Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

The lake has improved measurably since our last sailing there. The pressure ridges have calmed down, the surface is a strong 7, and the quality of the plate is flawless. We had some of the fastest long reaches today in recent memory. There’s no excuse not to pull that sheet right to its breaking point. The Narrows is smoother than usual due to the lack of vehicle traffic; the small fleet made multiple trips down and back.

Quite frankly, one can’t ask for better conditions. Big winds tomorrow might discourage the key-ring-rigged, but a well found yacht will find nothing but joy.

And that’s all we know about that.

If there’s one thing that really upsets mariners, it the expression “safely out to sea”, referring to a storm track. Sure, they say, safe for you alongshore but what about us? We’re out to sea, too.

But for iceboaters in Maine, it’s a fine refrain.

No snow tomorrow. Looks like nice wind for a couple of days to boot. With that in mind, a couple of Whizz will be sailing out of Lake Farm tomorrow. All are welcome to join. Pushaw might have recovered as well. If anyone can have a look and report back we could all go there after a couple of days on Dammy.

This is shaping up to be a very good year. Don’t forget that the total eclipse passes right over Moosehead on April 8. More on that later, but pencil it in.

Just got word that Ryan’s skate sail found a home.

And, Michael Young still has a few Iceboat Racing board games left. Get one while they last at michaelyoungswh@gmail.com

Below, mushroom drain holes.

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Just a few odds and ends picked up on the water’s edge:

Lloyd Roberts wrote these wise words over thirty years ago. They still ring true today: get your eyes out of the boat and scan. Meet the eyes of any passing boat. Check for messages.

SKATE SAIL:
I have a skatewing available for free to a good home. Comes with two sails, 2.5m and 3.5m I think. Pickup in Hampden preferred but other arrangements considered!
Ryan Haskell. ryan@ryanhaskell.com

Down on Mt. Desert Micheal Young just launched his new pocket skeeter FRIENDSHIP:

It’s built of carbon and glass, and is set up to take a wheel bow chock for sailing at Loring. The name is a nod to all the great friends he’s made through ice boating. Amen to that!

Big blizzard Tuesday, Where’s it gonna dump on?

Bob MacEwen sends us this from the north end of Damariscotta:

Today was one of the days where it paid off to be optimistic.We arrived at the farm launch at the north end of lake at 09:30 where six sailors had gathered in hopes of sailing our iceboats. There were three Cheapskates, two Mini Skeeters and a Lochley Skimmer rigged and ready to go by 10:00. The sun was out, the ice was clear and hard, but there was only a breath of wind out of the southeast. The forecast showed the wind changing to the south and increasing to 10 mph around noon so we just stood around gabbing for almost an hour when I received video in a text from the guys who had launched at the south end of the lake. They were already sailing, but we were still waiting for the wind to come up. A few of the guys were starting to talk about packing up and leaving but I showed them wind graph on the weather web page and they decided to give it until noon before they gave up. It wasn’t more than twenty minutes later before the wind shifted to due south and started to build. We all jumped in our boats and headed for the middle of the lake where the wind proved to be steady and strong. We all stayed north of the pressure ridge that runs across the lake from the Wavus Camp peninsula , and just blasted all over the giant plate of ice until we broke for lunch. The wind was even stronger after lunch so we all went back out for another fun session. By 14:30 I was starting think about quitting even though the wind hadn’t let up at a all. The ice was getting wetter and I decided to quit so I wouldn’t be caught far away from the launch when the wind quit. What a terrific day!

And Bob Strzelewiscz checks in from Quabog Pond, Massachusetts:

The ice on quaboag is still holding up on Friday, even with the warmer temperatures. We sailed till 12 today and it was just starting to get soft.
Just me and Spencer with all the lake to ourselves, the ice was hard and wet making for some fast runs. wind was 10 to 12.

And from the south end of Dammy, off Vannah Rd. the conditions were just like the north end, but the wind just never quit. The water on the ice just made it faster and nearly all the snow is finally gone. Neither the north fleet or the south fleet felt much like crossing ridges today. The day had a lazy, spring-like feeling. It was a long shot day with the forecast not promising much wind.

Today’s sailing was all self organized by folks who knew the conditions and thought some wind would come. It wasn’t posted here yesterday. That’s the way it goes sometimes.