Do you see the iceboat? Yea, it’s just like that. And with today’s wind the photographer could have jumped back into his boat, hauled the sheet, and fell in with the distant spec in less than a minute. It was that kind of day. Go anywhere you want as fast as you felt like. And all of us felt like going just as fast and as far as we could. The plate has areas of thin bonded snow defined by wide lanes of excellent ice. With the 10-15kt breeze today one could sail through the snowy spots, but with all the available ice it was much more fun to tour the avenues.
Once across the pressure ridge just off Nason’s Beach, the next north-south ridge is about half way to Frye Island, making gradually off the the east before levelling out at the Dingly Islands. Just south of Nason’s in an east-west ridge with poorer ice to the south of it.
Seven people showed up: Don Stern is back after a sabbatical, Dennis Glidden, Curtis Rindlaub, Dave Fortier, Lee Spiller and Karin. Dave has plans to host a regatta here this coming weekend, so stand by for updates.
Attemping a line-up during a light-air down wind tour between the E-W ridge and a field of snow. Oddly for the NW wind, it started out light, 5-8, and built as the day went on. On the drive home flags were sharp all at attention.
Dave wants to send lots of love to whomever it is that designed the Super DN. The Orange boat was feeling his oats today and actually caused Whizzard to break a sweat more than once…
Lee Spiller and Dave Fortier sailed Sebago from Nasons Beach today and came back glowing, crowing about grade 7 ice as far as they could see. They sailed nearly all the way across to Frye Island, but came back as the wind was feeling unreliable. Tomorrow calls for 10kt NW, sunny, high of 20. Curtis Rindlaub and I will join them there at around 10:00.
Nasons Beach is on the west side, about 2/3 of the way up the lake. Drive on access.
The DN worlds are starting about now in Estonia; good luck to T, Eben and Olliver!
Your correspondent and his wife on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa this past weekend. You could sail an iceboat on this five mile sliver of urban ice were it not for all the skaters!
What we couldn’t do on Chicky with a couple of rigs like this:
We did indeed get the promised SW Chickybreeze, plenty of it, right down the chute after a brief flurry, so we had streaming snow most of the day, quite cold despite Rockland forecast temp of 30. Indeed a trip to Hamilton Marine in Rockland to replace economical fittings on Cheapskate (economy regardless of the cost) was like coming down to Sochii’s palm trees by the Black Sea from the ski slopes.
The Olympic conditions were enjoyed by a dozen or so skippers. The blown off snow made the occasional frozen truck track more or less visible. The snow formed into 2-3inch scattered drifts which were plowed through with satisfying showers of snow, or they could be avoided. The wind caused some minor casualties and kept some from sailing very much.
Sunday is supposed to be the usual daily winter NW cold front with cooler 20’s and lighter 5-10 winds and maybe an early flurry. Ditto Monday but with sun and no flurries. The rest of the week looks like day after day of good sailing warming somewhat. (Who makes up this stuff?) Think slush runners.
If coming to Lloyds by car please try parking diagonally in the driveway where it is wider by the house, OK to block left garage, on lawn OK, and along other side by the cedars all the way up to the small shed so we don’t have so many out on the street, a poor choice. Trucks, trailers, and 4wd cars onto lake please. DO NOT PARK ON THE SHORE AT THE BEACH. By Monday only go to the ice if you are retrieving a boat and if so do it in AM when the lawn is frozen, thank you. ( It does all heal up by June but it looks like hell when the snow melts). If you think the lawn is muddy, try the public parking lot at the other end, or the State Park on Damariscotta.
Chickawaukee Iceboaters, Inc.
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Hudson river Report from John Henry relayed through Bill Bunting.
Everything you need to know before you go…
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Dear Friends,
For the benefit of those just added to the list, the past two Ice Reports are appended below.
Epic is such an overused word that it has become trite in our lexicon. However, for this one exception, I have to agree with those who have used it to describe the current ice sailing situation on the Hudson. Epic.
Today I took our ice boat the Cold Front down to Astor Point on the Rokeby Estate. Due to timing issues she sits on the ice, but is not quite fully rigged. That will be completed tomorrow.
However, I did enjoy a ride on the Rip Van Winkle, a 37 foot 6 inch long gaff-rigged sloop built around 1905 and owned by our most gracious hosts, the Aldrich family, who also own Rokeby and Astor Point. The Rip Van Winkle is the fourth longest boat in the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club fleet. The wind was howling and we went very fast. We stopped at the channel to salute a member of the HRIYC who is a professional river pilot and he was taking a large oil tanker down from Albany on his final trip before retirement.
There were a half dozen historic stern steerers out today, with maybe another dozen parked at Astor Point and South Tivoli Bay. They are all expected to be sailing over the weekend.
A fellow member, Glen Burger, who owns The Hound with his father, made this video of his 35 miles of sailing today. From end to end, the ice sheet that we are sailing is 20 miles long, which is extraordinary in scope for our current era of warm winters.
There are some great photos of the ice from the air form the US Coast Guard Ice Flights. The also some update info on some of the historic boats expected this weekend. Yesterday I helped rig the Jack Frost, which at 50 feet is one of the largest iceboats built. It was too windy for her today, but they expect to take her out tomorrow (Friday) and over the weekend.
