Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

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Denis and Frank had a great day behind the Covid Curtain:

Lac St-Francois in Lambton was just amazing today. Under the 1/2 snow cover, we have a grade 9 ice and even grade 10 in some areas. We scouted the ice and found 4-5 inches. Some darker spots in the snow were a bit thinner but nothing to be afraid of. And it was easy to sail around those darker areas. Wind was steady and perfect for the full Whizz rig.

So Frank and I sailed from 10:00 to 16:00. And you know us: no time to talk, let’s go sailing. That was a very smooth ride on such beautiful ice with many long hikes.

Boats are still on the ice. We should have an early wind tomorrow, fading in the early afternoon. After that: warm and rain on Christmas Day, followed by cold temps. It looks good for next week-end!

Meanwhile, here in Camden we had great skate sailing on Hosmer Pond, a small plate probably about the size Frank or Denis would have taken for one long gybe:

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The grey snow ice was incredibly smooth, and just soft enough to have a good bite on the skate. The skimbat is at it’s best in these small tight areas, tacking and gybing continuously. Une pas de duex avec les vent.

And beacuase iceboaters like ice and to build stuff, here’s something to savor:
Stunning ice and snow sculptures emerge at China’s Harbin festival – YouTube

Here’s little beauty on ice to get us through the coming grey, wet, heat wave.

https://finland.fi/life-society/magical-ice-skating-video-from-northern-finland-wows-viewers/

Looks about like the conditions from last year’s worlds in Sweden.

Steve White sent this reconnaissance photo from yesterday:

Black ice is breaking out everywhere after a few days of good solid cold. Chickawaukee has a half inch as does Great Pond, Unity Pond and Messalonski.

The south end of Damariscotta has also flashed. Our web cam at the north end is yet again AWOL. Sadly, it may be all for naught as the temps rise and rain and snow are coming. It will be in the high forties and raining on Christmas Day with no decent cold until after the first. The hottest year on record is showing no signs of cooling its heals at the finish. Wednesday is our only hope if the snow on Plymouth gets wetted out tomorrow.

But Dolby Pond, also known by the wonderful name of Dolby Flow, has four inches of ice as measured today. The northern part is older grey ice and the southern part is all think, hard and black. Sadly for sailors there is minimal wind until the weather moves through, at which point the plate will change. Also, it’s in Millinocket. Not that far, and very skateable. Thanks to Bob Lombardo for the tip.

Lac Ste. Francois in Quebec has also offered up four inches topped with a lovely frosting:

Sadly for us it might as well be Siberia. And sadly for the intrepid Quebecois there is zero wind forecast for at least two days. It’s been a tough year on many fronts, but this on top of it all?

That’s the situation in Maine. We wish all the DN racers at the Central Regionals in Michigan the best of luck and the strongest of winds.