thin ice?
 

Pretty "brave" whoever went out this weekend and marked of Meredith Bay for the Pond hockey. The bay was still open earlier in the week. The section that is roped off goes almost to Church Landing. They must be expanding with more rinks this year

I saw that today and thought the same thing!

This ice is super-strong ...... like the toughest, strongest, most elastic and durable ice ever created in the world history of making ice ....because it is solid, high strength ice with no snow in its' make up made in the deep freeze..... it's the Gordie Howe type of ice!


A sheet of ice floats on the surface of the lake water, and it is much stronger, sturdier, elastic, and more durable at ten degrees, than at thirty degrees.

Early cocktails?
 

It's 5 O'clock somewhere! Maybe Meredith?

Talking about thin ice gets me thinking about www.mythicdrysuits.com which seems, judging by their website, to be a relatively lower priced dry suit, $280-489, made in northern California, that is also a usable, durable, and long lasting dry suit. Anyone have any experience with using a dry suit for sailing small sailboats, or paddling a kayak or s.u.p. paddleboard in the Winnipesaukee cold water of April-May-June?

April-May-June tends to have a good number of motorboats out there on Lake Winnipesaukee while the water is still way too cold, 40-60 degrees, for most small sailboat sailors and paddle boats/board paddlers to be safe. Unless you is a Canada goose, 40-60 degree water can be a serious safety problem if you flip a small sailboat, or fall off an s.u.p. ..... which happens a lot.

Like, how usable or doable is it to be paddling or sailing while wearing a dry suit complete with booties, and gloves? What's the chance to still get into serious cold water problems if sailing a 12' sailboat by oneself with a drysuit?

Do you wear long underwear and socks inside a dry suit?

Are these Mythic drysuits as usable as the pictures present, or is it just a myth?

Whitewater wear
 

Whitewater boaters commonly use drysuits in cold streams and rivers. If you can kayak in a drysuit I am sure you can flatwater boat/sup in them.

Well ...... u know how they make little doggie sweaters to help keep Fido warm, and doggie pfd's to keep Fido safe when out on a boat.

Well ...... maybe they make little dry suits for a Canada goose to help keep its feathers dry when along for a Cheez-it ride on an s.u.p. paddle board? Let's see here ...... a goose has two legs, and one neck, and two large wings that would all need to be fitted to a dry suit ....... omg!

:offtopic:

Thin Ice
 

Today 1-13 @12.noon noticed a bob house through ice about 50 ft from ramp at Hesky P
Lots of people standing around waiting to see what was going to happen next!!

Well, if its made out of wood, then it floats.

Thin Ice
 

At noon today a bob house went thru about 50 ft. from ramp at Hesky!!

As of yesterday, Sunday January 15, the small area of open water between Mark Island, Meredith neck, and flasher buoy-3 grew in size from maybe 10-acres to maybe 200-acres. It's looking more like a mid March start of ice-out than the middle of January ........ go figure?

Some ice is safe
 

In Moultonboro Bay, the ice fishing holes are more than a foot thick.

I'm pretty sure, that same bobhouse is usually the first on the ice every year...and this is the third time it has broken through, and required a recovery operation...
It's the house that says "The place to be!" on it.

skated up and down Paugus Bay yesterday, irwins to just before the channel
the Bay is at least 10 inches thick

Sunday, January 22:

Out towards Mark Island a large opening in the grey soggy ice that resembles a flowing river is open water, whats been open water for about two weeks now.

Beyond that, between Timber and Governor's Island, there's a large area of open water.

From Lincoln Park in Gilford, one can see a large area of open water just to the south of Welch Island that looks to extend south to Diamond and Rattlesnake Islands.

Yesterday, on Jan 21, saw four pickup trucks parked out on the ice with people nearby ice fishing, spread over a wide distance, in Center Harbor Bay.

The weather forecast for the next five days is looking 30-40's with wintry mix changing to rain?

