iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

KEE-RASH!

Posted by: Will on White Bear Lake on January 17, 2004 at 19:06:23:

As far as I know, we had a new kind of ice-boating accident on WBL today. One of our DN regulars (we won't mention names, let's just call him "Lucky Dude" from now on) accidentally collided with an SUV. OUCH!

L.D. estimated that he was traveling at about 40 mph when he hit the vehicle and that he never saw it coming. He was blind-sided by the sail and he knew nothing was amiss until the Big Crunch. After the accident, he could remember NOTHING about the accident from that point on but, other than being all shook up, he is basically intact and did not require medical care.

The DN is not so lucky but will probably be rebuildable. She won't be a pretty girl again though. The main impact was in the pilot cockpit and the sideboard was shattered into toothpicks. The boom was shattered and the front steering gear and post crushed and bent flat.

ICE: We have basically been going non-stop since November 7th on WBL with the exception of several days of marginal ice each month. Today's strong wind propelled us up and over the drifts and crags on the ice, causing many of us to become airborne for uncomfortably long periods of time. In spite of the hazardous and rugged surfaces, we managed to bounce along up to 50 mph at various times. We have about 70-80 fish houses with the assorted melange of obstacles including the aforementioned SUVs on our lake.

We are trying to get one of the skeeters to drag a long metal bar across the ice to blast the drifts away!

Will on WBL

http://cerebus.winsite.com/DNboard/mesgMain/2176.html

Ouch... 4695