And Brian Reid, Past Commodore of the HRIYC, Current Secretary of the HRIC and Unofficial Historian of the HRIYC has a great blog at
are arriving today, tomorrow and Saturday with another half dozen historic Stern Steerer, including the Rocket, which is equal in size to our fifty foot Jack Frost. But we believe the Jack Frost will prevail in the Van Nostrand Cup race this weekend between these two behemoths The Van Nostrand Cup is a silver Tiffany Trophy dating back to the 1880s that has only been raced for three times in all those years. (It is very hard to find great conditions for ice sailing.) It was last won in 2003 by the NSIYBC.
Hope you can join us. Come to Astor Point at Rokeby, or park near the old Barrytown, NY former train station ans cross the tracks to come onto the ice.
I am going back on the ice tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday.
Yes, it’s epic.
Cheers,
John Henry
February 26
Dear Friends,
I am told the Hudson River Sailing in our short window here (yesterday through Sunday) is considered epic by the local experts. It has been about ten years since the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club in Red Bank, NY has brought their boats up to the Hudson River to sail with and sail against the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club. From an ice sailing history perspective this is very special. Yesterday I helped to put together the Jack Frost. Built in 1888, at 51 feet overall, she’s one of the largest and fastest ice yachts ever built.
I plan to take my modern, contemporary boat the Cold Front down today. She’s 18 feet long, built in 1992. (Quite the difference and example of how history has changed this sport.)
I sent the following out a day or two ago and am sorry that I forgot to include you on the distributions list:
February 25
Dear Friends,
You have asked to be notified about ice sailing, so here is “the call.”
For the first time in a great many years there is ice sailing on the Hudson River. Earlier today (Tuesday) a few of my friends in the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club (HRIYC) went out on the Hudson River and have successfully navigated from Rhinecliff, NY to Crugers Island in Tivoli, NY, a stretch of over 8 miles.
Boats were mostly set out at Astor Point with some at South Tivoli Bay. Astor Point is on Rokeby Farm. Rokeby on La Bergierie Lane, which is a private road off River Road (County Route 109) near Rokeby Road Extension in Red Hook, NY. The following google map should take you to Astor Point (the last half mile or so is on farm roads not shown on the map):
I had one day of sailng at Astor Point on January 30, before all the snow was dumped on us
I plan to go to Astor Point on Wednesday after 2:00 PM, but without the Cold Front (at least for tomorrow) and plan to catch some rides on the historic Hudson River boats. If all goes well with the weather (always a dicey proposition), there should be sailing after 2:00 PM for the rest of this week and all day over the weekend.
Ice is fleeting and transitory. While it may linger, I think now through the weekend is all we can count on for the Hudson River.
It will likely be crowded over the weekend, with additional historic stern steerers expected to be brought up from the North Shrewsbury Ice Yacht Club in New Jersey. The HRIYC Commodore suggests spectator access from the access road along the train tracks near the old (former) Post Office on Station Hill Road in Barrytown, NY. Station Hill Road is on the following google map:
If this is your first time, remember that it is very, very cold and we hope very windy, so please dress accordingly. Ice cleats or Creepers on your boots are usually necessary. If it’s really windy and you want to take a ride, consider bringing a face covering like a balaclava and ski goggles or shatterproof glasses something similar.
We would love to see you. If you are planning to meet up at the house or on the river, please let me know.
Couple other items. John Sperr of the HRIYC keeps a blog at:
which gives an update on local conditions and activities. The link to “Current Conditions and Sailing Activities” gives some detail on what is happening and (hopefully) what to expect. It can also be found here:
The Current Conditions page also has John’s “Ice Boat Launch Site Maps & Directories for the Eastern US,” which can also be found here:
http://www.hriyc.org/launch.html
You can get directions to each site from that page. For example, if you go under New York and then look at the Hudson River sites, you will find both South Tivoli Bay and Astor Point listed alphabetically among the other launch sites. Just press on the Coordinates (latitude/longitude numbers in Column 2 and it will show you the site in Google Maps and you can use that for driving directions.
NY; I tried to forward a forward to this site about the happenings on the Hudson tomorrow, it didn’t work, sorry.
Meanwhile on our good old home ice Chickawaukee Lake just north of Rockland ME on Rte 17 the snow flurries
we got recently have blown off. Ice is maybe a grade 6 of 10, fine for casual sailing not so great for racing or even
just going really fast due to residual patches of deep ruts and shell ice, now visible and avoidable. Skating not great.
Access at the public beach/launching and parking area at South end is poor and ice terrible. The parking lot is mud.
We will be having our annual fun sail for all with ice side fire and baked beans at Lloyd’s beach 140 Porter St., Rockport
at the North end of the lake. Please leave cars along driveway at house. 4wd vehicles go on down to and ONTO the lake parking over on right side.
The ice is 2 feet thick., you will not go through. Trailers MUST go onto ice. DO NOT PARK AT THE SHORE.
The wind is forecast to be Southerly right down the lake by mid morning to 15 MPH and temperature a balmy 30, as good as it gets on Chicky.
There are red cones warning of thin ice along the shore an left and right. There is very rough ice, like railroad
tracks, at far end of lake, this area is marked by very small cones about 3/4 mile down the lake.
Our club entry level iceboat “Cheapskate” (Sunfish sail and spars on DN footprint simple wood frame fuselage) will be on the ice for anyone
who wants to try it. Helmet and spikey shoes, creepers, etc. required. It sails well in light to heavy air, nothing remotely scary happens, just fun.
Chickawaukee Ice Boat Club Inc.
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Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club 