Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Most iceboating videos are exciting, fast and noisy. After all, that’s what we come for. But what we don’t always see is the rest of the story. Here’s the story of what has become known as the Moosehead Death March, with all due respect to the boys at Bataan, of course.

No Place Like The Pit Moosehead Lake 4•7• 25 youtu.be

Now, if successful expeditions on Moosehead were routine, they wouldn’t be so special. A lot can happen out there on a big remote lake and so far we have been very careful with how we approach it. But if we didn’t push a little we wouldn’t have had all those great days. Moosehead is our crown jewel and every year, no matter how bleak the season, we live by the mantra: “there is always Moosehead”. Take it seriously, but take it when you can and when the conditions allow.

Hope to see you all at the meeting on Sunday!

Sorry for the short notice, but this Sunday April 13 we’ll have our pot luck lunch and business meeting on the big deck at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro. If you haven’t been here before, just find the camp and keep coming in as far as you can and park. Can’t miss it.

The meeting will begin at 11:00 followed by what has become an excellent feast. The forecast looks perfect, so we’ll be able to meet and eat outside.

Here’s one photo for the road, the guys becalmed on Moosehead yesterday. Conditions deteriorated considerably as the sun came out and the wind died. With that in mind:

Aretha Franklin "Nessun Dorma" LIVE 1998 youtube.com

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The boys at Moosehead got a little greedy today. Light wind forecast kept all the sensible sailors away, if such a person actually exists in our world. One more run to Kineo seemed a goal too good to pass up but by the time they were about seven miles up the lake the wind died and the ice went soft. Who among us has not hitched the sheet around your waist and made the long walk home? And what better place to be on a fine spring day than out in the middle of such a grand lake, the only sound your boots digging into the slush.

And speaking of silly sailors, here’s a note from one to another dated 1960 proposing a downwind sailing experiment.

Sounds like fun to me. How about chasing that ballon all the way from Kineo the Greenville? Oh, right. That requires wind.

The ice there is still thick and tight to the shore. Snow is coming tonight without a hopeful recovery any time soon. But if there is a lesson we can all learn from Moosehead Boys is that it can never hurt to try.

Stand by for Spring Meeting. We’re looking at either this coming Sunday or Sunday April 27. Waiting for confirmation from Kieve.

In spite of some snow patches and a lousy forecast, the eternally optimistic dynamic duo drove all the way from New York state last night to set up boats at Greenville. To power the day, they first had a heaping helping of the fabulous corned beef hash at The Dockside.

With a moderate SE wind ahead of some incoming weather they ran all the way to Kineo. Most of the pressure ridges have settled down and some have completely healed.

The bay at Greenville had scattered drifts and some areas with lots of snow, like this:

While other sections were clearer the further north you go:

There was a clear lane about the width of Loring’s big runway that runs south from Kineo for a few miles. Loring tactics came into play as the two boats short tacked their way back south in the narrow lead.

We all know the old iceboater’s addage that you won’t get to sail if you don’t show up. Today is an extreme example, but with extreme odds come big payoffs. Congratulations to Paul and Jeff for showing us all just how it’s done!
They are standing by to see what this weather will do to the surface and will check in as soon as it passes. The forecast is not promising, but, hey, it didn’t look good for today.

BRAVO!

This boat was built in the early thirties in North Andover, Mass. by Steven Forbes Rockwell. It’s from that point in time when iceboats were evolving from the solid wood backbone to the fuselage style, but had yet to become Skeeters.

Fuselage is 20′ x 3’. Two old guys can carry it. Can easily carry four or five kids.

Cockpit floors are removable and are covered is some early version of rubber over the webbing. This makes it simple to set up the boat on the ice for the season and store the floors inside.

Mast is 20’, boom is wood spiraly wrapped in something, not fiberglass.

Rigging needs work. Terminals are pour sockets but a fresh bar of lead is included.

Plank is 12’ and appears to be sound.

Cotton sail is stored in a period correct barrel. It’s a cat rig; no jib. Again, part of that evolution away from the classic iceboat.

The masthead.

A thick folder documenting the build and other history is included.

Contact Bill: 207-975-6980.