Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

There’s always Moosehead. How many times have careful readers of these ice reports read that line as winter wanes and the sap begins to run? It’s the light at the beginning of the long tunnel of summer. The hope that keeps us glued to web cams and weather reports. We didn’t know until Monday morning if we would get a shot at it this season. Last year we had three great days in early April, but that counts for nothing in the reality of iceboating.But the stars aligned for us and the last three days were some of the best of the season. The ice was hard and smooth; white frozen corn snow. Once clear of the inner bay at Greenville the ice smoothed out and became very flat and quiet. Just a small zippering sound from the leeward runner. No bumps. Further up in the middle of the lake were un-wet out hard snow mounds, but aside from getting launched off them in the strong winds Tuesday there were no issues. How an insert runner can survive those sideways landings over and over is a mystery.
The goal Monday was to see if we could do a Long Way, the Moosehead version of the Hardway. Greenville to Mt.Kineo and back in a tight fleet.

There it is in the background, above, as alluring and exotic as any tropical Isle. We scouted a crossing at the first pressure ridge late Monday, but left the event itself for Tuesday.
The forcast wind piled in Tuesday morning, not unlike the previous Long Way in 2013. But five boats rigged up and pushed out into the moderate gale and sailed full and by for a good while as the big mountain got closer and closer. The ice was flawless, save for a second big ridge near Sandy Point. We found a crossing, marked it for the return leg and beat way up into the lee of Kineo’s cliffs.

The great joy of this trip is, like the Hardway, the ride back down. The fleet stays close, the apparent wind isn’t as brutal and the speed is intoxicating.

The pressure ridge crossing was sailable and all boats made it through.

The beauty of this ridge was that it was covered in snow, which gave it the look more of old mountains than piles of ice. The 2022 LongWay is in the books! Congratulations to Denis Guertin, Michael Young, Jeff Rosenberry, Dave Fortier, and Bill Buchholz.

A few more boats showed up late in the day and set up for Wednesday’s sail. The whole group was staying at Kellys, which has a fine restaurant connected to the hotel. A long table was set and we had the classic iceboaters apres sail feast.

Wednesday’s wind beat the forecast so a fleet of six went on tour. We all did the requisite laps around the course T and Karen set up, but the pull of big ice was impossible to resist. We worked our way down into Moose Bay where there was actual ice, grey and flat. At the bottom of the bay we stopped in to see Bob Bartlett, the owner of Lloyd Robert’s old DN Cool Tool. Bob wasn’t there, but Cool Tool was, and we all gave her an affectionate pat.

After romping a while on that amazing plate we headed off to attempt the fist ever, to our knowledge, circumnavigation of Sugar Island. Sugar is the biggest island in the lake, and the northeast tip is rounded through a small channel, rather tight in a NW wind. There were rocks and open water on both sides, but the main channel was well marked with red and green buoys and just wide enough to short tack through. All six boats made it and out we popped deep in Lily Bay with our windward mark some five miles away.
But as you can see below, no one was complaining:

This photo doesn’t do justice to the vastness of the lake and the ice that went on for miles and miles with not a crack or hole.

Back in the pits the boats were lined up for an end of the season farewell photo.

The ice began to soften as the temps hit mid forties. No one was in any great rush to pack up, savoring the sun, good company and warm glow of a superb season closer. Yes. This is it. Cue the opera. Slush in the pits, mud on the shore, warm sun and fading wind. There is no better way to finish off the season. Thanks to all the sailors who took the gamble and made the drive.The great diverse group coming together to sail on ice never disappoints.

Here’s one parting shot, runner tracks in slush. Below, an iceout video. Rather mesmerizing, and a celebration of the mystery of ice.

https://youtu.be/AxmGObG_XD8

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Here’s the lake this morning just after sunrise taken in Greenville Junction. The slush alongshore has frozen, and the plate is reported to be hard but not totally smooth. Sounds about right. Wind today and tomorrow is excellent. Accommodations at Kelly”s Landing. Launch at Greenville Junction boat launch. The launch ramp itself may be rotten but there are other slopes right alongside. Call me if you are coming so we don’t loose anyone. 207-975-6980.

