Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Gotta run, but here it is. SUPER ice, wind tomorrow, two hours from Camden…

The DN Maine State Championship regatta, hosted by the Chickawaukee Ice Boat Club, will be held Saturday march 16 on Damariscotta lake. Launch site is Damariscotta Farm. The launch site may get congested, John Eastman will be harbor mastering and organizing launching and parking. There will be a skippers meeting at 9:30 on the ice at the launch site. The ice held up nicely Friday and temps are expected to hover around freezing all day again Saturday and Sunday. The surface is rough and not great but it is still here. The ice is about a foot thick, stay away from the shore, points, etc.

On Sunday the NEIYA will put on their long awaited DN Championship regatta on the same ice. The weather is supposed to hold with temps around freezing during the day and NW winds both days, perhaps gentle in the morning and picking up in the afternoon. The inn at Damariscotta Farm across the road from the launch site has some rooms left and serves dinner.

Damariscotta Farm is located at the NW corner of Damariscotta Lake on Rte 126 just South of intersection with 115. There is a loop drive with cabins on both sides extending down to the lake and launch ramp. This is NOT Damariscotta State Park beach in the NE corner of the lake. There is a sign for Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association at the head of the loop road.

Iceman

The soft stuff hardened like a rock in last night’s mid teen temps. However, it was not as smooth as polished granite. We all concurred that it was about a grade 5, with better spots here and there. The ice itself seemed very strong, with the only bad spots near channel markers, points and islands.

There will be DN racing there all weekend. Moderate wind forecast, but even with the rough surface today I found it very easy to move in the occasional lulls.
Low temps should maintain the surface all weekend. Please don’t park on the grass, but the entire ring road is fair game. it’s also dry! Just pull to the side so others can pass. Thanks, as always, to the Lamptons for their generosity: this access site is one of the best!

A few of us will be attempting to sail South Twin Lake in Millinocket, an annual ice hajj.

Keeping in mind all of Lloyds excellent advise from the previous post, the Intrepid will indeed be sailing tomorrow on Damariscotta. The surface was still hard enough at noon today for plates, and tonight’s temps will make it that much better for tomorrow. Best wind and ice in the morning; poor wind forecast for Saturday. The ice is eleven inches of lousy quality, not something to drive a truck on, but should hold iceboats. There are open leads around rocks, points and islands which are thin well beyond the water’s edge. Stay clear. No drain holes were observed in the main pack. The water is probably running straight down through the ice. If you were hoping for just one more day, this is the one!

And here’s the news from Quebec:

Latest news from Lac Saint-Francois in Lambton: my spy told me that all the snow is gone, and there is 1-2 cm of slush and water on the ice. Forecast for tomorrow PM talks about 1″ of snow, 60% probability. But the good thing is that it is becoming a lot colder for the weekend: friday 10F-27F. Saturday 14F – 27F. Sunday 10F – 19F…. With winds between 10 and 16 mph. We should have all we need to sail all weekend. And this lake is really fun to sail. Big ice, with good windy areas.

23 degrees F this morning at sunrise, frost on lawn. Got on decaying edge ice with 10 Ft plank, just, the junk the far end was resting on will likely be floating bits by afternoon. Salvaged all the old moorings.
The surface was solid congealed granules 2-3 inches deep, yesterday’s slush. Out on the lake the surface is deeply pock marked, Chicky looks like healed small pox, it would be rattly sailing until the pock marks turn to slush later in the morning. The ice is 8 inches thick, slightly cloudy but recognizable old punky black ice beneath the frozen slush. Water wells up into the axe hole, as observed by Scot on Dammy, and the last 2-3 inches of ice just crumbles away into deep water. So there seems to be 3-4 inches of punky black ice in the middle holding the junk top and bottom together. Perhaps this will hold together for a couple of days of 20’s at night and sunny 30’s during the day. Perhaps it is all a little thicker on Dammy. It is thinner around old fishing holes and near streams. Like salt ice it probably will not give warning cracks before caving in.
Does this ice, and by extension Damariscotta ice get my Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, no. Will it hold up the intrepid? Quite likely. But the winter swimming season may also be here. Don’t forget your ice picks (do they work in slush?), throw lines, dry suits, and dry clothes in the car. Sail with a buddy.

Iceman