Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

The 1 inch of warm rain and heavy winds at 50+F last night has taken its toll. Chickawaukee lost 2 inches of ice from 6 inches near my beach to 4 inches. Assuming that 2 inches was lost out further where was a scant 4 inches yesterday before rain I did not venture beyond known knee deep water, 2 inches of warm ice (1/2 the strength of cold ice) is not reassuring to this thin ice explorer.

David Lampton reported 7-3 1/2 inches at 7AM on Damariscotta before rain yesterday. We can reasonably assume 2 inches lost there too.

Bryan Hitchock sent a photo from the Dammy launch ramp showing a fish house and pedestrian out in mid lake yesterday. No ice firshermen have been seen out away from shore on Chicky all year, no doubt leery of the large expanse of open water that has been there 1/2 way down the lake all winter through some good cold nights.

In addition to the thinness there must be drain holes and runner catching cracks waiting to heal on both lakes. We need real February weather, a few days of single numbers/teens to have useable ice. The surface looks great, smooth and shiny to granular, mostly down to and well into older foundation black ice. Strips of debris that were below the ice surface yesterday are now sticking up above the surface about am inch.

We had thick fog this AM. By late AM the fog had cleared and as I ventured out on the ice a thin film of white fog developed on the ice surface further out, it spread as I walked and grew up to maybe 20 feet deep, now partially obscuring the further shore and filling the lake. Never a dull moment on the ice.

i was just returning from a 400 mile round-trip to Boston…. and as i closed the back door with relief, the phone was ringing….it was Bill saying that Denis had reported great ice on Moosehead Lake…and the wind prediction was that aggravating 5-10 knots….10 knots and we’d have a blast….5 knots and we’d have uselessly pushed 258 well-known miles of asphalt past our tires…I tried to convince Bill to let me put Icywood on top of his car and save me driving, but he was already up to his neck in group logistics…as Brenda emphatically signaled a “thumbs down” ….and, putting her face close to mine, mouthed “just say no!” ….I bowed out of the trip.

But within minutes, i knew i would come. Denis has posted a seductive video. Curtis, Bunting, and others had committed. My time in Boston, dancing a long dance with a low-risk cancer, had reinforced the shortness of life…..then there’s the shortness of my ability to iceboat…then there’s the especial shortness of this particular season….if the lads had a blast, i would face months of ice-less regret….so i started packing….

arriving at The Birches at 930 the next morning, Denis and Bill were half-setup…..the ice was the best i had ever seen on Moosehead….a slightly pebbled surface, but the thaw and rain had smoothed all the earlier slow-downs…and the wind was giving promise of arrival…I mentioned to Bill that i was there with one and only one desire: to cruise right up to the northern tip of the lake…15 straight NE miles….while Fred Muser, David Godin, Bunting, Bill Grenier, and Curtis were finishing, I cruised down to lovely Kineo, relishing the smoother ice and a wind which, in gusts, brought storm sails to mind.

(Buchholz Photo)

One by one, white sails were espied emerging from the launch, and 4 of us converged on Hardscrabble Strait, slowing carefully to cross its healed pressure ridge….we stopped at the even-more-dramatic cliffs on the east side of Kineo, and then joined by Bill G. and David–all now of one obsessed mind–we headed on the long, long reach to the NE. I knew we were rolling the dice….any breakdown, any loss of wind, would leave us with hours of pushing…

after a few miles, we crossed a tricky pressure ridge, hacking the vertical ice with an axe, and guiding each runner across….then….sailing on…it seemed like the immensity…. the smooth, windy, vast immensity….began to overwhelm our senses….take a hundredth of this plate and plonk it in New England, and it would so eagerly be sailed….after another 7 miles or so…can you grasp that?…we came to an offshore island and examined it’s unusual nests, perhaps loon nests….this may have been Green Island, a coveted trout fishing spot…ever on we sailed, close reaching in the NW wind. Then crossing a second pressure ridge….i now had one finger approaching frostbite…my determination was dwindling….the two coves which form the end of North Bay were clearly visible…did we have to follow this adventure to the very hand-crippling end?….Bill swapped a glove with me and i hoped the numbness would reverse.

