Quaboag Pond Super smooth Surface – 2-15-20 Credit Mike Acebo

Seven boats sailed Quaboag today on a very smooth surface. There are a few open leads as well as some other hazards, some are marked. The area is not that large but should be plenty of space for cruising and racing.

Quaboag Pond, Brookfield, MA https://goo.gl/maps/LXKKs4PgatYfa7er8

We will be running the Doc Fellows with the Skipper’s meeting at 9:30.

Whether you come to race or cruise, come early or late, be sure to check with those who know the existing hazards and sail heads up till you understand where they are.

This has been a tough season and we don’t know how many more opportunities we will have, so load ’em up and see you tomorrow.

Sail Fast,

John
DN5023
John@neiya.org

Dang…

https://www.idniyra.org/2020/02/15/2020-european-championship-cancelled/

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!

Regatta done!

https://www.idniyra.org/2020/02/13/lukasz-zakrzewski-p155-wins-2020-gold-cup/

No breeze so far today. Taking a nap in the truck…. IceBoating teaches one to make the best of any situation….

https://www.idniyra.org/2020/02/12/2020-dn-worlds-day-3-pm-report/

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

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!

No action photos from yesterday but here is one from the morning and one from the evening…

Light breeze today, keeping speed up in rough patches was the key! Take a look at results so far-

https://idniyra.eu/wc-2020-second-day-results/

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

All,

Below are a few items that T wanted to pass along but somehow didn’t make the 3700+ air miles journey.

And the word of the day was wet…

wet

Wet…

I am sure we will have more from Osla Lake tomorrow.