I’m feeling a bit like a Goldilocks.

"This day has too much wind."

"This day is too cold."

"This day doesn’t have enough wind."

Well at least the ice was really cool to look at. We tried to get the Beanpot in but the breeze used it self up over the weekend and took Monday off. So no real racing to be had.

The plate inside of Rattlesnake island was about as perfect as it gets with no ridges from shore to shore and some really cool marbling to boot. The marbling was interspersed with patches of perfectly clear black ice which looked terrifyingly like open water by comparison. Fully disconcerting.

There was a good solid 5 to 6 inches of ice so hopefully it will survive this latest pounding from the rain gods. Lets see what happens on the other side.

Oliver Moore

Hey Folks-

A quick glance at the NEIYA home page reveals that we have 900 people following the site online — Kind of a cool milestone for a sleepy little club in New England…

Welcome from near to far. We have followers from every non-temperate State and many that only see ice in their rocks glasses as well as most Canadian Provinces. Across the pond Europe is well represented. Believe it or not we have a few followers from various African nations and warmer parts of Asia. On the Pacific side we have Kiwis and Aussie. No surprise being two nations chock full of “Sailing Fools”.

Not bad!  Good to know that we have so many interested souls out there — Well done gang!

Notably absent from the honorable 900 — Greenland and Alberta Canada. Can we get a few followers from there and anywhere?

Looking forward to hitting the 1000 mark-  encourage your friends to sign up — it’s really easy and only takes a second.  The more the merrier! Just enter your email address in the right column.

And of course signing up to be a full member is quick and easy too — not to mention cheaper than dirt.  So hit the site and click the buttons and join the gang —

And as always,  THINK ICE!

T

P.S. The season is not done yet. See you on the ice…

So sounds like the wind has been doing some work on the ice off of Ellacoya State park. Word is the plate inside of Rattlesnake island has fared better so we are going to launch out of Ames Farm instead:

Ames Farm Inn

Given the fairly radical temperatures we are seeing and the instability of the ice we are going to be very cautious. We are going to try to do some racing if possible but not after doing a good amount of scouting. If racing isn’t in the cards we will do what we can. Should be a nice day on the ice regardless.

See you there.

Oliver Moore
NEIYA Regatta Guy
508-728-8095

We are going to celebrate Washington’s birthday by sailing the Beanpot Classic on Winnipesaukee tomorrow. We will launch out of Ellacoya state park. We are going to have to wait for temperature to warm up a bit but will try to get the first race off by 11. There is potential for snow in the afternoon so again our window is small.

Ellacoya state park

Here we go!

Oliver Moore

No Eastern champs this weekend. There’s ice in Mallet’s bay but the forecast is for a high of 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Not Celsius. And blowing all holy hell. Sounds like a perfectly miserable time. So Saturday and Sunday are off the table for racing.

But Monday looks pretty nice. I know not everyone gets President’s Day off but try to keep it open if you can. We are going to try to get the fabled Beanpot ramped up on Monday. We are all itching to get some good practice in before the big dance of the North American Champs so stay ready and keep an eye on you local spots. If there’s ice we want to know about it.

Stay tuned here for updates and keep your fingers crossed.

Oliver Moore

Not sure if it’s from reading Jack London or Robert Service but the name Mushamush conjures up something distinctly Canadian. In this case it’s not the Yukon but The Maritimes and specifically Nova Scotia.

Below is Warren Nethercote’s chronicles from this past Sunday on Mushamush.

Things are firming up all over the place so stay tuned for some action.

Nine DNs turned out on Mushamush today – or really 8 1/2, since I didn’t arrive until late because of an airport run.  Howard, Tyler, Derek, Clyde, Bob, Dave, Mike, Art and I had a good time.

