the benefits of immersion in water, but maybe really cold air whizzing by your body at 50mph is just as good.

As careful readers of these posts will know, high school freshman Milo Fleming has convinced his school authorities to accept iceboating as a sanctioned sport. With that in mind, school was ON today at Great Pond.
The morning session was Cruising Class. Such skills as pressure ridge scouting and crossing, racing around islands and finding an appropriate spot for lunch were covered. We also were sure to include exploring abandoned buildings along shore:

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Don’t let this patch of snow fool you, the rest of the plate looks about like this:

Afternoon session was all racing. The DN guys took him on to the course for training in starts, mark rounding, and standing around. They didn’t get into the driving a thousand miles to a regatta section yet as he doesn’t have a drivers license, but that’s on the cirricullum! All very important DN racing skills.

Light air for a day or two. Lick your wounds, stone your runners and come out sailing!

Today was big wind on big ice: big speeds. Monster gusts in the morning cleared to pits of all but the bored and stupid, who hung around getting blown around and froze to the bone. But there’s something about full sun even with temps in the teens that temps those with the greed for speed.
During a luff we convinced ourselves that maybe it wasn’t so bad after all and if we just rigged up and poked our bows out we could always come back in. Besides, having the pits downwind from most of the lake means that sailing wreckage home would be easy.
The snow had been blowing off all night, but that which remained was compacting into drifts. Dry drifts, but still a bit of a brake when you hit the big ones. Our bows poked further and further until they were well north of Hoyt. A massive peel off catapulted us down the east side on some lovely ice at free-fall speed.
Two DN’s and a pair of Whizz cooked the lake until late afternoon, thankfully before boats or men failed.

Tomorrow will be tamer winds.Our Warner St. Clair award winner Milo Fleming will be there with his new Chad Atkins supplied DN. Chad will be there too, so some race training and mark rounding will be the activity of the day. Milo has managed to convince his school principal to accept iceboating as an official school sport, so now he can blow off a Monday and come practice. Sure beats bouncing a ball around a sweaty gym!

Any DN sailors are welcome to show up and run laps!

New England is back on the ice. Between Maine and New Hampshire we probably had forty boats sailing yesterday. Everyone’s been hungry, so to have a three day stretch of good conditions over a weekend is delightful.

Today is just as cold and windy as yesterday, so the longer this note can be drawn out the better. It’s nice here by the fire, but down to the ice we must go. Tomorrow looks tamer, and then the wind really drops Tuesday.