Out of curiosity, short of drilling a hole and measuring, how does one determine ice thickness?

...... heap thin ice here ..... ugh!
 

Only the local Yankee natives of the Belknap Winnipesaukee tribe have the ability to eyeball the ice and accurately pre-determine its' safety and thickness without actually drilling and measuring. Is an inherited skill, passed down through the centuries .....through trial and error .... ugh!:idea:
.

How !!! Get it? How?

If you don't have ice drilling equipment you can always make a hole with your vehicle.

You need an Icethickometer.:D

Easiest way I know is to use a real long drill bit and cordless drill.Very fast.

Ice status
 

So FLL, what's the latest? Guessing the recent nor'easter and warm temps broke things up further. How much open water now? Cattle Landing must be wide open.

Getting worried that access to Mink Island will be a problem -- particularly with the derby fast approaching.

Hi...the latest is what looks like a flowing river of open water is out there, maybe 25-acres, flowing from the Little Penny Island marker to out in the middle, Mark Island.....lots of grey ice, and open water out there.

There's a big aluminum barge style airboat at the Cattle Landing dock, and there's lots of open water from the Cattle dock going out to the west toward fl-3.

All this icy, open watery terrain is no problem for the bald eagles. Falling through thin slushy ice and getting soaked while looking for a fish seems to make very little difference to the big bad baldy. What you need is wings so u can fly like the eagle!

Any idea on what Meredith Bay looks like? Supposed to be playing pond hockey next weekend. Good news is that the temps are supposed to be in the teens or lower every night next week. Hope it's not too late :(

Thick enough
 

They were out snow blowing it last weekend then we got the snow and rain on top of that. No ice showing as of this morning so I'm sure they will have to go out and scrape off that hard crusty snow sometime soon

...... say yes to Ice Tennis!
 

Yesterday, Wednesday Jan 25 at about 11-am, there was a very expensive looking orange Kubota tractor with a snowblower out front that was streaming the icy slushy mix a big distance ...very impressive ice clean-up underway!

Plus, there was two walk behind machines with very big spinning brown brushes....like maybe 48" wide by 24" thick to groom and polish the ice.

Meredith Bay has no open water to be seen, except for dock circulators, and is looking way stronger than more open big water parts of the lake. Like Center Harbor Bay, and Meredith Bay are looking safe what with the four pickup trucks, spread over a distance, parked out on Center Harbor.

In addition to ice hockey......how's about a tennis court out on the ice.....for tennis played wearing ice skates....call it ice tennis. I bet you I could do that! Ice hockey and tennis are like buddy sports; both use eye and hand coordination and lots of movement. Playing tennis indoors at the Gilford Hills Tennis costs like $225/month so an el cheapo, local, winter tennis venue is definitely needed here!

Cold is coming back tomorrow so everything should be good into Feb.:)

Sleepers Island
 

Curious if anyone knows the thickness of the ice from West Alton mainland to Sleepers Island? I would like to walk out there at some point this winter and was wondering also where I should park on shore to walk out? Do people usually park at the marinas (West Alton) or are there better places? Do the marinas mind if we do this? Just asking for walking access, not for vehicles or snowmobiles.

Thanks in advance.

North side of Bear Island
 

I am planning to ice fish on the north side of Bear Island on Feb 17-19th. Is the ice still open between Cattle Landing and Bear Island?

About 5" in front of my place....
 

....got brave enough this afternoon to venture out after seeing bobhouses near the Meredith town docks and throughout Center Harbor this morning. About 5" I would guess in front of my place. Had a couple of lines in for a couple hours but caught bupkus. I am in Meredith Bay near the Triple H estate....

I'm actually staying about a mile past the "compound" on Pinnacle Park. About 5 years ago we were able to skate from the house to the rinks. It was a mile and a 1/4 and took about 15 minutes. I wonder if we'll be able to this year...