The ice was hard in the morning but the surface softened as noon approached.  When I arrived around noon the boys were coming in to enjoy Claudette’s excellent chowder as I rigged and sailed with 1/4 inch 100 degree inserts and an FO1.  I was good!   The foundation ice was still black, but with patches of white ice here and there and a uniform quarter inch slush topcoat.  I didn’t think my hundred degree inserts were necessary, but Art reported that his 3/16 inserts were digging deep.

After lunch the sun came out in force with reinforced wind and we all had fast, exciting rides until it was time to head home.  The rides were a bit wet too, from slushy spray from bow runners.

On the wistful side, the ice on Mushamush is getting thinner, and without a good cold spell is not long for this world.  We need to be thankful that Sherbrooke has thicker ice.  The right conditions should see us there before season’s end.  It was my tenth day sailing this season – not great compared to the previous two years, but not bad, considering El Nino.

Not all of the photos are of my boat: at one point Dave Collins got his camera out and rumor has it that there are some good action shots of boats loaded up and goin’ fast!

Warren

DN KC3786

Hello All- Last weekend the Canadian gang somehow managed to get a regatta in the books on Lake Col By (did I spell that right?). Sounds like they had a good turnout and some good racing which saw Peter Van Rossem crowned Intergalactic DN Champion- Nice job Peter! Here he tells us about the regatta and how he took the top spot:

“Saturday ice conditions were fast even though we had about an inch of snow on deck. It was warm which didn’t allow for the snow to get hard and crusty. Wind started out to be about 10 plus kts and steadily increased over the afternoon to major puffs of 15-20. At the end of the day snow crystals were flowing across the deck, blasting the top surface of the ice to a point that we started seeing the actual ice at the end of the day. This set us up great for Sunday BTW, where the temps rose above freezing making the ice slippery …good cause the wind was light.

Saturday I think we had 14 boats out where 12 were actually racing.
I used my 1D Speed sail the whole day and for skates, 3/16 90 degree Inserts with 15” of flat. My mast is a CSI/Kent 4.1 built in 2013 or 2014, can’t recall exactly. My sail was low on the mast , almost two blocked at the forward blocks and main sheet was on hard the whole time…except for in the extreme puffs later in the day where I has do let off for a split second and then bring right back in again to keep the boat flat.

The lake is a small lake and there were big shifts to be gained or lost. I seemed to have been able to capitalize on the winds that I had as John Curtis was equally as fast as I on and off the wind. Interesting taking into account that I have a few pounds on him!

Sunday was light. Started out with some nice breeze which I missed sailing in as I was on shore, rigging my boat. (You Snooze you Loose I guess.) Thanks guys for holding out for me before starting the Race BTW!

Sunday Ice was smooth slippery, as I mentioned because of the mild day.
Winds were the best when we started… at 5-8kts. And gradually fading out to pushing my boat once at the top mark and then several times on the last downwind to cross the line.

I used a used (2000 yr)1D Full Power Sail that I just acquired from Claude Morin in Montreal. Incidentally, John and I both had the same sail and rig and boom (for comparison) Not sure about their blades but I used a pair of Duhamel 100’s Inserts. 20 in of flat.

The starts were in light air so what I did was head down to almost 90 Degrees to the true wind and got my speed up asap. Heading up slowly to find the true groove of the wind and boat speed combination. . This was key to getting off the line with speed…all the while looking at my telltales to see if I was too high or too low. I found this sailing to be a tough groove after looking at John sailing way higher, but with less speed.

Downwind you had to sail deep, past the lay lines in order to keep the power in the boat. Shifts and pressure played a big part in keeping your boat moving. Sail trim was full on up wind while easing off in the lulls to try to keep the air flowing over the sail. This was extremely important on the downwind legs where, pulling in too tight flattened the sail too much leaving no power to keep you moving . I always made sure that if I could, I had max speed at the top of the windward mark. This allowed me max speed (Apparent wind) on the downwind for as long as it lasted.

