Here are some of Montana’s Mini Skeeter fleet who joined us at Fort Peck including John Eisenlohr, Dave Gluek, and Dave Farmer. Via John Eisenlohr’s Facebook page. Now I’m getting ready to head to Green Lake for the Renegade Championship and Nite Commodore’s Cup.
We joined Deb Whitehorse , Daniel Hearn and Pat Heppert at Fort Peck. Some locals from Glasgow showed up with DN’s. We drove 8 hours east on the high line of Montana to get there. Its been good sailing and fun racing the last 3 days. So far I’ve logged 253 miles of sailing. Thanks for inviting us to the photo shoot.
Tim Ogrinic sails a DN on Fort Peck Reservoir on Saturday, February 20, 2021.
Montana’s wild western ice has long been a bucket list item for ice sailors east of the Mississippi and even east of the Atlantic ocean into Europe. The Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club’s C Class Skeeter fleet will soon travel west, destination a wide-open range of ice on Fort Peck Reservoir near Glasgow, Montana. (Pat Heppert has dual citizenship, he’s a Minnesota ice sailor and a 4LIYC member.) I will be joining Pat and Daniel Hearn and making my second trip to Fort Peck. The DN North American Championship was sailed there in 2020, the farthest west the regatta has ever been.
Minnesota ice sailors and others have been sailing Canyon Ferry in Helena for many years. Montana Mini-Skeeter developer John Eisenlohr alerted us to Fort Peck’s potential for the 2020 DN North Americans. We made good friends in Fort Peck, such as photographer Sean Heavey.
So why Montana now? This trip began in Gothenberg, Sweden with Sail Racing. They looked to Sean because of pandemic travel limitations and their need for more photos. In Wisconsin and Minnesota, poor ice conditions turned our gaze west to Montana ice, the canvas Sean lives and breathes. Conditions appear to be just right.
Perhaps there will be some other ice sailors who will meet us there, you never know. There’s big ice, scenery, adventure, and more coming this week. Stand by for Montana.
Fort Peck Reservoir in Montana on 20 February, 2021.
While we wait for ice, Norwegian ice sailors share videos and photos from Soløyvatnet Lake near Bodø, where the scenery is incredible. They appear to take advantage of every drop of daylight with a narrow window of opportunity to sail. The sun rises in Bodø at 10:30 AM and sets at 1:48 PM.
Some enterprising folks on Airbnb are offering an opportunity to camp in a glamorous Oshkosh, WI “ice cave.” The ad brought to mind Andy Gratton’s recent visit to Lake Christina in Minnesota, where he sailed his new blue Renegade. Andy did something he said he always wanted to do; he pitched his tent and slept on the ice. Thanks, Andy, for being a good sport and letting me have some fun with this parody ad.
A soldier who missed sailing his iceboat back east must have been stationed at Fort Sherman, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho back in 1890. Wonder if Lake CDA freezes like that now? Via the Museum of North Idaho:
HAPPY NATIONAL RIDE THE WIND DAY! Sailing Lake CDA isn’t just for the summer. In this photo (circa 1890) Fort Sherman soldiers are ice boating and skating on Lake Coeur d’Alene! That is Tubbs Hill in background. George Donovan, 4th Inft. band from Fort Sherman may have been a member of the skating party.
