Winter is here in the Four Lakes area; we seem to have skipped November and gone right into December. Ken Whitehorse is working hard prepping his Class A Skeeter plank for red paint. Paul Krueger and Ken will be ready for ice – which might come early this year. It was 8F here this morning and with more single digit temps in the forecast – it’s making ice somewhere!
Uplifting art
Previously at the Spaight St. Syndicate
Daniel Hearn is inspired to name his C Skeeter by, well, read on…..
What’s In a Name
“What, are you thirteen,” she said rolling her eyes? I had to take a quick mental inventory. Let’s see—I still think there’s nothing funnier than a fart in church. I have many names for my male member, and each includes an adjective found on the Thesaurus page for huge. I burp out loud when I think no one else is around. I sometimes forget to put the toilet seat back down. I think Hershey’s is good chocolate. Even though I know I’m not supposed to, I often cut all the food on my plate at one time, because it’s so much more efficient. “Yeah, pretty much,” I replied. “So, what you’re saying is that C-Man is not an appropriate name for a C-Skeeter driven by a man my age who has four children—three of them daughters?” She just walked away, so I took that as an affirmative. Maybe I can still cancel the decal order.
Probably needs to be more sophisticated to win the approval of my Mrs. I hadn’t recalled asking for her approval, but nonetheless, it became clear that she thought she had a vote. I had carved up the districts within our household trying to prevent that, but clearly my gerrymandering was ineffective.
Maybe something from literature? The classics? Or how about mythology? Those Greeks were so sophisticated they convinced people to see pornography as art. I think the sculptors were just as juvenile as me. Their wives were certainly rolling their eyes when the Mr. was out back in the shed chiseling the fine form of a woman with a righteous amount of junk in the trunk.
There must be a cool-sounding “C” name in mythology, with deep meaning, that would be a fitting reflection of my masterpiece. (Well, it may not be a masterpiece, but it’s the best this paint-by-numbers kind of guy can do). That’s it—Callipygian! I think it’s perfect. And I’ll score points with the Mrs. when I tell her that I named the boat after her. But this time, I’m not disclosing the name until the fat bottomed girl hits the ice.
Now that you’ve Googled my name, let me know what you think. Will I be sleeping on the couch again, or will she be flattered by her juvenile husband of 32 years?
Official team gear available here: Righteous Junk
A remembrance of a good man who brought many into the sport and a request from Mike Acebo of the Long Island, NY ice sailing community:
One of the most important members of the Long Island, NY iceboating community has sailed on. Bob Reeves, Orient NY, past Commodore of the Orient Ice Yacht Club has left us. His presence at every Long Island ice boating event, and beyond, served to coalesce our community and add to the membership of every club he was involved with. He was an avid Stern Steerer historian, builder and sailor with the history of several generations of iceboaters in his family. Through his plumbing supply business in Greenport he sold Skimmer 45’s to numerous locals to initiate them into the sport on local Hallock Bay, tiny Swan Pond and Lake Ronkonkoma. Many of these Skimmer sailors moved on to DN’s, C Skeeters, Stern Steers and the earliest 9 boat fleet of J14’s, an Orient club boat building project spearheaded by Bob. He was safety conscious, shared good ice reports and often spent his iceboating days helping others set-up, adjust rigging and advising novices how to improve their sailing while his J14 #20 stood by waiting. He travelled to ice and taught us there was always ice somewhere. Bob has moved on in the search of perfect ice. We will remember Bob in our own search for that perfect ice and great day with fellow iceboaters.
If anyone would like to share their stories of Bob please send them my way for our Club history archives.
Thank you,
Mike Acebo
macebo@mac.com
LRIBYC Newsletter editor
Looking to attend an iceboat swap meet? We’ve got you covered across iceboating country, from east to west. If you are new to the sport or a seasoned veteran, swap meets are the perfect place to kick the tires, shop for parts, and meet ice sailors. Have a boat or parts to sell? Take them to your local swap meet.
EAST:
New England Ice Yacht Club
Saturday November 2, 2019
10 AM with lunch at noon
Hudson-Concord Elks Hall
99 Park Street, Hudson, MA 01749
More information.
CENTRAL:
West Michigan Swap Meet at the Muskegon Yacht Club
Saturday, November 2, 2019
9 AM – 1 PM
3198 Edgewater St, Muskegon, MI 49441
WEST
Skeeter Iceboat Club Swap Meet
Sunday, November 3, 2019
9 AM to Noon
Lucke’s Cantina
220 N. Elkhorn Rd. (WI Hwy 67), Williams Bay, WI.
More information
FAR WEST
Minnesota Ice Sailors Swap Meet
Saturday, November 2, 2019
9 AM – Noon
Sailcrafters
7450 Oxford St., St. Louis Park, MN 55426
More information
Via John Cassidy and the Montana Icebuds Facebook page, looks like we have first runners on the ice in North America and quite possibly the world. This DN sailed on Ray Creek on Friday, November 1, 2019. Ray Creek is part of the famous Canyon Ferry watershed.
Jeff Russell and Jerry Simon.
Something good can often come out of something bad. Recall at the end of last season, the 4LIYC racing marks went missing. Mark Master Jerry Simon made a set of new and improved marks. These new marks are much bigger than the old set and should be easier to pick out on the course.
Jerry writes:
Jeff Russell and I spent the morning fabricating some new ice boat marks. The evolution is evident with the oldest in the back and newest in front. Bigger and brighter is better I hope.
National Iceboat Authority Web Page
Location: In person at the Elks Lodge 711 Jenifer St, Madison, WI 53703
Time: 6:30 PM
YOU ARE SKIPPER NUMBER
TO ROUND THE MARK SINCE NOVEMBER 1999.