It was really good to see some of our local boats definitely speeding up this year over last. Sunday could have easily been a pushing race, and was for some but others have got a better grasp at getting their boats moving for sure. Good to see!”

Peter Van Rossem
KC 2766

Hey Folks- if you are a Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club member you have probably received this sweet little sticker in the mail along with the latest CIBC newsletter.

This is a great club with a lot of interesting stuff going on- great variety of boats and people and THE COOLEST newsletter ever.

If you aren’t a member you should be! Send cash or check for only twenty bucks to:
CIBC TREASURER;
Jim Gagnon
PO Box 463
W. Boothbay, ME
04575

Think Ice! T

James “T” Thieler12 Channing St.
Newport, RI. 02840

401 258 6230
t_thieler

Thanks to the Onion for its timely satirical viewpoint

http://www.theonion.com/article/report-lake-ice-grows-safer-to-venture-out-on-with-35001

January 20, 2014
Report: Lake Ice Grows Safer To Venture Out On With Each Beer Consumed

MINNEAPOLIS—According to a report released Monday by researchers at the University of Minnesota, the layer of ice atop frozen lakes grows incrementally thicker and safer to venture out onto with each beer that an individual consumes. “While the surface ice covering a lake may pose a very real hazard of collapsing under the weight of a sober subject, we discovered that this same ice becomes progressively more sturdy with each 12-ounce can of beer that a subject puts back,” said lead researcher Robert Piper, noting that the ice sheets atop lakes, as well as large ponds and certain rivers, could be rendered virtually impervious to cracking beneath a fully grown man provided he has consumed four or more tallboys, regardless of temperature or weather conditions. “Our data clearly show that by collectively finishing a 24-pack of Keystone, Budweiser, or similar American-style lager, ice becomes so safe and stable that a whole group of buddies can walk out onto the lake as far as they want. In fact, you can go ahead and drive a fully loaded truck right on out there, no problem, as long as you and the boys drain a pony keg and the last of the Jack.” Piper went on to confirm that, even in the highly improbable event that someone who has drunk a sufficient number of beers does happen to fall through the ice, the consumption of such beverages simultaneously heats the frigid subsurface lake water to a temperature at which one can be fully immersed for minutes at a time without any risk of hypothermia.

All kidding aside, we are constantly reminded that the “firm” surface we stand on, walk, skate, bike, sail and sometimes park on is never completely safe. We all know this, enough said but do remember safety in numbers can be a myth as seen on Lake Geneva this weekend.

2/6/16 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Cars remain submerged in Geneva Lake Saturday.

http://www.jsonline.com/business/cars-reported-falling-through-ice-at-lake-genevas-winterfest-b99665673z1-367927361.html

Cold is returning this week let’s hope that white stuff holds to a minimum. We are coming into the last of February don’t give up hope there is still plenty of Rec and Racing R&R to left in the 2016 Season.

See you on the ice,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org

P.S. Keep reading and reporting on the Ice Report emails. There are people looking to sail not just on the weekends. If your going out let the group know and bring more sailors out.

Ladies and gents:

What can I say but it is looking like the only know sailable ice is on Moosehead, Rockwood Maine launching from the Birches.

As you have read before its a great venue that is very ice boat friendly.

for further information check our our friends at the Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club http://iceboat.me. They have the latest info on this gem.

Who would have thought, Moosehead with nearly any snow?

Warren Nethercote reported on some Canadian prospects Lake Colonel By in Kingston Ontario Contact is John Curtis, available in IDNIYA yearbook.  We are hoping to sail Mushamush again tomorrow in Nova Scotia. With a name like Mushamush I it needs to be on everyone’s must sail ice list.

Sorry there isn’t anything more central but it has been a challenge for sure.

Keep Thinking Ice we will get out again soon.

John

P.S. If I missed something please jump in on here.
P.P.S. Next week has got to be the week for us. I have been actively petitioning to move Valentines Day to October along side Halloween. Not sure its law yet.