To Fun and Friendship! Photo: Dideric van Riemsdijk
Mike Bloom shares his incredible day at Baikal. For those of you who don’t know, Mike and his good friend, Mark “Doctor” Christensen had promised to make the journey to Baikal together but the Doctor passed on after a long illness at the beginning of this sailing season. Mike kept their promise and remembers his friend at the close of this ice sailing season on Baikal. Good luck getting home.
Yesterday is why you travel to Baikal. When the winds called the Baikal Beast exceeded 17m/s and racing was cancelled I was invited to visit the Stupa on the big island out in the lake. So I put on my spikes for a 7 km walk in winds so strong it could blow us off our feet. Dederic organized the day and we were joined by his wife Alexandra, Chris Berger and Marci and two other Dutch sailors both named Hans.
A Stupa is a religious structure containing the remains of Buddhist monks and is used as a place of meditation.
The shape of the Stupa represents a Buddha, crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. But a local guide said the Stupa may represent the five purified elements: land, water, air, fire, and sun.
We honored the Buddhist tradition of circumambulation which is an important ritual of walking three times around the Stupa. As a result, Stupas have a path around them. We also left a small token at the alter. Surrounding the Stupa were many prayer flags. Being there was a moving and spiritual experience.
We then walked back to the ice and walked to the tip of the island to view a famous rock outcropping in the shape of a dragon.
From there we walked around edge of the island to seek shelter as the winds really picked up. We stopped in a beautiful spot with an amazing view of the lake. The rock outcroppings were covered with ice and Dideric and Marci surprisingly produced a bottle of Baikal vodka and glass shot glasses. We all briefly spoke about how fortunate we are to sail in Baikal and to be together with friends from around the world.
Mark Christensen
We drank a toast to Mark (Doctor) Christensen and then a separate toast to fun and friendship.
As we started the 7k/m trek home suddenly a four dirt Buggy’s were heading straight for us. They were incredibly loud and appeared to be having way too much fun. Turns out they were sent by Jörg to find us.
After a couple of high speed 360’s they stopped and offered three of us a ride to see some ice caves, mountain goats and another large spiritual rock shrine. So without hesitation Hans, Hans and I jumped in. After all, what could go wrong traveling at freeway speeds on a sheet of ice in dirt buggy’s driven by a bunch of crazed iceboaters!
Some three hours later we were back on shore for the regatta’s international dinner. Each sailor brought food from their home country.
Jorge brought eel. Hamrak brought salami and herring. Jost brought bread and sausage. Marci made delicious American baked beans. The Swiss brought Cheese and chocolate while I have no idea who brought the rest.
After a very fun dinner the music started, as did the dancing. Young and old joined the festivities and international boundaries were no longer relevant.
Sailing continues today. The ice has gotten slightly better. Not sure about the wind though.
I made the difficult decision to join Berger and Marci and return home today. Air travel out of Irkutsk is getting difficult. European borders are being closed to foreigners. My airline reservations keep getting cancelled. Many others have already left.
My trip to Baikal was everything Ron Sherry, Jörg and Dideric promised it would be. The people, the culture, the geography is indescribable. It was truly a remarkable journey. One I will remember forever.
Think ice.
The Dragon Photo: Dideric van Riemsdijk
The world famous Stupa at Baikal. Photo: Dideric van Riemsdijk
An Ice Optimist digs in on Lake Baikal. Photo: Igor Bassearab
A few short messages and photos from Mike were waiting in the in-box this morning. Looks like he’s starting the journey back home.
Update: I’m not sure if he’s heading back. Stay tuned for more updates.
Postponed. Gusts to 17m/s. No racing. The Baikal Beast is roaring. Way too much wind.
“Here is a picture of me with the world’s most famous DNer. (Joerg Bohn) An honor to be with him.”
“Berger and Marci obviously know racing is cancelled.”
This is Baikal Ice Yacht Racing too!
Every morning yoga with a view at the lake
Ice Optimists racing on Lake Baikal. Photo Igor Bassearab
Mike Bloom wrote this tonight. The sailing conditions are tough but are inconsequential compared to the challenges he will be facing trying to get back to his home ice on Minnetonka. Good luck, Mike. We are pulling for you.
Very tiring day. And frustrating.
The course is 60-80% covered with Styrofoam snow drifts. Many drifts are taller than a runner.
Today we saw nuclear winds, massive wind shifts and super light wind, all in the first race. After today’s first race was completed and scored the race committee threw it out. They said conditions were unfair.
We then sat or slept for the next 3 hours waiting for the wind to reappear.
Racing resumed about 4:30 pm. The race was completed and score. Polish sailor Marek Stefaniuk P107 won the race. The race was like riding a hobby horse. Between the puffs and the sticky drifts the boats were very jumpy. Tons and tons of sheeting in and out. Never could get into a groove.
We sailed a third race that was not without drama. We started about 5:15. First lap had nice steady breeze. Second lap it started to die. Second time down wind saw lots of the leaders out of their boats. Between the light air and big big drifts jibing was impossible. Third lap was very light upwind and down. Again, most everyone was out of boat at some point. Many sailors retired. As I got to finish the scorers we’re waking away. I was told race was abandoned. They said the leader didn’t make time limit. But tonight results were magically posted… with mistakes.
We sailed in as the sun set, which happens here at about 7. It then promptly turned dark. Very frustrating to take boat apart in the dark. We could have used the headlights on the Probe’s suburban to shine some light on the pits.
Huge winds with nuclear puffs are forecasted starting tonight into tomorrow. Virtually everyone took down their masts, tied them to their hulls and anchored boat to ice.
Many sailors are heading home early. There is much concern about European countries closing boarders. Seems like the affects of the norovirus has finally hit Baikal.
Not sure what I’m going to do. Delta has already told me my flight to Mpls has been cancelled. I rebooked on Air France but now they too say my flights have been cancelled. If any of you big wigs have a private jet, please let me know. I would like to get home at some point.
DNs line up to start a race on Lake Baikal. Photo: Igor Bassearab
After a couple of days of wind famine, the feast arrived on Baikal. Mike Bloom sent a photo a few hours ago with a short message that the racing was delayed because the wind was blowing 10 meters per second (22 mph). The situation turned around and they were able to race today. See video below. More: Baikal Ice Yacht Racing Facebook page.
Minnetonka DNer Mike Bloom on Lake Baikal. Photo: Sophia Marc-Martin
Bottom line: no sailing today.
After being served lunch in the pits, the fleet was instructed to assemble a few miles down the lake on the other side of a huge rock island. Once there, a silver qualifier was attempted but black flagged due to an expired time limit on the 3rd Lap. Next it was the OptI fleet’s turn to be blacked flagged when nobody made it to the weather mark.
No Gold fleet races were attempted. We can’t sail till the Silver qualifier takes place.
Finally, at about 5 pm we were excused for the day. And yes, no sooner were we told to go home then the wind came up. Since the sun doesn’t set till nearly seven Chris Berger convinced Peter Hamrak, a Russian named Sergei, and Mike Bloom to sail multiple hot laps back near the pits.
The ice on Baikal is less than ideal. I’d rate the ice a 6. The lake is full of snow drifts that are deep and hard. It takes some great steering and lot of luck to navigate the course. Hopefully, our evening session will serve us well tomorrow, when the wind is predicted to reappear.
It’s been another long day. Time for a shower and some shut eye.
