Nite News 12/10/02
The webmaster (and secretary now, I let Tom Sweitzer talk me into the job!) wishes to apologize for the lateness of the first Nite News of the season. A few cataclysmic events converged to suck up most of my time - namely getting married, a hacker attack on our ISP, and early ice. Things should get back to normal, maybe, I think .....
The Season Begins
By our Friends in Minnesota
From Mike Bloom
(#535) 10/7/02:
It snowed today up here in Tonka Land this morning. It did not snow long and I
would be exaggerating greatly if I said it amounted to a dusting. Still, it did
snow and I have several witnesses from work.
Under normal circumstances, the first snow of the year would hardly be worth
mentioning. However, when the wife prohibits all out of season iceboat activity,
I look for any excuse to say the season has begun. Therefore, to make it
official, I called Commodore Slocum and, had I actually been able to speak with
him, I am confident that he would have declared the 2002/2003 iceboat season
officially open.
So, that's what I told my wife ...and let the games begin!
From Mike Bloom (#535)
11/18/02:
We are getting close. Several DN sailors went up to Lake Christiana which is west of Alexandria MN and
just north of Ashby MN. The lake is frozen, but it was something less
than two inches. The DN'ers set up but did not sail due to thin ice and very
high wind. Not sure how much
ice we will be able make this week. The forecast is for milder temps.
From Mike Bloom (#535)
11/26/02:
You heard it here
first. If the weather holds, the Tonka Nite sailors plan to sail this weekend!
Typical for this time of year, the Nites plan to follow the DN's to Lake
Christina. The lake is some 160 miles west, north-west of Minneapolis just past
Alexandria, MN. In years past, this huge, albeit very shallow, body of water has
provided plenty of smooth, fast, boatable ice in the early season.
From Mike Bloom (#535)
12/2/02:
I did sail this weekend,
although I use the term loosely.
On Saturday, November 30, 2002, after driving three hours to Lake Christina in
beautiful Ashby MN, five Nites and several DN's were shocked to discover that
the ice was not what we had expected . Despite positive reports and favorable
temperatures, the large sheet of hard fast ice was littered with dozens of huge
holes. At a minimum, each was the size of a large swimming pool. Apparently,
early last week, the area had one day of 40 degree temps causing multiple drain
holes. Then, once the holes were formed, the area was hit with three days of
huge winds. According to the weather channel, sustained winds in excess of 25mph
were not uncommon and one evening they saw gusts to 50mph. Apparently, all that
wind opened the holes.
What the untrained eye could not see from shore was the magnitude of the
problem. The open water blended almost perfectly into the ice. Anyway, my travel
mates took advantage of my enthusiasm to sail. I was duped into rigging my boat
while Erwin and Nordlie putzed ( or should I say stalled) on shore. I should
have guessed something was up when they "volunteered" to help me carry my boat
to the ice. Still, I was pumped to go sailing and saw two DNs putting up some
orange cones.
Once the cone was set,
I casually sailed toward it as I sat rode side saddle on my transom with my feet
on my plank. As I surveyed the lake, I was pleasantly surprised to see that
everything much better than I expected. Still, for some reason, rather than go
ripping down the lake, I decided to stop at the cone to talk with the two DN'ers
who were standing nearby. I have no idea what prompted me to stop but once out
of my boat they told me to look back at my tracks. Unbelievably, I could now see
that I had sailed between two very large pieces of open water! I had narrowly
missed both by just a matter of feet! Only then did I realize how dangerous the
ice was. I never saw the water...and I was looking for it! If I could not see
the open holes sitting high on my boat going about 15 mph, there is no way I was
going to see anything hunkered
down and going 60mph. The cone was not the weather mark. Rather, it was intended
to show the holes in the ice.
Disappointed, I sailed back to shore. I was careful to following the exact path
I had traveled out on. With the help of others, I put away my boat in record
time. Then , after a quick three hours of driving, I was home by 4pm.