After a mixed bag of precipitation late last week, the plate is struggling to wet out. There is the rest of today with warm temps, and then we have three days of cold and wind Monday through Wednesday. If we get a surface all three of those days will be fantastic.Snow in Quebec wrecked the lakes there, for now, and it appears that Moosehead is in better shape than the Millinocket lakes. We will have a report from our spy on the ice later today or first thing tomorrow on what the surface has become.
Last season at about this time we took a long shot on Moosehead and it was epic.

Stand by for an update.

It didn’t look hopeful pulling into the small village of Lambton, a little over an hour from the border in Quebec. Snow was falling into a wet matrix on the ice, the howling wind was whipping it into frosting and the temperature was dropping. That’s iceboating: you get what you get.

But in the morning it appeared the wind had worked its wonder, and was still at full force. Steady in the low twenties with gusts into the thirties. Just the kind of conditions a Whizz with a good DN rig thrives in.
Grande Lac St. Francois is eighteen miles long and the plate is flawless the entire way. No cracks, holes or pressure ridges. There were still lumps of frosting in some areas which the wind made easy work of. The NW wind allowed the entire length of the lake to be made with just a couple of tacks, and back down the gybe angles were very tight. The boats would barely stay on the ice if we got to cocky and headed up at all on the downwind leg. The miles rolled on and on at top speed, all three Whizz closely matched in speed.

The lake is fed by two rivers, Riviere Muskrat close to the north end and Riviere Sauvage at the south. Sauvage has a new higher bridge spanning its entrance. The old foundations present holes in the ice, as well as some damage from where construction equipment was set up, but there was one clear lane that could be sailed, so in we went.

The river twisted and doglegged its way deep into a wilderness area. The ice was perfect. There was one dead spot that took some getting through, but then back came the wild wind for the run to the bottom.

The river peters out in fields of boulders.

When the lake level is dropped in early winter in anticipation of spring runs-off the big rocks poke themselves up through the plate, above.

In the summer those fragmite are just about in the water. The ice is dropped 15’ over the course of the winter. But now the lake is beginning to re-filled and the influx of water is coming up around the edges, presenting access challenges.
From here it’s a long way to Muskrat River, but off we went, happy to be back in the big wind blasting to windward. Denis led us in and we fetched up at the source with this massive boulder zit as the turning mark.

At this point the only sane thing to do is run back down to Sauvage, work our way up the the end, run back out and beat up to the top of the lake again.
Here’s the result:

By now it’s 6:30and the sailors are sore. But the beauty of spring sailing are the long days without the cold. It was right about freezing all day, but even after seven hours of sailing no one was the least bit cold. Even with the apparent wind at who knows what strength. Just know that lifting the gloved hand out of the cockpit to reach forward to the pull the sheet required some effort to push that hand against the wind. And yes, we did pull those sheets.
Here’s a short video montage that Denis put together for us.

https://youtu.be/898SJSMB_6Q

That’s all well and good, but the big news for anyone who wants to sail is that Lac Megantic is ready. Sixteen inches of good ice observed in a fishing hole, smooth grey surface with no snow, good access with no moat at Piopolis on the west side of the lake.

And it’s an hour closer than St. Francois. Weather tomorrow puts it at risk, but our goal is to sail it. No one to our knowledge ever has put an iceboat on Megantic.

ANY TAKERS? The border crossing is easy. Quick test in Kingfield and an on-line form to fill out for customs and you’re in. And the road from Eustis to the border is in great shape and surrounded by absolutely stunning scenery.

Happy Day One of Spring. It’s a lovely day to clean the yard, roll out the soft water boat, cut brown tail moth nests from trees. This is also the time of year where we have big temperature swings. If your runners are in a trailer or in an unheated space there’s a good chance they will be covered in moisture as the cold steel condenses water from the warm damp air. Result: rust. If they don’t get attention the rust will deepen and eventually cause nicks in the edge.

Here’s Lac Ste. Francois in Quebec a couple of days ago as reported by Denis Guertin. It’s only gotten better since. Looks like Tuesday will give the magic combo of good wind, low temps and hard ice. Your editor has navigated through the Covid Curtain and will be there.
Tuesday might be a good day for South Twin as well for those more domestically inclined.