Feb 15 09

With the big rainstorm predicted last week
we all had visions of Bo Derek Ice this
weekend. We are starved for ice and ready
for our place at the buffet. Every dog has
his day and we were more than ready for
ours. After spending the day Saturday
scouting several ponds and salt water inlets
it appears that somehow we missed the
buffet and ended up in the trash bin. So
dumpster diving we went in search of a
tidbit of ice to sail on.
The tidbit for Feb 15 was a small piece of
ice along the Eastern shoreline of Walker
that was smooth as silk and a modest boat
width wide. It was tight against the
shoreline and within spitting distance of the
trees and rocks that sometimes can ruin a
good set of runners and the boats attached
to them. This tidbit of ice was separated
from our launch area by a mile and a half of
the most god awful ice that one could
imagine.
This Sunday morning Bonnie, Mike,
Robbie(official orange cone vehicle driver)
and I rigged, counted our blessings and set
sail across the lumpy, track riddled, butt
pounding surface that was not even on the
ice rating scale. As the rigging in Iceaholic
rattled, clanged and banged over the ice
mounds I had visions of every laminated
piece of the boat coming unglued and
scattering across the ice. This day of sailing
gave me a whole new kind of trust for
Titebond glue.
We reached our destination, instructed
Robbie as to cone location and started
working the small appetizer that Walker had
served up to us. There was a frisky
Northerly breeze which moved us across the
ice at a pleasing pace. I caught Mike doing
a Mark Kindschi hike and thought he was
going to lose the ol Locomotive to the
elements. Later when I asked him if he was
having trouble with his jam cleat he replied
"no I was double fisting the sheet and
giving her more". Bonnie was also
stretching his sheet quite hard and checking
out his new mast rotating gismo. I didn’t
see many wrinkles in his sail either. There
was the unusual smell of exhaust in the air
this day as our cone guy was keeping his
golf cart up to temperature and in a
spiraling motion most of the day.
We found the boat wide strip of perfect ice
to be lacking in wind so the only way to
enjoy its smooth , silky, satisfying ride was
to get up a good head of steam on the
railroad tracks and do a power jibe into the
sheltered shoreline and ride the magic
carpet. We could actually hold our speed on
the wind sheltered ice and sometimes a
random puff would work its way onto the
smooth ice and give us a healthy boost back
out onto the tracks. We sailed this pattern
for hours. It felt great to be back on the ice
regardless of its size and quality. The wind
stayed strong til mid afternoon when it
started to come and go like it usually does
before dying on Walker. The thought of a
mile and half push through miserable ice
was enough to convince me to head for the
barn. The wind was perfect for a wild ride
back to the pits. Iceaholic felt like a
speedboat in a thunder squall as she
skipped and hopped over the rough ice.
Helmet visor down and seat in the upright
position was the only way to put this test of
torture to an end. Even our cone hauler lost
its load coming Southbound on Walker but it
didn’t bother Robbie in the least to make
another trip North to retrieve his lost cargo.
It was a most enjoyable pounding this day
and ice that we will probably used as a
benchmark for years to come.

Kevin