On Sunday afternoon, I traveled out to Swede Lake just 10 miles west of
Minnetonka. About a dozen DN's, including Jim Gluek, were feasting on beautiful
ice and moderate winds. Jim was kind enough to let me sail his DN for a few
laps. There is nothing like a DN to teach you that we rarely use our neck
muscles!
Swede is a small lake, almost too small, but the ice is perfect so the plan is
to sail there next weekend. After all, iceboating beats not iceboating and a
small lake is better than no lake.
From David Ferguson 12/5/02:
Update: Lake Minnetonka
froze smooth, as far as I could tell, on Monday evening December 2nd. It has
been 5-10 degrees at night and 15-22 degrees for daytime highs since it froze.
Dusting (well under an inch) of very light, dry snow on ice. I would guess that
it will be ready for this weekend. Peter, will keep you posted because I am sure
he has or will check it out.
From Mike Bloom (#535)
12/5/02:
We have Ice.
Tonka froze Monday night. Hopefully, we can inspect ice and sail
this weekend. The alternative is to follow the DN's to Buffalo and launch at
Sturgis Park, near the edge of town. All area lakes are covered with about 1/4
inch of snow.
Nites in Connecticut
From Bob Lee (#278) 12/10/02:
I am the owner of Nite #278
sailing on Bantam Lake in Bantam, CT. The Nite population is not too large
in these parts and I do not race actively but I would still like to maintain
contact with the class association and encourage any interested Nite sailors to
make the trek to Bantam Lake.
The Conn. Ice Yacht Club to which I belong has been active on Bantam Lake since the early forties. The approximately forty members sail primarily Skeeters with a few DNs (my previous boat), J-14s, and Arrows with occasional visits from Scooters and stern steerers. We maintain a rustic clubhouse and parking area on North Shore Rd. Our Secy/Treas George Neyssen (Yankeeboyc152@attbi.com) edits an excellent newsletter that keeps everyone up to speed. Thanks again for the membership info. I hope some other Nite sailors will be encouraged to visit our lake.
Southeast Wisconsin Area
From Fred Miller
(#371) 12/10/02:
Many lakes froze in the past
two weeks and are covered in smooth, black ice. Some pleasure sailing and
tune-up racing was done in the Madison area last weekend. Nites also
attempted to sail on Pewaukee Lake last weekend but were limited to tuning due
to many cracks and holes in the ice. Two boats went swimming but were
quickly rescued. Another attempt will be made on the weekend of 12/14 but
with forecasts of warm temps during the week and rain on Saturday, we may have
to wait just a bit more.
Grand Slam Regatta
The Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club has tentatively called on the Grand Slam Regatta for the weekend of December 14-15, 2002. Go to the Regatta Information page of the Four Lakes web site for more details. Nites can sail in this event.
Nites on Nick at Night???
From
Tom Sweitzer (#272) 12/4/02:
The cable station, Nickelodeon wants to put together a
Nite Ice Boat
video segment to show
sometime in January or February. One of those "oddball/extreme sports" things, I suppose. Sorry, doesn't
seem to be any $$$ in it for us. Anyway, they would like us to shoot
some video and send it to them. If anyone already has some footage or
if you have a camera and are
interested in shooting something for them, let me know and I will pass along the info to you.
Dues are $10.00 and payable now. Please send your dues to the secretary with the information below. Sending in dues will keep you on our mailing list. If you have sold your boat, please send Fred Miller the name and address of the new owner so we can update our records.
Make checks out
to:
International Nite Class
Association or Fred Miller
Please return
to:
Fred Miller
W279 N2923 Rocky Point Road
Pewaukee, WI 53072
Nite Network
To be placed on our "Where are we sailing this weekend" network, please send your email address and cell phone number to the secretary: millf@execpc.com
Known Ice Conditions
Pewaukee Lake: Frozen. Smooth black ice. Numerous small holes and cracks.
Lake Como: 3" to " of snow with some drifts over smooth ice.
Lake Delavan: 4" of smooth ice with some holes on the north end.
Lake Mendota: Open.
Lake Monona: Open.
Lake Kegonsa: 4" to 6" of smooth ice.
Lake Minnetonka, MN: Frozen. Being check out.