One day post 8 inches of snow on wet ice we have 1 1/2 inches of coarse pebble grain gray snow ice, 1/2 inch or so of water and what was left of foundation black ice reported recently (4+ inches perhaps). I cannot stomp through the top layer even in the warm afternoon sun, it seems skateable and probably sailable with one more cold night (15 last night). Damariscotta and Megunticook likely similar, but Moosehead calls.
Lloyd
Common aggravations with CS include sticky runners, stiff in chocks. They may have been fine after building but now have absorbed a bit of moisture and don’t rotate well creating significant drag. Do something. A “Red Devil” paint scraper good and sharp works well to shave the inside of the chocks. Check that surfaces are flat and keep scraping until runners rotate freely without sideways play. Do most of scraping on outboard chock. Wax chock and runner body heavily. Of course if runner does not have “Formica” sides you can just sand/scrape that wood. While you are at it saw off extra threads on the runner bolts and make it easier to set up.
Often builders leave corners of wood on the fuselage square and sharp. This is going to hurt sooner or later when you fall on it or it falls on you. Round them off, the boat is angular enough without all the corners. One builder noticed that his boat seemed heavier than the prototype, his “2X4” sides are really 2X4 rather than 3 1/2 X 1 3/4 lumber yard size. He could rout away some of the extra wood or even just unscrew whatever screws held it together while the glue dried and saw 1/2 an inch or so off the sides. Another builder wants to amputate some of the rear lunch/tool compartment so it will fit in his van, why not? Where is the sheet going to attach, the back of his helmet? The technical and protest committees do not exist.
The skinny bed rail runners cut through crust and snow noticeably better than 1/4 in. DN plates they work well in slush too. I have a pile of free bed rails for anybody. Long runners seem to slow the boat down tacking and jibing more than the short plans built bed rails, probably due to light weight and inertia of the boat as well as dragging less runner around the turns. The speed advantage of longer runners may not be apparent since we have not taken up serious racing and the CS isn’t very fast anyway. There are design trade-offs.
The nice lady at the Birches front desk says that there is only a dusting of snow in Rockwood, and radar indicates that that precipitation is just about to pass on by. What has fallen on the lake is wet out and bound to freeze overnight. What this means is that Moosehead Lake has dodged yet another bullet and again is the only known sailable ice in New England.
Anybody interested in sailing tomorrow? The Jersey guys will be there, I’ll be there. The roads should be clear by tomorrow, but leave extra time anyway. Sunday might be the better day so an overnight might be the way to go. It certainly takes the edge off such a long trip. Check the forecast, check the web cams, and check in if you plan on going.
Damariscotta Thursday by David Lampton who reports ice plate seems intact. Chicky looks similar except for extensive open water. 1 1/2 inches of wet snow Friday AM wetting out to slush which could solidify with forecast temps in teens for a couple of nights depending on how much snow we get later in day. Hope springs eternal for ice closer than good old Moosehead
The snow falling this morning seems to be covering most of New England, including the great potential of Lake Champlain. But as of nine this morning Moosehead has just a dusting which is wetting out in the standing water from yesterday’s thaw.
This morning at nine also sees Mark Hanscik and Jordan Glaeser headed for Moosehead from New Jersey. They are desperate to get some training time in their A Skeeters ahead of the upcoming ISA (which is supposed to be in the East this year) and there’s a chance they could be rewarded for their optimism. While the forecast for Saturday and Sunday isn’t great, it could be sailable. And if you’ve never seen an A Skeeter, the Formula One of iceboats, here’s your chance.
We’ll know more about the conditions later in the day and will report back here, but I just wanted to give a heads up to the possibility of the weekend at The Birches.
Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club 