Standing on the Cattle dock; looking to the right or west, it's mostly all open water out to flasher-3. Looking to the left or east, it's mostly all ice out to Rock Island and beyond.

..... just some pediddles floating past
 

Ok, today is Saturday, January 28, 2017, and as you probably noticed, it has been a very quiet week since I wrote the above quote from January 22; not much has been happening in Washington D C, the U. S. A., or around the world, but let me tell you ...... that out on Lake Winnipesaukee ....there has been a whole lot of ICE MELTING going on!

As of today, Jan 28, from Lincoln Park in Gilford, one can see a very major increase in the size of the open water compared to what was all frozen solid on Jan 22. The whole danged lake has changed, going from ice to open water.
From Welch Island to the 40-islands to Timber Island to the entry to Saunders Bay ..... it's all that wavy, liquid stuff called water .... with the exception of maybe 25 large pediddles floating south, past Lincoln Park, close to the shore.

Just saw a couple of videos put out by the airport manager of the Alton Bay Seaplane and Ice Runway. Very encouraging, there is a consistent 11.5 inches of ice from the parking area and floating bandstand end all the way to the north end of the runway. Another half inch, and he should be able get the ok from the FAA to open up. He needs 12 inches to put his trucks out there. Woo hoo.

Update: runway was opened up yesterday at 11am. Woo hoo.

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Ice Ice Baby
 

Thanks FLL. Please keep us apprised as the week progresses. I'm not optimistic about getting out to Mink Island for the Derby late next week, but if things lock up quickly again, the weather pattern is at least favorable to ice formation.

Meredith Bay looked pretty good yesterday afternoon. Can't wait to play this weekend, both hockey AND my guitar. Besides playing in the tourney, I'll be performing Saturday afternoon at 2:30!

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...1&d=1485788007

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...1&d=1485787991

thank you for the Info, see you there can't wait to get out there

I had heard that a Bob House went through the ice in front of Lago this past Friday/Sat !!

Never saw anything here about it though ....


.

Ice Report?
 

FLL: Just curious whether the recent colder temps have started to lock things up in Cattle Landing. May make a day trip up on Sunday to investigate. Will be very interested to hear whether any sleds have been going through there (without going through - LOL).

Thanks much.

MI

Yes, the cold temps have already made a fast change with the open water freezing up.

Thanks FLL!
 

Please keep us posted. I'm guessing with the pond hockey tournament, activity on the lake will increase this weekend quite a bit.

Excited to be up next week for some ice fishing!

That was open water last Saturday so anyone that goes through there by foot or on anything like a sled is a fool. Further on up by Sheps the situation was no better....

Fools tread where angels fear to go.
 

Thanks Maxum. I agree the lake is more than a week behind "normal" ice-in. I'll check things out on Sunday. Keep in mind though that once the lake skims over, ice builds at around 1/2" to 1" a day depending on how cold it is. Guessing the water at that end of Sheps skimmed over on Sunday. Snow cover, clear skies (radiational cooling), wind, etc. all play into this too (for better or worse).

Based on the colder temps since Sunday, I'm betting there's as much at 4 inches off that end of Sheps now, possible a little more. Hoping by Thursday next week it has at least 6 inches since I do usually get my sleds on the ice there. Over by Cattle Landing (south of Bear) has been ice covered for some time so it should be in better shape. The channel there is always the question mark, however, as it locks in late and is prone to movement too. When I'm on foot, I get on the ice near there.

I'll post pix on Sunday.

Yeah that area has been locked up then open then locked up again. Just haven't seen the sustained consistent cold to keep it hard.

Let me know what it looks like this weekend and if you take any ice thickness readings what they are. At least armed with this pic I posed you know what was last to freeze. I'm anxious to get out there myself I have a number of bulky and or heavy items that I'd prefer to get out over the ice versus by boat.

Sadly I think it is supposed to warm up again next week.

Ice Report
 

Progress....

