Valentine’s Weekend Ice Status We Know What We Know But…
Sailor’s Valentine from Capt. Jared Wentworth Tracy (1797-1864) to his wife, Mary Hussey Tracy (1809-1891) of Nantucket. Created 1839-1840. Credit Nantucket Historical Association.
All,
Apologies this was supposed to go out last night but your technically inclined Commodore was having issues.
Most of us know what the weather has brought us over the past week and that does not bode well for sailable ice. “I know what I know” but confirmed with our best boots on the ground in VT, ME and NH. and it was a unanimous no sailing. The same reports are coming out of the Montreal area. There is either too much snow or a very undesirable crud like surface keeping us from our beloved ice. Pretty much everything south of there is in various stages of returning to its summer liquid state.
There is one glimmer of hope for the long weekend. Quaboag Pond in Brookfield, MA is going to be checked today or tomorrow after the cold comes through. Maybe just maybe we can sail during this long weekend. Our ace checker Bob S will be confirming Quaboag’s condition and reporting back.
Patience rules the day and since this is Valentine’s Day, I’m sharing how other sailors be they grounded or during long voyages spent their time. Hint, they spent time, thinking about and creating hand crafted Valentines for their loved ones at home. A lesson for us all as the season progresses and we travel further and further from home in search of ice or whales.
From the Nantucket Historical Association https://nha.org/
This sailor’s valentine was a gift from Capt. Jared Wentworth Tracy (1797-1864) to his wife, Mary Hussey Tracy (1809-1891). The anchor symbolized Capt. Tracy’s intention to return home and “anchor” at his wife’s side. Tracy was captain of the schooner Harmony of Nantucket on a whaling voyage to the Indian Ocean in 1838-39. The Harmony wrecked on a reef near Caldeira Island in the Mozambique Channel (now Ilha Caldeira, Mozambique) on February 8, 1839. Tracy is reputed to have made this sailor’s valentine while stranded after the wreck. He returned to Nantucket by way of St. Helena in fall 1839. He subsequently retired from the sea and in 1840 set himself up as a shoe maker on island.
Think Thaw and Refreeze,
John
DNUS5023
P.S. Mike Acebo has published pictures from the New England Championships to the cloud on Dropbox. I am sure many of you can use an updated screen saver at work and home https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g48q6ugag93uilr/AADxpUBsGC2WjesOZAmxABqWa?dl=0 If you have a chance thank Mike!
P.P.S. Thanks to all those who supplied the human on available ice. We can not do it without you!
Lukasz Zakrzewski P155 Wins 2020 Gold Cup! – DN North America
Regatta done!
https://www.idniyra.org/2020/02/13/lukasz-zakrzewski-p155-wins-2020-gold-cup/
Postponed…
No breeze so far today. Taking a nap in the truck…. IceBoating teaches one to make the best of any situation….
2020 DN Worlds: Day 3 PM Report – DN North America
https://www.idniyra.org/2020/02/12/2020-dn-worlds-day-3-pm-report/
Close One…
If the bronze fleet got one race in today the GC woulda been done and Luckaz Zakrewski would have been crowned World Champ.
BUT… no wind all day, and a teaser of a bronze race that saw two laps completed before the wind faded out again means we sail again tomorrow.
This will add a throw out to the scoring matrix and no doubt some interesting position shuffling will take place- stay tuned!
In the meantime here is Ron Sherry heading in the Swedish sunset.
And some obnoxious American’s DN
AM PM
Wasn’t able to get any action photos yesterday but here is a shot from the morning and one from the afternoon- not bad scenery!
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Sweden AM / PM
No action photos from yesterday but here is one from the morning and one from the evening…
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WC 2020 Second day results – IDNIYRA – Europe
Light breeze today, keeping speed up in rough patches was the key! Take a look at results so far-
Looking Towards The Weekend
At the current moment, there is not much to report. Bill in Maine has a report about Damariscotta on iceboat.me but doesn’t sound immediately promising. I do expect to see something over the next two days and will pass on when we get it.
The above letter was sent to me by Mike Acebo on Long Island, NY. I am reaching out to Joseph to see if we can help him out and encourage others to do the same. While we do not have much to offer at the moment, it would help to set up the communication channels and maybe help someone fulfill his dreams.
On a more serious note, some of you may have received a spam email solicitation that used my name but did not originate from me. Not exactly sure how they pieced the information together but likely scrapped our site for emails. It does not appear as though my email account was ever compromised but the password has been changed as a precaution. Sorry for the inconvenience but unfortunately there are those out there that seek to take advantage. Perhaps we can encourage this individual to go out and check ice, alone, for us.
Think Ice,
John
DN5023
Some Odds & Ends From The DN Gold Cup
All,
Below are a few items that T wanted to pass along but somehow didn’t make the 3700+ air miles journey.
2020 DN Gold Cup Site, Orsa Lake, Sweden
And the word of the day was wet…
wet
Wet…
I am sure we will have more from Osla Lake tomorrow.
WC 2020 First day results – IDNIYRA – Europe
DN Worlds Results So Far
Check out how things are going in Sweden!
Wild conditions- light air, howling wind, everything in between, all in one race- being able to shift gears was key….
DN Worlds Pt 7
Some shots of some boats on the wet ice in the pits….
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DN Gold Cup Part Six
Day one complete- awesome racing, breeze up and down and a little shifty, very smooth ice with anywhere from a film to ankle deep water on it- see photos!
Driving in Sweden…
The pub/restaurant at the campground in Orso.
Passed my rules test!
Have to come to Sweden to find this stuff
The little cabin- view from my bunk bed
More to come, stand by. Need to hang laundry to dry out!