Finally, we crossed a third pressure ridge, came close into NE Cove and, aware that our luck could change at any minute, happily turned and headed South. Then disaster struck: 5 boats had re-crossed our first returning pressure ridge and had clustered closely beyond it…I was the last to cross and since our return was a broader reach than before, my sail was slightly drawing as others helped my runners cross the brash…then a puff from a new direction sent the boat accelerating, and i bore off to port, my only option….shouting “watch out” i barely missed the nearest boat, and, unable to run fast enough, the wheel jerked out of my hand. i lunged for the runner plank, gripped it with a death grip, while the boat dragged me ever faster, sliding on my side on the ice. I knew i had to get that wheel, so i struggled to pull closer to the boat, and eventually brought it to a luff….whew!….in this vast space, what if?….

Far to the SW we could see the dramatic shape of Kineo, yet only slowly did the miles bring it nearer….finally, after 30 to 40 miles of sailing, we set our brakes in front of the lodge and ordered welcome drinks and sandwiches…then, a wonderful afternoon romp…a long, dark, tired drive home…and Wednesday finds me hard a-bed with the symptoms of mild concussion…but as i lay here, dizzy, headachy…..every cell of my body happy to be still….staring blankly at the woodwork…i realize that i’m really more stoned than concussed….our community—wonderful and warty–has allowed me to experience something i would not encounter alone…a vastness….a beauty….a sacred space….

Our “Home Ice” has diminished from 6-8 inches last week to 3 1/2-6
inches today. A short ride on the ice bike this AM on already wet ice from the warm SE wind ran into a sheet of water flowing with the maybe 10 mph wind over the surface from the Southern inland sea, never frozen, and now twice as big as last week. We are forecast to have SE wind up to 40 mph and temps around 50 this evening with 1/2 to 1 inch of rain. This could melt off another inch and no real ice building teens or single numbers are in sight for the rest of the week. No report from Damariscotta which usually is similar to Chicky. Dammny cam and Sebago cam seem both out of order.

The whole winter seems out of order. Lloyd

Before caving under the inevitable pressure of winter storms, Moosehead gave us a grand farewell party today to demonstrate her profound gratitude that the iceboaters were paying attention and managed to snag some of the most epic sailing ever over the course of the last few weeks. The forecast for today looked promising late last week: a dash of snow here, some rain there, add some freezing temps and simmer the anticipation of ice scouts excitement. Five to ten was the best wind forecast, with hourly forecasts promising seven max mid day and dying by dusk. But remember the maxim “show up and pray? Today, prayers were answered. Ten to Fifteen with enthusiastic gusts.

And the wind held steady until sundown. Six boats managed a long tour at top speed to the top of North Bay, almost 20 miles from The Birches. From there, we are in awe of the back side of Mt. Kahtadin. Our usual view of this mountain is from the other side from South Twin Lake.

There we only three pressure ridges to cross in our northern trek. To make life easy for us, Moosehead oriented them all in the same direction as the wind so there were none of those pesky downwind crossings.

And speaking of awe, nothing takes the breath away like sailing under the Kineo wall. Looking up at the cliff as you round up, the wall seems to rotate in space. Oddly, the wind was strong right up to the base where one would expect a bit of a lee.

Jory’s in there somewhere, tucked up against the base, looking for the lee to drink his tea.

Back to civilization at The Birches Lodge, we rounded up out front and de-camped to the lounge. Warm food, woodstove, a taste of beer and great service as usual. How will we ever go back to eating a cold sandwich in a cold car? And they even have helmet racks!

The afternoon session had us circumnavigating Farm Island and then drag racing in the broads as the sun went down. Everyone pitched in to break down boats and pack up so that the last trailer pulled off the ice at just about dark. Congratulations to Fred Muser and his first day with his new Nite. Thanks to Bill Bunting, Bill Grenier, Dave Godine, Jory Squibb, Curtis Rindlaub and Denis Guertin for having the gumption to simply show up and pray. Today the prayers were answered.

We’re now back in scouting mode, trying to divine joy from the weather forecast. Stay tuned.

If this all sounds like great fun, don’t forget that there’s a fast red Whizz looking for a new home. Call Frank Able!

Sunday Jan 31; 5 of 6 Cheapies on Megunticook, light air, warm. Fred Wardwell missed photo op, Dean and Robin Parker with their new pair, Bob MacEwan, Ted Silar, and Lloyd Roberts. We sailed gently. Photo courtesy of Robin.

On Monday Lloyd and Bob bashed around in fluky sometimes violent SW wind on mushy ice, temp in 50’s. Lloyd tried slush runners and found no advantage over the usual Cheapskate skinny bed rail runners. Fred showed up and wisely took his Cheapie and Gambit home.