Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Starting with the gang in St. John, New Brunswick, David Welch send us this: ”Good sailing to be had over here in New Brunswick. After a thaw, rain, freeze cycle Chamcook Lake just outside of Saint Andrew’s By the Sea has presented a sailable plate. Three boats and many keen hands sailed gusty swirling winds to great success. Two DN’s and a two seater Gambit are being put through their paces. This is the fourth day of sailing in the last month after the sizable snow pack disappeared. We have been licking our lips watching so many sailors enjoying Maine ice. When our current headwind (covid) abates we hope to travel down your way for some good old down east hospitality.”

Further out on Prince Edward Island Peter MacClaine and his buddies have been slowly building up their Nite fleet. They have a nice plate of ice right now on an inland bay at the north shore. Looks about the same as Winnipesaukee round the edges.

Note the “tree house” and the wind sock. Inside the circle of trees planted in the ice is a barbecue grill and a picnic table. Some folks just know how to live. Could these be re-cycled Christmas trees?

And further out yet, on the Isles de Madelaine, halfway to Newfoundland right in the middle of the Straights of Belle Isle a small fleet of curious boats are having a great time on salt ice.

It looks like someone has a mold and popped out a bunch of fuselages. Apparently they are a knock-off of a design discovered in a Popular Mechanics article from the forties. Note the runners. Apparently the ice/snow gumbo is soft enough to need skunners. Looks hard enough in this picture. The four over four sheeting looks like they know how to haul the sheet. They must get teriffic winds there with nothing but open sea in all directions. We might need to mount an arctic expedition to investigate the local culture.

Locally, Thursday is still looking good. Reports from Pushaw tell nothing but good. No ridges, no holes, tight to the shore and a ton of thickness. The skaters are liking it, so the iceboaters will probably love it.

As we await developments in Ukraine, here’s a little background on what Russia went through in WW2. Is it any wonder they feel the need to push back every now and then?

How ice boats saved Leningrad during the 1941 Siege – Russia Beyond

Disclaimer: this is more about iceboats than politics! Happy Presidents Day!

Lured north by the draw of Center Harbor, this little fleet sailed on Saturday to the end of the wind.

Slowly it began to snow, still no wind. It became clear than very soon the numerous boat eating skimmed over drain holes would be invisible. Some began to walk, others push and glide, pretending to sail. But effort is rewarded and soon four boats managed to get hooked up and by sailing very shallow angles made it the five miles downwind to the pits.

For the others, walking became slippery in the thickening snow, and there were those hidden holes. Dave Fortier was willing to risk his car, so it was dispatched to tow the walkers back.

The craziest thing was to look in the rear view mirror and see…ICEBOATS!

Below, the wet snow piling up.

A major squall came through at dusk and blew the ice mostly clear, as well as re-arranging some of the boats in the pits. Lesson: always tie down your boat no matter the forecast.

The ice in the broads was especially clear, and with a brisk wind before noon, this fleet made a splendid circumnavigation of Rattlesnake Island. Some of the smoothest ice of the weekend was found back there.

The guy on the left is looking wistfully north, laying a course in his mind for Center Harbor. But with a dying breeze and two reported pressure ridges, discretion was the better part of boldness so we stitched together long fast downwind legs back to the pits and watched the DN’s scratch racing in Wolfeboro Bay.

Ice in Maine looks pretty nice. The Mini Skeeters sailed Damariscotta Lake from Lake Farm today.

The ice seems to have smoothed out since our last time there. Vannah Rd launch is just about done. High temps Wednesday will probably do it in, but Bob MacEwen reports ice tight to the shore at the beach. There are also promising reports from Great Pond, Pushaw and Clarey Pond. All eyes are on Thursday.

Thanks to Jeff Soderholm, Nina Fleming and Lee Spiller for the photos.

I just returned from Wolfeboro, and thought I  would share. I chose to leave at 1700, as waiting for all to gather at Wolfeboro restaurant would require that I do something to kill more than an hour, such as drink. As much as I would have enjoyed that I chose to drive home to Biddo. That is one of the reasons I am sharing, I drove into a freakin’ BLIZZARD, zero visibility, blowing stink. I actually pulled over for about ten minutes after following a freaking sand truck out of town with 6 other wackos directly behind me. It was snowing and blowing HARD, I hope that the ice survived and all the snow blew into outer space. When I got 10 or fifteen miles east the snow eased, so the disturbance was local, or is that loco. 

My boat still is on the ice, I hope that the wind has blown most of the snow out of it, we will see in the morning. Will we try and get to Center Harbor on Sunday, that all depends if we care to attempt. NOAA weather forecast is 5-10 MPH wind. NOAA was TOTALLY inaccurate today, finger crossed. I must continue my gear husbandry, see you on the ice.

Dave  

Winnepesaukee was sailed today from Wolfboro. Charlie and Ann Silfvenius, James and Steve Lamb, and briefly, Peter Coward, sailed as far north as Sandy Island, crossing the broads side to side a few times in the way of Ellacoya.

All that ice and only four boats.

Chances are we’ll have a Regatta or two as well as some epic cruising once this warm spell passes.