1-25-09

It was nice to wake this Sunday morning and not open the door to a
foot of fresh snow. According to my wife the walking almanac the
past two Sundays we were slammed with snow storms. It was dead
calm this morning and blistering cold. I sat as I do every morning with
Keiko and Booger watching the trees and the blades of my windmill.
After visiting my daughter’s dorm room in Boston I will never take for
granted watching the trees, the sky and the blades of my windmill
ever again. At 7:36 Mother Nature flipped the switch. The familiar
sight of trees in motion and blades whirring are always a good way to
start the ice boater day.
I let Keiko out for her morning sniffing session and started in on the
pre-sail calls to see who felt like sailing where. We are a moody bunch
and it’s always good to get the general consensus before making
plans for the day. Fluky winds, blistering temps, and fresh plowed
mushy ice were the cause for the group to be out of sync. The
Westerly winds were all the excuse I needed to give the short track a
whirl. Bonnie was anxious to play on it as well. Larry not having a day
on the ice at all this season was an easy sell. Mike decided to hold
back and see what developed. Excessive barking from the front door
was telling me that Keiko was irritated because I hadn’t come out and
put her in the truck where she spends most of the day. It’s her rolling
doghouse. I promptly boosted Keiko into the truck, did my usual half
slip, half fall routine and made my way back to the house. I rolled up
the sail that covered the living room floor, grabbed my back pack,
walked out the door, down the driveway, and took a left towards the
short track. I thought as I hiked along with my sail and backpack that
this is how Kim travels in Boston except there is no "T" on Little Deer
Isle.
The short track was looking ripe for a ride. The scant ice was black,
glistening and hard. Platapuss was setting on her blocks, halyard
clanging in the wind, ready for the long overdue attention she
deserved. She would be sporting the big, multi colored, cut down,
altered, and re altered Hobie 16 sail today.
During the sail hoisting phase of the morning Bonnie came rolling in
with a big frost bitten smile on his face. He was driving his private
Zamboni and anxious to do some resurfacing. Larry arrived shortly
after with Little Monsta. The short track was a challenge to sail but I
found it to be most enjoyable. Passing was very limited and avoiding
the Zamboni was a must. The Zamboni driver was always willing to
give us a push if we stalled and had plenty of extra horsepower to do
so. I tried to convince Bonnie to sail but he was glued to the seat of
that tractor and tickled to be making ice. Larry was finally getting the
chance to push some air around Little Monsta’s sail. The local window
watchers had come across the field for a closer look and some were
packing cameras. Was Elvis on the ice or were they taking pictures of
us? The iceboat Paparazzi had landed. I’m glad I had my new creepers
on for the photo shoot. Timing is everything.
In the big theme of iceboating it would appear that we had a very
small day. No record speeds, No mile long hikes and no trophies to
put on the mantle. Just one of those days where you find a small
piece of ice and do something on it. Having fun is that simple.