Cut some holes over by the ramp where Maxum's picture last Saturday show'd open water. Now about 4" of black ice there -- I went out only about 50 feet though. Certainly wouldn't try to put a sled on there right now, but in another week, it will be a very different story given the weather forecast (excluding next Wednesday).

At Cattle Landing, I got on the ice a few hundred yards west of the public docks. As usual the fan boat has done a nice job destroying the area around the town docks as a safe access point onto the ice for the public. Live Free Or Die does not mean do whatever the F you want regardless of the impact on those around you. But I digress.....

Where I got on (near the bend in the road west of the parking lot), has been frozen for some time and there is a good 8" anywhere that has snow cover. Couple ice fisherman out there today. Out to the east approaching the town docks area is a different story. This too was clearly open water a week ago. I initially found 4" of ice as I moved onto the black ice, but when I got roughly even with the town docks near a pressure ridge, I measured a paltry 2" and stopped.

I want today to be remembered for the Pats winning another Super Bowl, not me getting wet because I needlessly pushed safety limits on the ice.

It will be in much better shape come next Thursday. FIngers crossed.

Mink Islander

Thanks for the ice report, 4 inches is pretty impressive in such a short span of time. Be really nice if in a couple of weeks it'll be safe enough to cross with the snow machines.

Nice auger! Those things I hear are the best manual ones money can buy.

I measured 10" in Sanders bay this afternoon, off Gilford beach. That's a huge increase over the 6" or so I found last weekend.
I walked out past Varney point onto younger ice and measured 5.5". I wouldn't have even walked out there last week.
Very pleased with my findings.

Ice conditions
 

I'll be back Thursday and will cut some more test holes. If I get to 6 inches I'll probably venture out on my sled from Sheps. Otherwise, I'll be on foot from Cattle Landing heading to Mink Island.

The Nils augers are really awesome. Very sharp and quick. I have their gas auger too and love it.

If you can post updated findings from Thursday that would be awesome! I'd like to venture out as well if safe enough to do so.

Ice update
 

So I drove up today (Friday) due to the storm yesterday. The conditions at Sheps have continued to improve. I measured 6-7 inches 75 feet or so out from the barge access ramp. There was about 12 inches out by the black nav marker visible from the shore there. I pretty confident the ice in and around that access point is overall in pretty good shape now.

But...

I loaded up and rode over to Cattle Landing over the lake. Small drifts but also some slushy spots - not uncommon when we have the weight of the snow plus the wind pushing on the ice and bring up some surface water. Over near the Cattle Landing docks where I cut holes last week, there was a good 5 inches of ice now -- some is weaker, snow ice, however, but overall better than last week. I crossed through Cattle Landing but pulled up just past Dolly Island where it looked a little questionable. Cut several holes around there and found 3-5 inches of black ice with water and frozen slush on top. One hole had just over 2" of black ice with water on top of slush. That's all I needed to see -- backed up, turned around and went back to Sheps.

Given how thin the ice was in the area around Cattle Landing and how unprotected that area is from the wind, I was quite concerned that Some of it may have started to break up again. Or at least plates could be moving around creating dangerous gaps in the ice -- I've seen that before through there. Please be very careful if venturing through there.

I'll try again next weekend, weather permitting....

Ventured out to Bear Yesterday on foot. Was surprised to see how many people were out on sleds running around. There are some pretty brave souls out there is all I can say going in places I wouldn't even think of going on foot never mind sled.... and clearly from the news last night a few punched their ticket as a result.

FYI - cut a series of holes on the NE side of bear. Did a line of them starting from about 100 feet off shore out about 400-500 yards every 100 yards or so.

There are a number of places where there is a lot of slush over the ice. Those areas tended to measure out the thinnest. In general there was no less than 4-5" of measured black ice with varying amounts of white ice on top of that, anywhere from 1-5 inches. Of course that white ice does not have nearly the same strength.

I wouldn't say brave.....I'd say stupid.