Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Since the last post went out the wind has been working hard on clearing our plate. It’s had some great success, as you can see:

The scouring will continue all night and tomorrow. Winds forecast to be less than today, which ain’t saying much. There are some patches of hard un-wetout snow but we’ve seen them before and they don’t appear to present a problem. Looks like there will be good conditions all weekend. Cold and windy for sure, but isn’t that what we do?

Ice is tight to the shore. Trailers can be rolled on, but don’t drive on. Be sure to keep your rear tires off the ice. They will go through. Also, please be sure to park only on the lake side of the road. Last time the natives got restless when we nearly blocked the road.

Here’s the situation at Vannah Rd.:

Not as nice as yesterday’s shot, but it might be with a try.

Cold and windy will keep the snow dry and the rooster tails high. There will probably be a few folks there tomorrow.

All of New England seems to have been hammered by the storm yesterday. We were thinking that our next bet would be Sebago freezing in this coming cold snap. It very well might, but meanwhile back at Vannah Road:

Bryce sent this around lunch time today. It certainly looks possibly sailable, but then a late afternoon snow squall blew through the area and we don’t know how much fell here. A scouting party has been dispatched for tomorrow AM to ascertain the damage. ‘Tis the season of shades of grey. Stand by.

The wind forecast was wrong again, and agin, in our favor. As we packed up in the fading light the wind was still coming right down the lake as if to tell his that this will be it for a while and to keep sailing. But between the wind, sun and the fun were somewhat cooked. A small group made it up to the north end and found it to still be lousy ice. Not recommended.

The entire plate looked about like this, tempered by yesterdays warm temps. Along with the super dry air and razor sharp light it made for an extraordinary day.

As usual, weather coming, lick your wounds and be ready for the next round. What an amazing season so far…

The moat was thick enough to walk across early this morning, so if it’s thick enough for a couple a guys a trailer should be fine, right? Apparently not. Not only did the trailer drop through, creating two large holes, but the water began to well up and within the hour had soaked the entire marge.

Nonetheless, we turned to carrying boats over the bank. The sun was shining, the temps were low thirties and the beginnings of a breeze was tickling the trees. Jeff gets the prize for setting up his boat on the road side of the moat and then hauling her through the water to the other side, runners riding nicely on the submerged ice.

There were a few more boats that didn’t make the line up; probably about fifteen in all. The SE wind reversed the sailing directions for the lake, which is always fun. The ice is about like what you see here all over the south end, eight inches reported by a nearby fisherman. No drain holes or new pressure ridges. About how we left it last week.

One of the hight points of the day was the launch and maiden voyage of Mini Skeeter #103, skippered with gusto and aplomb by Katie Cousins. The wind was measured at a steady 15 with gusts into the low 20’s. She took her out and brought her back all in one piece. Well, actually two pieces: one of the sheet blocks abandoned ship when its shackle threw the pin.

Thanks to Rob Dmitriof for donating the sail.

Boats are on the ice, planning to sail for a couple of more days. We didn’t manage to organize an expedition to the north end; the pressure ridge will need some work to get over this time. Snow forecast for Tuesday night might put an end to this round but until then it looks like smooth sailing.