iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

Here are a few shots from Silver Harbour today after a light dusting of snow

Checkout the Bronze fleet third-race results in the "This Day in Ice Boating History - January 13, 1992 Wisconsin State Journal" item on iceboat.org's home page - just twelve years later things were a little different...

One of the biggest hassles in finishing a DN is getting the plank mounting hardware in the right place (and the same place on multiple hulls and planks).

Last fall when I was moving the plank attachment from external to internal on my backup hull I decided I wanted to have all my gear interchangeable. The easiest way to do that was to make a jig that locates the holes for both the hull and plank hardware so they are correct relative to each other, and the same everywhere.

After a week of working evenings my hull is back ready to go sailing.

All the sanding is done and the hull-plates are screwed down again. I edged the hull-plates with thickened epoxy to take some of the shear-load off the screws. I'd done this before and it seemed to work well in the de-planking, as the plates were able to pull away from the hull (relatively) cleanly during the crash.

While I was working on the hull I augmented the bow-spring with a tennis ball and glued the tiller-head to the tiller-post.

Hi, I'm restoring an old DN that is mostly complete, but is missing one boom block. All the other pulleys are large, 4" x 5 1/2" with 1/8" thick side plates. The mount for the boom differs from the deck mount by it's concave mount surface v flat surface, but I could make either work I've been told this might be a Sarns block (?) If anyone has one laying around, I'd like to put it to use and keep the boat sort of period correct. Thanks, Paul

I've been sailing on the wet stuff for 20 plus years. Heard about ice boats a number of yeas ago. I made a very simple one using a sunfish sail, got hooked with the idea that a better boat was better sail. Started looking for a used one for sale. Found what I was told is a "Stobstead Hull #4" by the seller. It is a simple tee with tensioned/arched hull and bowed cross member. The rigging is made by Stobstead Sails out of Old Saybrook, CT. Have any of you heard of such a boat? Looking for information, thx. The next step up is a D/N. Living in CT, sailing the lakes in the winter and the L.I.

Tonight was relatively quick. Some sanding of the lumps and drips from last night's work, then flip the boat upright and work on the cockpit-floor side of the hole punched through the bottom. A little work with the grinder/DA on the edges, then cutting and feathering the edges of the patch, and it was ready to glue.

You can't see through the floor anymore!
The edges of the hole are faired out and ready for the patch.

The word "blustery" just crept into Friday's forecast. Along with the 8" of black ice locally, the day holds promise.

With the clamps and weights removed all the patches looked good. After some "quality time" making dust with the dual-action sander everything was smooth and (mostly) level. The next step was to mix up some epoxy

http://media.ussailing.org/Sailor_of_the_Week.htm?utm_source=e-USSAILING...

Update: Check my blog here for more progress reports.

Tuesday is the regular "Boat Night" at the Nordhaus Boatwerks, so I had plenty of company (and help) with repairs.

I decided to start attacking the holes and gouges in the bottom. The first step was to feather out all the edges and make plugs for the access holes through the cockpit floor so I could fill in all the damage around them.

Update: The next installment in the saga: Repairs Begin...

In the first outing of 2011 a large crack opened up during the first DN race. I hit it on my last downwind leg. I don't really remember much other than seeing a small bump on the ice ahead of me, then a "bang!", and the next thing I was sliding down the ice backwards (still in the cockpit) with my plank sitting on my chest. I was logging the race with my phone's GPS, so you can check out the track.

pepin is a curling rink.....very slight pebbling.... but sailable    7-8 rating

as of 9am onthis new years day

from the boat landing just north of lake city   which is plowed out   but icy.

I have a dream ... I see a custom service for ice events. A light weight plow truck (8'width) and 'zamboni. (a zamboni attachment to the back of a truck) How about for fire on ice? Anyone out there have hockey connections? Looks like 4L has the same idea.(their's is a reality) ... . We spend so much time looking/driving , lets bring the black ice to us. It's the 'green alternative... R

Now up to three and counting.