“Daniel Hearn honored by PZŻ for the Fair Play gesture” – DN North America
Good karma for Dan Hearn!
https://www.idniyra.org/2020/02/06/daniel-hearn-honored-by-pzz-for-the-fair-play-gesture/
Another Place, Another Time Again
Bob Crinion sent this from Nova Scotia- sadly it was about two weeks ago and that gorgeous ice has been covered w snow. But must have been great while it lasted!
Another Place And Time…
I was in a coffee place in CT a few months ago and this issue of “The Rudder” was on a table- thought everyone would enjoy the advertising….
DN Gold Cup part 6
More from Sweden- Dideric was nice enough to let me use his shop, alignment jigs and shim tape to get my runners all true-ed up; see below
This is the stylish and well-groomed Dideric, in a nice restaurant with some disgusting American tourist.
The stairwell in the B&B. Scary but great to look at!
Sunrise on the Swedish highway
A typical Swedish rest stop. To American pot-heads and reggae fans (is that redundant?) this is a bit misleading… I’m sure some people were disappointed to learn that “Rasta” merely means “rest” in Swedish. Just as well, we have sailing to do!
We are headed to the site now, will set up later today and hopefully start races tomorrow. One way or another it will be an interesting week- will send reports as things develop- stay tuned!
Finally and most importantly many thanks to Dideric and Alex for hosting us and treating us better than family!
DN Gold Cup Road Trip Pt 5
Still on the road in Sweden- getting there is easily half the fun when you are rolling with Jorg Bohn and his amazing entourage…
We left Germany the other day- Some of us driving his Sprinter while he and Sean flew his plane to Denmark for service. We survived one traffic jam (a neat, orderly, efficient German traffic jam) and several shockingly fast left lane drivers. Jorg and Sean survived fog, a near-icing situation, a snack shortage, and a possibly dodgy aircraft to meet us at an airfield in Denmark.
With the plane handed off we all piled in the Sprinter and headed north….
…at the north end of Denmark you drive into the ferry to Sweden. Takes about 30 minutes or so. This is leaving Denmark behind.
This is approaching Sweden….
Camper trailers are popular here. I guess when you have one holiday after another you need to be able to do them right!
We stayed at Dideric Van Ramsdic’s place w he and his wife Alexandra. This is their living room- The house is beautiful, big and spacious. It was once a restaurant so the kitchen is massive. Alexandra converted another building into a yoga and Pilates studio. They operate another house on the property as a B&B. They are out in the country. It is quiet. I am selling my home in RI and moving in with them whether they like it or not.
Here is the B&B Website
https://www.appelgarden.eu/ Make a reservation if you want to see them and relax for a spell!
And if yoga is your thing you can do classes with Alexandra- see her site here:
https://www.yogawithalex.eu/
Of course their hospitality was off the chart- they had a big meal waiting for us (see Ron and Deb digging in above) and another highlight was watching 16mm films that were shot by Wim Van Acker dating back to 1930! If you like vintage Iceboat footage make a pilgrimage to see these!
More to follow….
Bummer…no doc fellows tomorrow
Bill B investigated the ice and found styrofoam which is not good for sailing/racing. He said maybe after some rain on Monday conditions will improve.
I am really grateful to those doing ice checks this season. Thank you for time you spend traveling, etc.
Think better ice,
Karen DN 5630
Sent from my iPad
DN worlds Part 4
Last but not least- in Bad Zwischenahn there’s an OLD restaurant called Der Spieker… great place, awesome food including the local specialty, smoked eel. You have to eat at least one for luck! So I did…. not bad!
They have a local spirit here that they drink in big spoonfuls and also use to wash the eel oil off your hands at the table!
DN Worlds Pt 3
This is at Torsten Siems’ house/warehouse in Bad Zwischenahn. This is where we assemble boats and get ready for the trip- his generosity is extraordinary and much appreciated!
IDNIYRA Secretary Deb Whitehorse and Montana photographer/videographer Sean Heavey having coffee in Torsten’s warehouse/shop
Ron Sherry loading gear for the trip north to Sweden
Your author and Torsten Siems. He is forcing a smile even though we are trashing his nice neat shop!
Jorg Bohn, host and all around amazing guy, loading gear into his giant Sprinter van…
His garage after we cleaned it out of all the DN gear. As you can see he loves bikes too!
The big Sprinter. I drive big boats for a living and helming this thing is not all that different….
DN Worlds Trip Pt 2
Some photos of yards and driveways. All nice and neat and orderly.
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This is the waste pile at a construction site. Even this is neat, orderly and well kept.
NEIYA IN EUROPE
Howdy All- just an update on the road to the DN World champs- Here’s the trip in photos so far:
Lufthansa flight from Boston. Don’t know why but I think the 747 is one of the coolest planes ever.
Flight very undercooked- nice to have a whole row of your own!
All of my gear safe and sound in Frankfurt. For what I paid they should have included a person to help haul it!
My rental car for the trip from Frankfurt to my host Jorg Bohn’s house in Oldenburg
A cool “stones in a cage” wall in Oldenburg
A local fave in Oldenburg- it’s a drink sold in pharmacies as a lineament for sick livestock. Last time I had a shot of this it was 2011 I think. I can still taste it!
More to come, stand by….
New England Champs – The scores! & This Weekend
Hi everyone,
It was very fun last weekend and I am so glad we were able to get in a regatta with so many boats on the line. I did my best to interpret the score sheets I was handed…if a mistake please let me know and I will do my best to review/correct. My email is karenbinder@hotmail.com
RE: This Weekend – Snow did hit north of us and Bill B said he will check how the ice fared. Sunday will be the day if anything this weekend. Ill send an update when I know more!
New England Ice Yacht Association 