iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

I just got off the ice. Sailed out in front of Excelsior Bay, Guidions Bay along Tonka bay and Greenwood. Very smooth hard ice. Very clear. Some shallow drifts along the shorelines. Ice is a good 4"-6" thick.
Sailed Wayzata Bay yesterday, it was good but not nearly as smooth as near Excelsior. Also, the drifts in Wayzata are very dense. Other than my cousin and his Nite I didn't see any other boats out yesterday or today.
Michael

We finally got some sailable ice here in Madison. For now, it's tiny lake Wingra, but some of the larger lakes have also frozen and we're hoping for good sailing later this week and next weekend.

http://iceboat.org/photos.htm (scroll to the "December 18, 2004" posting).

Cheers,

Geoff S.

I drove from Fergus Falls to Minneapolis this afternoon...

We have abundant ice in Minnesota... there's no snow along I 94 from Minneapolis to Fergus...probably one lake for each iceboat in the state are perfect right now.

4695

Wind looked nice. How was the ice?

Good ice in Montana if anyone is heading this way!
http://www.mticesports.com/albums/Snowkite-Rodeo-Pics%21/keith2.jpg

Where is this weekend's iceboating gathering location (in MN)?

Are there any bays of Mtka adequately frozen yet?

Lake Christina, Ashby, MN 10:17 am local time

Driving North on MN 78, Pelican Lake shows plenty of open water on the main lake. There are 2 fish houses on the ice in the gap between the North arm and the Main Lake.

Mile Post 8, the Lake Christina Launch Site. The lake is completely frozen, there are no visible open spots, no migratory wildlife on the ice, and no visible cracks or heaves.

Drilling holes with the bit set at exactly 3", 10 holes drilled, walking out 100 yeards, No water found, all dry holes. Estimated ice thickness to be a total of 4 1/2 to 5"

The snow drifts remain, and are 1/4 - 1/2" deep and of moderate density, it may request thin runners but the drifts are thin enought that it may not slow at all except in drifting conditions.

Saturday 1:00 CST Lake Christina, Ashby, MN 32d F. Partly Cloudy.

Short Version, Buy your ticket Jorg!

Long Version: Driving up to milepost #8, the launch site on Lake Christina, Jorg Bohn, G737 called to ask if the ice was suitable, and if he would be well advised to buy his ticket to come to the regatta.

The snowfall from yesterdays event appears to be ~ 1/2" deep, covering perhaps 90 percent of the lake, it got plenty wet from the rain that fell intermitently, and didn't blow around much. Alexandria indicated 0.01" of total storm precip, Fergus Falls station indicates No Measurable. We didn't get much, and it shows no water stains tell-tailing holes or cracks.

Ashby MN,

I briefly walked on both the north arm of Pelican Lake and on Lake Christina in the Ashby MN area this morning.

Observations: Local temp 28 F, First Snow last night, ~ 1/4".

Pelican's main body is over 60% frozen, the customary very early fish houses in the gap between the main lake and the north arm are not yet there, (they generally appear the same day we do) The north arm where we sailed last fall is substantially frozen, the same three holes on the west end are visible, water stains show the cracks along the north shore along the highway. The lake is 20% snow covered in 1/4 - 1/2" drifts that will not be noticible when sailing.

Earlier this fall I was out hunting near Mobridge, SD. Residents there said that they had almost no snow all winter and the lake was iced over firm enough for fishing.
Anybody ever ice sailed on this lake? Have heard that resevoirs can be treacherous. Locals indicated otherwise.
Thanks,
Chip P

December 3rd is coming up fast! Any predictions on how far northwest we'll have to drive for the DN Western Challenge regatta?

Cheers,

Geoff S.
DN US-5156

The warm steady wind on Saturday took out most of the ice on the main lake however Sundays lack of wind was unable to finish it off.

Monday morning 98% of the ice was gone. I think the official ice out day will be 04/05/2004.

Until next winter.

Andy

Just checking to see if last week's warm temps did in the ice "up north". I'm especially interested to hear if there's anything on Minnetonka and the lakes around there.

Cheers,

Geoff Sobering
DN US-5156

A number of local DN sailors are launching off of the cottagewood firelanes, lake Minnetonka, MN and planning to sail.

Ice has been recently sailed and is generally regarded as pretty good spring ice.

4695

any shot on white bear early saturday or sunday if the temps drop as predicted? sailed crystal bay on tuesday and sailing was good until ice softened. if any chance post it. hope to see you this weekend. dn 904