iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

Sorry, folks, but the end is near. First, the “Powers-To-Be” moved up the the first day of spring. We traditionally celebrated the beginning of spring on March 21. Now, however, astronomers and calendar manufacturers say spring starts one day earlier, March 20. By my calculations, that’s one day of sailing we will never get back.

the big zamboni all frozen by thurs. and mon big big wind gone. sat maybe no wind. im putting on at tonka bay beach. or put on at harrys. as always lake needs to be scouted at slow speed to find any hassards!! sail safe. meyer

Have two reliable reports of good 8” ice on Pepin. It’s been sailed at Pepin, Wi.
Meyer and I will sail/scout Wed at 11 am. More are welcome to join us. Expect to sail from Lake City to Wisc side and Pepin too.
Hopeful for DN Westerns there next weekend. The recent snow missed them.

checked ice fri noon. quite smooth but still needs freezing as water under top layer of ice. should be good by sun as quite cold fri night and sat. should be checked again sat by harrys for sailing sun and mon before pos snow mon. Ice needs to be checked before sailing!!

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Thursday at noon will see a group of iceboaters looking to race again on the new ice South of Bracketts. I drilled 5.5” on Tuesday. We had 2 DN’s, 2 mini skeeters and 2 Nites enjoying the 40 degree sunshine and 8-10 winds. We do not plan to cross the wet heave running North-South from Bracketts to the west tip of Big Island. Solum did cross it, but I got stuck!
Hope the NW winds stay below 15 on Thurs.

Beautiful weekend on Tonka in warm sunshine. DN’s ripped up the Main Lake North end on Sat They had one nice patch of new freeze about 4” thick to play on. JH Peterson posted on FB photos of all in race mode.

rough spot and sm crack out from harrys. otherwise all eastern side of lake good. 6” with one late area 3”. not a 10 but very good. no cracks in this area. didnt go over to west side of lake. making more ice mon night. should be good yet for racing fri sat sun!! meyer

I know Mike said that standing a few hundred yards in front of Harry's that the ice towards Brackett's Point "looks" good but BEWARE! Standing on tip of Brackets Point this morning and looking towards Harry's I could see open water and duck holes. Also, while the big open spot that covered at least 1/3 of the main lake earlier this week is now mostly skimmed over it has not been scouted and I doubt it is more than an inch thick. The fisherman in Browns Bay this am said they would not venture out on the ice. The bait shop in Navarre said stay off the main lake.

Tonka Main lake at noon Sat. Walked out 200 yards from Harry’s public easement. Over 5.25 inches thick in 5 separate locations. The drill bit is only 5.25 inches! The first 100 yards was 50% rough ice and 50% stiff old snow up to 1” high. Would need to sail slow.
Out where my my drill photos are is much smoother ice with scattered drifts 1/2” high. Looks the same in all directions past MYC, Big Island and toward Bracketts Pt. Very sailable from MYC- Big Island- Excelsior. About a 6-7 scale. Must carry iceboats 75 feet at this launch.

good ice from harrys to almost shoewodd yc to sunrise pr. smooth hardly any snow or drifts. main lake stilk open spots fri noon so NOT safe from harrys north. put on at kittys sunset pt by log theater. procede with caution as not sailed yet!!! meyer

Kennedy and I joined a couple of kiters and a skate sail on Silver Lake Thursday! A solid 4” of ice in 45F sunshine with South winds of 10-13. Great conditions to rip a short course until the necks couldn’t take it anymore. Got the gps up to 45 mph! One small working seam developed toward the west shore, with a small open spot near a point of land.
There is a suitable DNR launch on the SW corner of lake. Follow Hwy 7 west about one mile, make a sharp left. Not marked gravel road. You feel like it’s a private farm road but head straight east to the trees.

Normally, we don't celebrate weather forecasts that include snow. But last night's 1 inch of snow is a true indicator that cold weather is on its way.
Think Ice!

The fall equinox arrived yesterday and, almost as if on cue, the temperature last night in towns near Hibbing Minnesota dipped to below 32 degrees. It won't be long now!
Think ice.

The 2019 Intl Rank list is out. Several Local boys are ranked high.
Full list is here: https://www.idniyra.org/2018/07/24/2019-international-dn-rank-list/
Notables in top 20: #1 Sherry and Jablanski; #2 J.D and Struble; #3 Orlebeke; #5 Robbie; #7 Doctor and Berger; #15 Isabell; #19 Bloom

Think Ice