Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Lighter wind then yesterday brought out still more boats. Lighter means 10-15 instead of the 15-25 from yesterday. There were boats up the lake, down the lake, in the narrows and on the race course. We held the Linc Davis Regatta and got in five races. Results will be posted soon.

The mighty Ray Ruge Hagarty made her debut on big ice, feeling a bit constricted on Meguntcook. We had a chance to really open her up and if you’ve ever imagined what it would be like to drive a locomotive, well, it was like that. Pure power, smooth and deep.

The pits were abuzz with activity all day. Many folks had their first ride in an iceboat and there was plenty of talk of building & buying boats. We can only hope some of the talk leads to action.

Mike Acebo sent these pix from a trip down the arm, which some folks wonder why it’s not called the leg, but such is the way with place names.

As not everyone is rushing back to work tomorrow, there are still boats on the ice with skippers planning on sailing. The plate is beginning to work. A crack has opened up toward the south end of the North Broads. There were a row of flags there today, but the crack will keep doing something all night. The bottom of the narrows is getting tricky as well. And a crack was forming about a third of the way down the South Broads. All these hazzards are easily negotiated if you keep your goggles clean and eyes open.

The quality of the ice in the South Broads continues to prove the old ax that the ice is always better on the other side of the narrows/pressure ridge/whathaveyou. Good chance of snow on Wednesday, with little hope of recovery. If this is it, it has indeed been the best and longest run of excellent conditions on Damariscotta Lake in recent iceboating history. We were blessed to be a part of it, and not stuck in a departure lounge somewhere being indefinitely detained by a demented dictator.

What’s left to say? Steve Lamb figured it out: he believes this lake is magic. No drain holes, no new hazzards, the pressure ridge healed and almost impossible to see, ramp clear, ice 10″ thick. Combine that with full sun and nearly thirty of happy iceboaters, add about 15-20kts of wind and boil until fried. The light dusting of snow was a bit of a reality check this morning, but the indomitable spirit of the hardwater sailor didn’t miss a beat: there was no grumbling in the pits and in gratitude for such a good attitude, the snow was blown clear by mid-day.
There was a moment n the morning when I found myself in a great drift of blowing snow, sailing downwind with it at windspeed, seemingly getting born along on a magic carpet of white with no ice in site.
Long distance travel award goes to Paul Zucco and George Nyson from CT, and Mike, Rick and Doug from Long Island.
Thanks to Jim Gagnon for the nifty new flags which now mark the lead at the south end of the narrows (leave to the right going down) and two at the entrance to the Arm (first one leave to the left, second one to the right going down. Great fun doing it at speed)

Tip of the helmet to Guy Pollyblank and Pat Furr for getting their boats dialed in and sailing them very well, Guy with Dickie’s old Defroster and Pat with Whizz #5, Gee Whizz. And one more tip to James Lamb’s partner Jill for embracing the sport, and all that it involves:

Linc Davis Regatta to be held tomorrow. All DN’s welcome! Come early, don’t miss it.

The ice was robust enough according to our scout on the ice today, Bill Buchholz. The race is on for Saturday with Sunday reserved for more racing if we choose or if too windy to race on Saturday. The wind and weather is predicted to be FINE, so pack up you DNers and let’s meet on the ice for some good competition!

Thinking Ice, Dave

The lake is as good as it looks. It was skate sailed on Nordic skates early this afternoon and the ice was firm. This, in spite of the 38 degree temps. No drain holes were found in the area from the pits, out to the buoys at Second Island, and about a third of the way across. No cracks, and the crud around the fishing camps is just a small bump. This plate is amazing, an easy grade 8.5-9.

Of course, this was a random sampling. The rest of the lake will need to be scouted again and troubles marked. Tomorrow should be a fine day for that. The parking lot is icy; could some one bring some sand? I’m leery of calling the snow plow sander because of the wash down into the pits that happened last time. The Clubhouse will be off limits tomorrow, but available for us on Sunday and the rest of the week. The forecast is nothing but beautiful as far as thy eye can see.

Frank and Denis made this fabulous video from our Whizz Regatta a couple of weeks ago. There is a nice sequence of half the fleet scouting the course and marking hazzards. The other half of the fleet arrived late and didn’t have time to do this. It would be a good policy to suggest to all the participants in a long distance race that they run the course first to get familiar with the geography, wind patterns and hazzards. It’s also fun: the more sailing the better!

The weekend is looking like a good bet again on Damariscotta. Watch your weather and the web cam.