What do you do when your runners are sharpened, your Skeeters are ready for ice, and the temperature is a balmy 70F in the middle of December? The guys next door to iceboat.org HQ, Ken Whitehorse and Paul Krueger of the Past Champions Iceboat Shop, made good use of the day and painted their trailer. However, today’s falling temperatures moved the project back inside for wheel-bearing packing, almost as important as sharp runners.
Welcome HELLSBELLS, Mark Isabell’s new Class A Skeeter build which he just painted. Mark named it after his father’s boat. I look forward to energetically saying HELLSBELLS every time Mark round the leeward mark when scoring.
In Renegade news, paint cans have been seen accumulating at the Ron Rosten shop, and word has it that Greg McCormick’s Renegade will be sporting a fresh paint job this season.
Iceboaters are problem solvers, and Andy Gratton is one of the best. Based upon his experience at Lake Christina near Ashby, MN, last season, Andy figured out a way to make it easier to ferry a Renegade up and down a steep bank. Having “lifted hulls up and down banks one too many times,” he built a helpful device that easily picks up a Renegade hull.
“The crane will easily pick a Renegade (or perhaps a C skeeter hull.) It has a pick point about 11 feet aft of the trailer axle. I think that will do for getting the hulls over the bank we were using last year. As you can see from the photos, the slings and spreader bar works well for a Renegade hull. Both slings are the same length.”
And now for something completely different, via Daniel Hearn at the Spaight Street Syndicate.
The World According to Dash
If you’re like me, time always seems to run short when you’re prepping for the first regatta of the season. So, when nature calls, “ain’t nobody got time for dat.” Well, fret no more! Just get yourself a combo rolling work bench/changing station, like my Pappy’s, and do what I do. Drop that deuce right in your pants. Faster than a Struble start, you’ll be back at it before your runner even cools. Critical Hack–Make sure your sanitation engineer clears the bench of any carbon fiber dust. That can be very unpleasant on a fella’s bum.
Bob Kau visits the Past Champions Skeeter Shop.
