Pulling this one off the shelf again for a repost….
Today is Halloween which brings to mind iceboating’s favorite (and only) ghost story, “The Strange Tale of the Ice Soar“, by Greg Whitehorse. Make it part of your Halloween tradition!
Outside the windows of the South Side Ice Yacht Club, the Skeeters, Renegades and Nites were effortlessly gliding over the dark gray ice sheet. Suddenly, sailing into view came a chilling blast from the past. A huge stern-steerer, its yellow stained, canvas sails straining against the twenty mile per hour wind. Behind its sheer size, the Skeeters, Renegades and Nites disappeared for seconds at a time before appearing again on the other side.
Two, no three burly men steered and cranked and pulled, trying to tame the unruly beast. Moving in a southerly direction, its left (port? starboard?) runner gently lifts off the ice, a few feet at first, and then quickly shoots skyward. The runner plank is at an impossible angle to the ice. Surely the beast is going to capsize, but no, the three burly men continue to steer and crank and pull and the ice yacht slowly regains a more proper stance on the frozen surface. A slight change in direction to take advantage of a felt, but unseen wind shift, and the beast sailed away from view.
The 2020-2021 ice sailing season has officially begun. Lowell Ross up in Alberta, Canada posted this video on his Facebook page today.
Well, up here in Northern Alberta we really have an early start to the season after a long drought of years of bad ice or heavy snows. Feels great to see that shoreline come up in 3 minutes that normally takes 30 minutes to reach. Ice sailors are awesome–we even walk on water
B Skeeters on Green Lake in 2013. Photo: Gretchen Dorian
SWAP MEET
Green Lake Ice Yacht Club
Saturday, October 24, 2020
10 AM – 2 PM
Green Lake Town Square
UPDATE: Just a friendly reminder, the Green Lake Ice Yacht Club Swap Meet is tomorrow, October, 24, 2020.
Some breaking news from our friends to the northeast. Green Lake Ice Yacht Club’s Joe Norton called to let us know to save the date of Saturday, October 24, 2020 for an iceboat swap meet that is jointly being hosted by the GLIYC and the area ice yacht clubs of Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and Neenah. Joe explained that their swap meet is in “honor of the Skeeter Iceboat Club” and is a one-time event. The swap meet will take place in Green Lake, WI at the Terrace on the Town Square. Stay tuned for more details to come.
Michigan’s Bill Parker converted his grandfather’s 8 mm ice boating films and uploaded them to YouTube. Take a look.
My father, Bill Parker, and my Grandfather, Howard Parker, built, sailed, and raced iceboats in the Battle Creek, Michigan area. These 8mm films are from the WWII era, primarily after the war. They were scanned from very neglected originals, and the quality is really bad. The original “cinematography” wasn’t great, and Dad was good at taking film of rig or boat details. Much of the footage is relatively static in nature, but there are action shots of iceboats here and there.
The most common iceboats shown are C-class, there is an A class boat or two, and also Skeeters. Grandpa owned an A-class boat for a few years called the “Gossoon”, and later, a Skeeter named “The Duchess.” Dad’s C-Class boat was “Valkyrie”.
I am sure of the Gouguac and Crystal lake venues, but unsure if the other venue is Lake St. Clair. I know they raced there, but also in Wisconsin venues. If you have any information about the venues or the boats, please feel free to comment. [On the YouTube page.]
“Ice Yachts On The Hudson River” by Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick. “They work primarily in the fields of photography and installation art, specializing in fictitious histories [much like winter weather forecasts – Ed.] set in the past or future. Website
The winter forecasts are out, peppered with words that hedge their predictions – terms like possible, possibly, maybe and expected.
You can trust our winter forecasts here at iceboat.org. We guarantee that there will be ice sailing somewhere in North America and around the world, hopefully near you! And make plans to attend your local iceboat swap meet this Saturday, October 24. Information below! WINTER WEATHER GUESSES Farmer’s Almanac NOAA Accuweather John Dee’s Winter Outlook
ICEBOAT SWAP MEETS
EAST – THOMPSON, CONNECTICUT
New England Ice Yacht Club Swap Meet
Saturday, October 24
10 AM
Thompson Motor Speedway Golf Course
205 E Thompson Rd, Thompson, CT 06277 We will have lots of outdoor space for the swap meet, Lunch, and our Annual Meeting. You don’t have to come inside if you are not comfortable doing so but everyone should meet up in the parking lot. You do not have to be a member to attend the swap or other activities. More information
WEST – GREEN LAKE, WISCONSIN Green Lake Ice Yacht Club
Saturday, October 24
10 AM – 2 PM
Green Lake Town Square Parking Lot
Green Lake, WI More information
WEST- DELAVAN, WISCONSIN
Delavan Yacht Club
Saturday, November 7, 2020
10 AM – 3 PM
Location: Delavan Yacht Club
1501 Cedar Point Drive
Delavan, WI More information
An intrepid ice skater who goes by the name “The Dutch Ice Finder” found the first of the season today on Lake Juvvanet in Norway and posted these heart-wrenchingly beautiful photos of perfect, fresh, black ice on his Facebook page. The season is soon upon us, folks.
