1-17-2010

We woke this Sunday morning to below freezing temps and a
firm ENE breeze. Mike said that he had a 25mph breeze at his
house and Bonnie said his wind gauge was very active this
morning. It was a full turnout and the small parade of trucks
and trailers loaded with happy ice boaters and ice fishermen set
out for Toddy. Yep that’s right. ---ICE FISHERMEN. Apparently
Mike’s daughter Sarah has a young gentleman caller named Alec
who passed up a day of courting to tag along with us in search
of a fish. Mike and Larry had conspired to bring along their sons
Robbie and Marvin to ice fish with Alec. I was disappointed to
say the least to have ice fishermen amongst us and held Mike
and Larry responsible for not converting them to our religion. I
thought to myself that once these young fellers get into a boat
they’ll forget about ice fishing.
Once again we invaded the small community of Orland. We had
to be quiet and stealthy as we backed to the ice so that we
didn’t wake cousin Robert’s gal Elfie as she enjoyed a late sleep
in on her day off from work. No hollering and hooting was the
protocol. While gathering my gear from the truck and strapping
on my creepers I heard what sounded like a top fuel dragster
doing a burnout. What in the hell is that I hollered!! In the
midst of a cloud of two stroke smoke was a young man , bear
hugging a vintage ice auger as its muffler free engine
sputtered, puttered, ripped and roared to drill its first hole.
Alec not being familiar with the setting up process evidently
didn’t see a problem with plastering the pits and ramp area
with holes and traps. The boys were fishing before we got the
first boat set up. Concerned that Alec’s auger may have
exceeded the decibel level that glass would tolerate I checked
Roberts house for broken windows. The movement of curtains
in one room confirmed that Alec had succeeded in becoming the
new Toddy Pond alarm clock.
We rigged our boats under a cold and cloudy sky but the ice
looked great. The previous days melt down had refroze and
made for some fast looking ice. The Easterly winds would make
for a 2 mile reach along the Western shore of Toddy. Expecting
lots of friends to arrive we rigged every thing we had. Richard
from the house next door was there and waiting for us but did
comment that the wind had diminished upon our arrival and
perhaps there was a Jonah amongst us. I have been suspecting
that for a long time, but not made mention fearing that it could
be me. Once rigged the clouds gave way to a most enjoyable
radiant sun , but not a breath of wind to be had. We shot the
breeze in the pits for a awhile but it did nothing more than
create a sucker breeze that we all took advantage of. I stalled
in the middle of Toddy and took a Jory moment to relax in my
boat and enjoy the day. It was so quiet you could hear Mike
cursing Larry a mile away about proper passing etiquette. Larry
claims that he always looks away to hide his grin while passing
but Mike was protesting that he saw a mile wide grin on Larrys
face as he sailed on by. For the most part we had been
overlooking our busy fishermen. They seemed to be content
looking in slush filled holes, playing with their bait fish and
tending traps. Elfie came down to say hello and to inform us
that she had made a Poor Mans Soup for us. She asked if we
liked Poor Mans Soup and I replied "we must ,cause we’re poor".
While setting next to the woodstove in her warm and cozy
kitchen it was a unanimous vote that Elfie was the best
iceboating host we’d ever encountered.
With a hot bowl of soup in our bellies we hit the ice with vigor
looking for the after dinner breeze.
Bruce Brown joined the party and rigged his DN. I think Bruce
quickly realized that we were having our annual fitness day
since we were all walking behind our boats. Bruce quickly joined
the iceboat walkathon but seemed to tire easily and gave in to
riding in his boat.
I hadn’t been paying much attention to our ice-anglers but
there was a rumor in the pits that fish were being landed in
those holes drilled around our parked trailers. Being infant ice
boaters it was only natural that a competitive dispute over flag
ownership would ensue. By mid afternoon it appeared that the
boys were running their own ice derby and we were the
spectators. The hooting and hollering ban had been lifted and
this band of coastal pirates were hauling in the bounty. I must
admit that the boys put on a great show for us and I was beyond
impressed with their presentation, but I’m not going to put an
ice auger rack on Yellow Fever just yet.
The setting sun and forecast of snow told us that our time had
expired and it was time to exit Nirvana and journey back to
reality. We couldn’t help but wonder what an impact 8 mph of
wind would have had on our environment , but who could
complain. A non sailing day doesn’t get much better than this---
or does it? A sweet voice with a German accent from our host
house called out "I have baked you a cake, don’t leave before
having coffee and cake".

Many thanks from all of us to Donna, Levi, Robert and Elfie. It
doesn’t take wind to make things happen on your ice!!

Kevin