NOAA forecast from today:
.SUNDAY...RAIN AND SNOW. HIGHS IN THE MID 30S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 90 PERCENT.
Isn’t that great? Can’t you just feel the snow withering away, turning grey, making ice for another day!
snow falling fast here in Midcoast Maine….2 inches in the last hour….snow on snow….piles of it, halfway up the windows….and frustration: how long will it take to ever resurface this fluff?….and will we have that end-of-season scenario where we never have enough ice thickness before the snow insulation comes, and our long-awaited Spring season ends abruptly and early?…
and amid these depressing thoughts, I call Bob Dill over in Vermont…..He’s been skating for 3 days straight on a beautiful plate which was open water a week ago, and is now excellent skating. The launch is handy for skaters, not iceboaters, near Shelburne Farms. Today, there’s now an inch of new snow, but ….knowing this particular plate, though slightly covered, he’s off with experienced buddies to skate again…
This is the way life should be…..careful, mindful, professional you might say… out there in nature….marvelling at the endless kinds of ice…the artistic magic show….not grumbling here in the backwaters, wondering if the snowblower will start or be able to throw high enough…
Three cheers, Bob….may we die with skates on!
The photos of a flock of DN’s rounding the mark fully wound up are beautiful and dramatic, but many a good sailor is a bit intimidated by the idea. In trying to get the Whizz gang lined up to race I’ve suggested that it’s really just a group of boats sailing to the same place. It’s not often that crazy with the small groups we normally sail with. This video of last weekend’s Wisconsin Sternsteerers Association regatta illustrates the point.Ride with Joe Terry and see if you might get just a little bit excited: WSSA 2015 Race 4 – YouTube It’s a bit long, but we have an even longer wait to get back to ice here in the Northeast so get comfortable and enjoy!
Two feet of ice, 0 to 6 inches of snow on slightly frozen slush. If this is rained on without a good meltdown or completely saturates it will be a grade minus five. Some thought we might be sailing soon, sorry. The drift in Right lower corner is about 6 inches high on the far sharp edge with a perpendicular face.
Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club 