Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

We didn’t exactly rush down the the landing at the crack of dawn today. It was blowing a gale and eight degrees and it seemed much more sensible to go to work for a while. But by ten the sun was high and the temps were into the low double digits with a moderate SW breeze. We don’t often have this wind here, so the sailing dynamics were a bit different. Working our way through the narrows to the south end, into Deep Cove, and then down the river nearly to Damariscotta Mills was a bit dodgy. But the wind held and we were able to sail deep enough to get home without pushing. There are no pressure ridges and no open water: the whole lake is as tight as a wind whipped flag. There are bumps and windrows, and a nasty sheet of shell ice in the SW corner of the main broads. There is a green fish house there, and the shell extends a couple of hundred feet toward the center of the lake.

Bill Bunting set his new sail today and went like smoke. Lee Spiller and Karin snapped the Gambit mast after a short morning sail, but they had a few DN’s along so wasted no time in setting them up. Scott the Guy, Ben Fuller and Wolfie rounded out the fleet. We sailed until sundown, left boats on the ice, and will be back tomorrow. Lee and Karin will be on Jordan Bay, so if that’s more in your neighborhood, please join them.

The ice is like this between snow bumps, which really don’t bother much. I felt no need to slow down because of them, especially as I had to work hard to keep up with Bunting!

The ice is on the move, and with 8-12″ out there we’ll be seeing pressure ridges shortly. At 10:30am this was a smooth, flush ramp. The ice heaved up nearly a foot in five hours.

Come get it while you can!

We had a look there today and found 8″ of solid ice out to the first island, no sandwich aside from an unhealed moat at the launch ramp. The beach was tight. We did not inspect further than that. The ice is very nice between the small frozen drifts that dot the plate. They can easily be sailed around or over, most are very solid. There was a considerable pile of frozen snow blocking the ramp, so we called a guy with a big yellow machine and he’s surely done by now and home for dinner. The access road is clear and well sanded.

The rest of the plate needs to be carefully inspected by a couple of boats slowly sailing around TOGETHER, checking for thickness and hazzards. We found one drain hole the size of a football with just a skim on it, but temps tonight will be in the single digits and hopefully heal it and any others.

The ice looks about like this archival image, except the snow patches are smaller and less frequent, and the ice is grayer but just as smooth. We plan to set up and sail tomorrow, leaving boats on the ice for as long as we can. Weather forecast looks great: temps in the twenties, sunny, 15-20 tomorrow, 10-15 Thursday.

Meanwhile, Lee Spiller found this lovely plate on Jordan Bay and plans to sail there tomorrow (unless he comes to Damariscotta!) He heard that the entire lake froze last week, but then blew out in the recent warm gale. The good news is that she’s ready to go.

6AM…..TARNATION!……fine-powdered leprosy swirls around the eves in the dawn wind…..the drifted disease sculpts the back steps almost 1/2″ deep…. how can this be?….Yesterday, I waded across the almost completely puddled-out Megunticook, and salivated at the ice feast sure to be served up this morning……now….Why would the Higher Power do this?….why carry on a personal vendetta with an essentially innocent old fart in an obscure Maine village?….Why would he/she hold a g……that’s it!…….”she”!….. the HP’s feminine aspect!

I can so easily confess with the Episcopalians, ” I have left undone those things which I aught to have done. I have done those things…”…. the recycling overflowing its container and even the additional “overflow” container…..the compost bucket secretly emptied into the kitchen trash instead of trudged out through the deep snow….this is surely a well-deserved pay-back….

bundled in the familiar gear, I stepped out onto the lumpy white lake…..squish!….the unhealed sandwich–3/4″ of snow ice over 1.5″ of water–hadn’t had any chance of jelling with only 5 hours of 20 degree temperatures…..what will another day of cold bring?…..I can’t speculate now…..I’m emptying the compost ….

Somebody has done something wrong here. At 11PM Monday Jan 6 lights were reflecting from the wet reasonably smooth ice of Chicky, snow all gone at last. Some drain holes from 1/3 inch of rain seen at 4 PM, fish holes up to 18 inches diameter. Ice for sure by Wednesday after drain holes heal up.
Tuesday morning at sunup it is snowing with 1 1/2 inch on the ground/ice. NOAA weather radar showed a small ink blot right here maybe 15-20 miles across, NOTHING ELSE anywhere in New England and 10 inches of ice out there except skimmed over drain holes lurking under the snow. Maybe it will blow off, maybe we will blow off to somewhere else.

Iceman

Firstly, Saturday was bitterly cold, realistic only with hand and foot warmers. My wonderfully supportive wife bought me hi tech insoles for Christmas which were put to the test on Memphremagog. I was wearing boots, soles to the wind in the DN, and they were toasty all day:

http://sahalie.blair.com/p/toasty-feet-insoles/46132.uts?is=Y&store=13&count=500&q=insoles&keyword=insoles

Then there’s the issue of the food committee. We all love corn bread and beans, of course, but with a little cash in the CIBC coffers perhaps we should do as the Russians do:

Any volunteers?

After all, now that we have our own clubhouse shouldn’t the food follow suit?