iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

Sunday 1000 local time, 30 d F, wind calm,

Most of the lakes visible from I 94 are substantially skimmed over

Pelican appears 100% frozen, there are no fish houses yet in narrows

Lake Christina appears a sheet of glass.

I Walked out ~ 25' from the launch site onto the optically clear ice, the crystals are about 16 - 18" in length

The ice bears weight and cracks under foot, quite elastic, appears less than 1.25" alone I didn't feel terribly adventurous this morning.

Depending on low temps during the week, I plan to set up on Friday and try the ice...

We are less than a week from suitable ice... sharpen up them runners girls

A call to the City Restaurant in Ashby this afternoon...

Lake Christina was completely frozen during the cold snap, it appears to be frozen over now, but it's been warm.

No sailors have viewed the ice as of yet...

expect an update over the next couple days...

ice would sure be nice

4695

Looking for plans for a Great South Bay Scooter can anyone help
Thanks
Rande
mcalex@charter.net

The new National DN bulletin board requests that members "reply" to become registered.

http://www.dnamerica.org/forum/

The board looks nice, but can't seem to find the "reply" icon. Anyone know where it is?

I'm a reporter with the St. Paul Pioneer Press and I'm interested in doing a story about ice boating in Minnesota in general and about the Great Western Challenge Regatta next month. I'd like to talk to some Minnesota sailors. Can you give me a call at 651-228-5560 or e-mail me a number and a good time to reach you? Thanks.

Richard Chin
Staff writer
St. Paul Pioneer Press
rchin@pioneerpress.com

I have a set of Heavy Duty runners that I bougth when I was planning to build my own boat from scratch. I ended up getting aa fixer upper that has it's own set.

They are 34 inches long and include the mounting brackets. I paid $300 for the set. Make me a fair offer and they are yours.

Contact me at escowracer (at) comcast.net
David

OFFICIAL NOTICE:

The Skeeter Ice Boat Club's 21st Annual Iceboat Swap Meet is scheduled for Sunday, November 5, 2006.

Time: 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., CST Come early, the best deals are before the opening bell.

Place: Sailing Specialists, Inc., 210 N. Walworth Ave., Williams Bay, WI

Swap: Bring your iceboats and parts to sell or trade.

Food: For every to enjoy.

Raffle: Be sure to register

Directions: WI Hwy 50 runs east/west just north the village of Williams Bay and intersects WI Hwy 67 at a 4-way stop. Go south on WI Hwy 67, down the hill into Williams Bay. Turn west on Stark St., then south on Walworth Ave. Follow the crowd.

I just checked yahoo travel, for what it's worth...

round trip from Frankfurt Germany to Ohare in Chicago, flying a couple days before and after the regatta, ~ $499.usd

4695

Milepost 8, Lake Christina, Ashby, MN

At the launch site there is a skim coat of ice extending about 100 yards into the lake.

Forecast temps for the next two weeks have plenty of below freezing opportunities...

http://wwwa.accuweather.com/forecast-15day.asp?partner=accuweather&trave...

If Christina freezes this week (and it's certainly plausible) we could concievably be sailing Nov 11th.

ice is nice

4695

I just finished another boat and thought I'd share a couple of hints with inexperienced builders. I use West epoxy although there are other good ones out there. One of the first things I found out about epoxy is that it's a bear to sand. I have never found anything that plugs up sand paper faster then epoxy. I found an easy solution to this problem, use wet dry sandpaper,wet. You can use a piece of paper till it wears out. I coat most all of the interior surfaces with epoxy. To make the epoxy flow better and to save weight, I cut the mixed epoxy about 25% with acetone (make sure you wear a respirator when you do this).

The FREE regatta scheduled for Feb 17th and 18th 2007 has been opened up to include all iceboats. There has been such great interest from other sailors. That now it is not only for Jboats. Free racing and trophies for all classes 1st-3rd place. There will be J boat racing and then sportsman class racing also. There will also be door prizes, drawings, goody bags and food!!
We will be grilling on the ice, food will be free or by donation. This will be a fun get together. With no cost for anything.
So far more than 40 boats confirmed as coming. Some A, B and C skeeters, sprinters, Jboats and stern steerers. The DN worlds and N/A’s are scheduled to start the same weekend in the same region. So some of the people who are coming are traveling with their DN buddies. (Some of our Dn'er friends may attend also if they are close enough. DN racing starts the 18th our Regatta starts the 17th)

Does anyone have any experience with running some camber in the steering runner/chock combination?

Looks like NOAA upgraded this useful tool:

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/index.html

Already a foot in central North Dakota.

Does anyone have some chocks for a DN for sale?

email: me@austinwaggoner.com

From the National Weather Service Current Forecast

Lake Christina, Ashby, Minnesota

Freeze Warning

Today: A 20 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31. Blustery, with a northwest wind between 18 and 23 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph.

Tonight: A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly after 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. Blustery, with a northwest wind between 17 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Thursday: A chance of snow, mixing with rain after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35. Windy, with a west northwest wind between 21 and 30 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.