Tomorrow, Sunday, the NEIYA is putting on the Doc Fellows for DN’s on Damariscotta Lake. Launch at Camp Wavus, Rt 213. Drive all the way in, keeping right, and park in front of the lodge. Ice plate will be on your right. It’s that huge expanse of black. Carry down the DN. Time for first start hasn’t been announced, but be there and be ready. The wind might fill in.
After such a magnificent day of sailing, a sunset is in order. Whats the saying? Pink ice at night, iceboater’s delight?
Another late breaking update: the NEIYA tentatively plans on holding the Doc Fellows Regatta this coming Sunday. Light air forecast, but on this ice, anything goes!
After a lay day, the fleet turned out in fine style for some of the best conditions we’ve seen here for a long time. The wind built to a low roar over the course of the day. Cheapskates, Skimmers, a BlowKart and the usual suspects blasted from the very bottom of the River to the pressure ridge at the middle of the North Broads. And back. The ice up there was polished black ice under a veil of blowing snow.
These small drifts, in a Lombardo photo from yesterday, were cast adrift by the howling wind. What was left is just the black stuff you see above. We tacked up to the top of the wind and then peeled off for a mile a minute blast back down. On ice like this the boat can really be pushed to it’s limits, and they were.
In addition to the adrenalin, there were moments of quiet beauty, like this shot looking down the River.
These two boats swapped tacks up and down all day. It was very close competition with no clear winner.
Tomorrow promises big winds and low mercury, much like last Tuesday. The MIT DN Team will be there, and perhaps a few other tough sailors. If you do come, be sure to park your car completely off the pavement only on the lake side of the road. If not, you will be towed and thereby jeopardize our access. We learned that today with a warning.
Reports from Lake Megunticook indicate less than wonderful conditions so Club sailing will stay at Damariscotta for now. Great forecast for tomorrow, Saturday a repeat of the arctic blast of this past Tuesday, and Sunday no wind.
Note the little BloKart on runners. Welcome BB from the landsailing world!
Light to no air in the morning confounded the forecast. Driving in, most flags along the road were bar tight. The perennial question of what sail to rig went round and round. The matter was finally resolved by the wind itself, which came in with enough ummph to send a trailer rolling away down the lake, along with helmets, sail bags, stands, and anything else not weighed down. Thankfully, the boats with sails rigged were facing head to wind and just got a good shake.
It settled in to a steady twenty, so it was storm sails all around. The SW wind was driving right up the River. Boats short tacked up and sleigh rode down, timing the tacks and gybes to lay the crooked turns just right. Magnificent sailing.
There were gaggles of skaters and skate sailors, all taking advantage of this amazing stretch of excellent conditions.
A trio of die hards made a run for the Narrows in the last of the breeze, now down to a whisper. Two out of three made it through before realizing it would be a very long walk home. The boats coasted from puff to puff all the back to the pits, making for an wonderfully calm coda to the blasts of the day.
The plan is to de-camp to Lake Megunticook on Friday, Bob Bridge launch. Wind tomorrow is light and variable. Thee’s a chance of light snow Friday. Speaking of which, we had just that this morning at Vannah Rd. It was sailable, but after the joy of smooth ice yesterday it was mildly disappointing. But that mighty gust mentioned earlier? The plate went from white to black in the blink of an eye!
