Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Damariscotaa got 5-6 inches on new thin ice following blowout, there are holes. Huge piles of debris ice in launch area.

Lewiston got close to a foot of snow, bye bye Sabattus and Androscoggin.. Six inches snow in Liberty and likely Three Mile pond mentioned earlier and Clary pond.

Chickawauke got only a dusting of snow, now blowing off of 1 inch of punky new ice following recent blow out. Good sized holes present Tuesday afternoon. It is coming off to seasonal lows through Friday, then likely snow over weekend of course. Doubtful we can sail her this week.

Snow was forecast to be heaviest inland to North such as in Pushaw, Unity, Moosehead.

Lloyd

Our ace skater/spy Bob Lombardo, and his trusty fellow-skater Carl, sent in this report from our beloved Pushaw:

As of 3pm 1/11/16 Goulds Landing was locked in and we were able to walk down the bare ramp onto the ice. Ice was at least 5″ of clear ice under 1″ of slush ice as of yesterday [Sunday] and a mix of ice avenues, large areas of dark grey ice and minimal snow cover. Today there was just hard light grey ice as far as the eye could see. That 5″ of clear ice is still there and no snow or water that we could see and well drained off. There will be pressure ridges and drain holes for sure. We will circumnavigate the entire lake tomorrow on skates of course [we are skaters] and hope to see some boat action.

Photos taken today at 3pm from Goulds Landing

Winds are predicted to be stronger in the afternoon, possibly reaching 8 MPH or so. Snow predicted in the evening…..sooo….buddies….
are you ready? The lake is just NW of Bangor, Maine

Lots of warm rain, 2+ inches, and gale wind blew out Chickawaukee, back to start. Damariscotta seems, on Dammycam view from launch area, to have held. Later in week promising. Lloyd

This just in from Denis in Quebec. The lesson here is communication. Had they known, these guys could have had a great day on Sabattus. In this age of amazing communication tools, it still comes down to having people willing to share their plans and the ice.

“Hi Bill
You won’t believe how stupid we can get when we search for ice and wind close to home. First, we drove to Pushaw (Jory talked about a fairly good surface). But it was 3/4″ of packed styrofoam. Then, We took I-95 and went to Unity Pond. Very nice ice, but very light wind. So we decided to head back to Québec because today’s forecast was also poor. We stopped in Skowhegan to see Lake Wesserunsett: 8″ of ice everywhere, but 1″ of packed snow. Then we stopped in Jackman to see Wood Pond. 5″ of ice but better ice, less snow on it. Final Result: 700 km, no sailing!!

In Lambton, Lac St. Francois has 4″. It must have frozen on Monday because it was still open water last week-end (I was here). Amazing how ice built fast. I am confident to sail here next week. We expect rain tomorrow and quick drop of the temps on Monday, and light snow with strong winds until Mid week. The surface should be OK for the end of the week if snow remains light.

Tell your students that it is a crazy sport. Or a superb sport for crazy people. ”

Cheers

Denis

Dave Fortier sent this in:

“Received a call Friday evening at about 1930, Eben and Eric were on the road and on their way north. They had heard about the ice and were in the need of some ice time before traveling to the worlds in a couple of weeks. So, while they were driving north I unloaded the Super DN that I had sailed on Friday, and loaded the DN so that we could all be sailing the same boats. Also had to get all my wet gear out of the car so it could be dry by morning.
The boys arrived sometime after 2300. It was misting and slightly below freezing. Eben helped me move some of the heavy stuff on and off of the roof racks so the my rig would be ready to roll in the morning. We were all tired, so not much talk and hit the sack.
In the morning, we had coffee, and watched the weather report, and the prediction was good enough, we carried on. We went to the local Cafe for our hearty breakfast and more coffee, and then it was off to Sabattus. If I remember correctly there was a few raindrops as we got on interstate, luckily that did not last, and the temperature was hovering at 0C.
Driving in at the launch we saw Henry Capotosto and a buddy there, and more ice fishermen than during the week. There was even a fisherman right in the launch area. As we set up our boats we noticed a bit of wind, it was hard to tell how strong as the launch area was protected from the north wind.
So, we finished setting up, and got out on the lake and the breeze was sufficient to sail at a satisfying clip. We were able to sail up and downwind at iceboat like speed. We were able to sail most of the lake chasing each other around as we did not bring the marks! We had a good time and were happy that the wind cooperated, and the rain held off. Eric and Eben were happy to get a bit of ice time, even though it was less than their drive time!
Sabattus is a nice lake, hard to believe we have not sailed it before. It has a nice launch area, and is of good size. I hope that it will survive the rain. fingers crossed, Dave”