Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Jacques Charbonneau reports that Memphramagog is looking very good. Launch from the boat club at Magog and watch out for the ice fishermen.

Ramblin Roger and Paul have finally left Moosehead due to poor surface recovery after the snow/warm spell. They arrived at South Twin after dark, and by flashlight determined that most of the snow had blown clear. The ice under was dry, so no snow was left stuck in puddles to form slush pits. You might want to consider, however, that there is virtually no light pollution in that part of the Maine woods, so all we know is what can be seen by the beam of a flashlight. That said, they will rig in the morning and see what’s what. We’ll post their observations here. Sunday could be a stellar day there, with moderating wind and full sun.

Damariscotta Lake was smooth today, with some potential shell ice. There were still a few inches of slush left to freeze but that will happen by the morning, and certainly for Saturday. There’s not much wind forecast for tomorrow anyway. Saturday will be a full lake breeze.

We’ll inspect Dammy in the morning, and post Roger’s report when it comes in.

1200 THURSDAY
Lincoln Davis Trophy (enlarged)

Still not able to include photo):

This is a preliminary announcement for the 2017 Maine State Championships. Preliminary for your planning purposes, and preliminary for weather and ice location reasons.

It’s looking good for the weekend: cold temps and mostly clear skies, and great wind. We’re watching Damariscotta, Moosehead and South Twin. Dammy has a 50% chance of 1-3″ of snow on Friday afternoon. Moosehead will have no snow, but cold like last weekend. South Twin is a bit warmer, and all five lakes in the system are in good shape, smooth, with 22″ of ice according to Rick at Five Lakes Lodge. He says there’s nothing to prevent us from sailing to the Boom House. The lodge is empty Friday and Saturday, but full on Sunday and Monday.

Damariscotta is closer for the out of staters; we’ll check it Friday before the snow in the off chance it misses it. The rain today might have improved the surface. But if there’s snow there, then South Twin might be our best shot. A trip to the Boom House in the shadow of Mt. Khatadin is something very special.

Spring Ice!

I drove to Moosehead lake on Saturday afternoon. When I arrived at the Birches around 1500 and drove onto the ice to unload my Super DN it was very windy and cold. I knew it was gusty, as on the drive there the wind severely altered my course several times! There were some sailors raising their smallest sails. When they went out, I believe it was less than 10 minutes before they returned. As I was basically in street clothes I unloaded hull, plank, and mast onto the ice as quickly as possible, and if I remember correctly all sailors were back.

I had called before setting out and knew I had a bunk in one of the cabins. When I got up there, the cabin was nice an warm. It was not too long and we were all there, wood stove cranking and I believe it was Bill and Jim reserving a table at the restaurant. Kalla was serving nuts and I think cheese and other goodies, while I capitalized on Jim’s generously shared rum that he had the wisdom to bring along.

I think around 1900 we went to the Birches restaurant. About a dozen hungry ice boaters sat at the long table, and there was no shortage of conversational topic. The choice of food was good, wine was available, and we were all eager to eat and talk, and we did. When we got back to the cabin, stoked the stove, brushed teeth etc. it was not long at all and we were in bed and it was lights out.

The wind whistled all night and the fully stoked stove needed to be loaded again at 0600 so that is when I got up. It was not too long before we were all up with coffee and breakfast stuff. We all noted that the trees were still moving profusely. After plenty of coffee we all donned warm layers and ventured out to the ice.

When we arrived in the pit area the wind was strong and we hoped a bit less gusty. I had to assemble my boat still, and set it up in high wind trim. I had remembered to pack my storm sail this time and was happy that I did. All the others were raising their smallest sails as well, and as we were setting up we were noticing that gusts were happening. It was a bit warmer than Saturday, but it was definitely not spring sailing!

The Century Race was postponed due to the strong gusty winds and the still very cold temps.  It was cold and stupid windy, but of course I was just stupid enough to go out and sail my super DN beyond design specifications. Bill and I set out and sailed upwind a couple of miles. I sailed a bit further up than Bill because when I started falling off the wind to head down Bill was long gone.  After going upwind way fast, I started the two mile gusty downwind. As I was at warp speed already I steered a bit higher so that I was on course to the pit area. I was broad reaching now and speed increased accordingly. The 1/4 inch inserts with 18-20 inch profile were doing their thing, but I was (educated guess) hitting 75 knots. In the reach zone hit by a gust, runners slipped a bit, then caught, plank attachment failed. High speed crash with no serious injury other than my well bruised pride. I was however slow to get up, and it was not long before fellow iceboaters arrived to help pick up the pieces. After assistance from fellow crazies, sail and boom in cockpit mast lashed diagonal across plank and springboard, I started toward the pits again. Wind so strong I was able to sail a broad reach direction using my back and arms as a sail, about a mile!

