Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Dammy has slowly been ridding herself of snow, and today was the day to go. Mild crustyness, but full on top to bottom. Two refugees from lake Chickawaukee checked the ice first thing, made the call, returned to Ckicky to load up and head west. It was worth the effort.

Deep Cove, the River, Muscongus Bay, the Narrows, all wonderful sailing. Big winds on big ice is what we live for. And on Dammy we have these tight little places where the wind is fickle and you need to be on the telltales all the time and work the boat though. Very tight, technical sailing. And then you make the broads with all that wonderful wind and you just sheet in hard and drive.

There is a pressure ridge at Wavus Point and one at the north end of Muscongus Bay. Both crossable. Some open water just opposite Camp Kieve on the approach to the river. Keep left.

The beach at Lake Farm washed out in our two big autumn gales. The drop off is fine for carry on, but trailers are a small challenge.

In addition to your correspondent, Tom Gloudemans and Vincent Lord rounded out the fleet.

Meanwhile, back on Chickawaukee what was left of the racing fleet after the NEIYA cancelled the Doc Fellows Regatta decided to race after all. The CIBC Commodores Cup was called on and successfully run. Stand by for final results.

There is a fleet building at Leavitts Beach, Winnepesaukee, for tomorrow. Ice is reported the be the best we have at this time. Damariscotta is better than Chicky, but still rates at a 3.5. surface.

Weather looks wonderful all week, but the wind appears to be dying. Get it before it’s too late!

The great weather and nice ice on our home lake brought out folks from far and wide with a ticket to ride. Twenty-five boats, at least.

Strong winds precluded racing for the Doc Fellows Regatta, but it will be tried for again tomorrow. The forecast is for more of the same winds, so even if formal racing isn’t on, the marks will be up. Most of the fleet had a great time today running the course. There’s always someone in your speed range to chase and try to catch. There’s no better way to improve your sailing skills and the boat’s tuning while having just too much fun.

There are runner tracks from slushy sailing on Friday so be prepared to be caught sometimes. A quick jerk of the tiller should do it but be sure to be low in the boat and well braced.

And who says there’s never anything new under the sun? What’s going on here?

Boats are on the ice, the great stretch of weather is continuing into the week. Damariscotta appears to be responding to the sun and warm afternoons. It could be the next big thing.

Don’t get more classic than this!

In spite of the lovely ice on Auburn and the tempting adventure on Marancook, it turns out Dorothy was right: there’s no place like home.

The surface is fine, thickness nine, no obvious hazzards. It will be sailed tomorrow by a couple of out-of-state hotshots. Maybe regatta racing on Saturday; stand by the NEIYA reports for that announcement. If not, then active scratch racing and general messing about.

The few snow patches hide no slush and appear sailable.

Looking north to Robert’s Beach. Lloyd is in there somewhere. He will be watching, so don’t let him catch you stalling downwind!

Much of the surface has this feature of what seems to be small bits of unleveled frozen slush. Is this a type of ice that has a name? Anyone?

Launch from the public boat launch ramp on Rt. 17. Roll on, probably drive on if you dare. The plate is tight to the shore.

On a tip from a skater we checked Auburn Lake and Marancook, in Winthrop. Marancook is the more interesting lake in a north wind: a long beat up and joy ride back down. The launch area is horrible, but a boat will move through it.

Right at the horizon is this kind of surface:

Ice is hard and 7” thick. Most of the snow does not hide a slush pit. There is about three miles of good ice before hitting snow near the north end.

At Auburn the plate is much better. Same thickness and hardness, almost no snow, just the bands that are seen below:

There is a crossable pressure ridge separating the north and south halves:

There is enough real estate for a good course on the other side of the ridge (of course) or maybe enough for a short course on the near side. You can plot this ridge on the map by locating the pumphouse at the boat launch ramp at one end and a point at the other, running SE-NW roughly.

The downside is the parking. There is room for maybe six cars, and then a few more down the street a bit and maybe a few on a side street. Carry on or RoRo only, no trailer access.

Looks like Saturday could be the start of something big. Great wind and sun stretch out into the next week. Thus-Fri no wind and chance of light precipitation. Nothing to worry about, really. Looks like we could sail here until we got bored and then go give Marancook a shot. Neither of these lakes, to our knowledge, have been sailed in recent history.

First one to find the leaf on Marancook wins. This was not staged!

Lake Damariscotta from Lake Farm is in tip top shape for an epic week of sailing. Six inches of ice, five black and one grey. If the storm tonight gets Mother Natures Nudge we’ll be in the clear. If not, we’ll be at work.

Fred Wardwell built an awesome runner sharpener and his daughter Martha would be happy to sell it to an iceboater. Some belts included, 220v.

Needs a bit if fine tuning but it’s all there and runs nice. Can be used for all kinds of dust making applications besides runners.

Call Bill, 975-6980. $450.00