It was the Super DN that I damaged so if life is good, and we get just the right amount of rain, Damariscotta will be good to go for the Maine State Championships this weekend. My DN will be my boat of choice, and hopefully will be yours as well. See You on the ice, Dave Fortier

By the way, here is the enlarged Lincoln Davis trophy that I was unable to attach last time it now has plenty of room for the names of future winners!

Well once again I was unable to get that damned photo into the message, I’ll keep trying!

Skater Bob Lombardo called it “the smoothest ice in the state”, so I joined Lloyd, Fred, and John Eastman to take him at his word. I studied the Gazeteer, found a nifty short-cut on back roads, and added stress and time to a straightforward journey. We pulled up to the ice edge at Jensen Beach, and joined the excitement of arriving skaters:

(all photos Bob Lombardo)
That’s skater Karen seeing inviting ice for the first time in weeks. Lloyd and Jory are arguing over the day’s assignment: He’s to watch out for Fred at 94. I’m to watch out for him at 83. We’re all to watch out for John, who is still hoping for heirs later in life.
Though the sun promised the intensity of March, the wind was punishing. Gusting into the 20’s. Northwest. You know the story. So John began with a first reef in his Gambit’s sail, which soon became two reefs.   Amazing! A reef-able sail.   Getting itchy,  I headed South onto ice which soon became blissfully quiet. We had decided to find, and mark, the one open hole in the north section of the lake. I soon found it, about 2 X 8 feet in size, and relaxing beside it, luffing strongly, watched the two specks of Lloyd’s and John’s sails back at the launch for any signs of movement.

“Why mark this damn hole! You’d have to be blind to sail into it. Can I ever transition into the doddering pace of the JV iceboating team?” Impatience—my center-stage  character flaw–was acting up. When the others joins me, we triangulated the hole’s position, and headed back to the launch to help Fred set up his Cheapskate. He then elected to join us on an all-lake exploration.

Then, at the boulders, we were joined by our estatic skaters, their group of three now expanded by Eddie Zelonish and friends. To avoid the tedious upwind return, they had planted a car at the far south end. Everyone, at this point, was totally ‘ice stoned’. If you every hear me gush, “this is absolutely as good as it gets” ….please….amputate at the neck! But in fairness to my limited vocabulary, when and if spring ice ever turns black-ice smooth—and even better if not consistently smooth—mere words will surely fail.

We sunned on one of the many boulders and then headed south into the narrows. This 1 mile strait was wind-polished in smoothness and involved a pressure ridge and a watery lead in from the west. Then the lake widened again, the hazards multiplied, and the ice slightly roughened. Finally, we spotted the islands which signal the Southeastern terminus and saw a lake-wide ‘sunken’ pressure ridge which blocks the last mile. I paralleled this ridge, looking left for a gap, and then looked ahead just in time to see my bow runner narrowly miss a hole. It was like that instant when the mouse savors the tasty cheese, just as the wire is heading for his/her neck. Instantly the boat was stationary, canted on its side; as I sat in deep despair in the cockpit: My lovely- my perfect—new boat, ruined by an unfair fate.

Please note how tiny that hole is. Truly, anyone could miss  it.  Notice the light green color of a ‘sunken’ pressure ridge.   This water is only a foot or so deep.   Fred has  purposely capsized his Cheapskate which, given the large sail, is necessary in high winds. Well, here’s where buddies count. Bent screws were straightened. Lloyd’s duct tape was liberally applied. Whisker shrouds were added to the plank, and we all began the long beat home, myself being especially careful. Lloyd won a $5 bet on my untroubled arrival.

De-rigged, back on the road home, I was again seduced by shortcuts. More car-battering lostness. Brenda calls me, “the smartest slow-learner she’s ever met”. Monday may be the last sail of this cold snap, but alas I’ll be in the garage, repairing. Pondering.