2009 Ice-In
 

It is time again to watch the lake freeze over. This is the thread to make comments about this year's Ice-in. The Ice-In page is now up with webcams from all over the lake and a daily picture taken by DRH from a secret location in W. Alton. If anyone else would like to contribute a daily picture I can set that up for you.

Here is hoping for a quick and solid freeze... warm up those snowmobiles!!

IG

http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/icein.htm

:cool:

oops
 

IG,

The link below your signature has an extra letter thereby rendering it inoperative....

BT

All fixed now
 

Thanks BT... I fixed it.

IG

Ice is nice
 

It looks like a lot of the broads is iced in... the mouth of Alton Bay however is still very fluid. CLA... is it really going to get very windy in the for the next 48 hours?

IG

Out and about on Alton Bay ice
 

People are walking about; fishing; and riding ATVs on Alton Bay today.

Lookin' Cool
 

Walking on the ice may be OK but keep the Jimmys OFF:eek:

Broads are wide open again because of the wind.

Ice from West Alton ...to Ames Farm..To Diamond & Rattlesnake
 

The ice is holding in the broads from Ames to Diamond The wind is up and it has not broken up.. Lets Hope it locks in!!!:) Definitely NOT safe to walk upon!

just think in 29 days we will start the ice out contest

Windy
 

Wind is chewing up the ice. :( Just came back from a walk down Smith Point. Broads side of Diamond is wide open. There is a swath open all the way around Diamond. Still solid for the most part between Rattlesnake, Sleepers and mainland. A few spots starting to open.

It's hard to tell from here, but it looks like the ice is holding around the lake (even the broads) when looking at the web cams.

Is that the case?

Could be
 

It looks that way to me, except for the broads cam... it is hard to tell if that area south of Welch Island is completely open or just rutted ice. Does anyone at the lake see water there??

IG

I happened to be looking at Bear Cam today just before 3pm.
I saw 3 ice boats. :eek:

I just was looking at the Black Cat timelapse and saw a few going by there also - just after 1:00 and 2:00. I'll let the ice thicken up a bit myself before going out there...

Thats just crazy. Why risk it. There can't be more than 3" and probably barely any in the high current areas. Not smart. Who's going to be the first moron to go through the ice this year? Any day now.

Did anyone get a screen shot of the ice boats? I was in a meeting and missed all the fun. Darn work, it seems to always get in the way of daydreaming.

I'm no expert on the ice (I'm lower than a novice at that), but isn't it way too early to be on the ice in that area? But I am ready to snowmobile to the island when the ice is!

Ice Boat?
 

Excuse me for not knowing, but what is an "Ice Boat". Do you mean a Skidoo skimming? That, I understand , and understand it is dangerous.:(

The idea with an Ice Boat is if the ice does break you float

It's basically a small one person sail boat with skates under it. One skate in the front and two in the back.

From Meredith a couple of years ago.

Here is one like that on Alton bay, Feb 22,2006.

As Boulder Bronco mentioned, an "ice boat" is typically a sail boat on skates, although they can be configured differently.

Check out http://www.iceboat.org/faqiceboat.html for pictures and details.

An ice boat on Winnipesaukee is usually useless as they are good on flat, clean ice only. Not something we are used to here...

They are non-powered and do not float. They are definitely not meant as a safe means of transportation. They are quite tippy. The first picture by RI swamp Yankee were hovercrafts on Alton Bay. The second? Who knows? A bit airboat? A bit ice boat? An accident waiting to happen? :D

If you go to the Black Cat site and run the time lapse, in the first few frames that flash you will see an ice boat or two (with a sail). I just did it and could still see it. I don't see a way to freeze the frame but I am sure it can be done by CLA.

I saw one of the ice boats up close, loaded onto a car roof rack, and it was an old, all wood boat, with a skinny hull, wood spar, three runner blades and one sail. It looked like it would float.

Ice thickness guesstimate, about three inches?.

If thats what was out there then those guys are just a little nuts :eek:

worth repeating
 

This has been posted in the past but I think it's worth a refresher course for all of us that venture out on ice.

http://www.almanac.com/edpicks/safeicethickness.html

Blue Thunder

NH Fish & Game flyer on Ice Safety
 

It suggests at least 4 to 6 inches of black ice for ice fishing/walking on the ice. It offers other important safety information that's worth reading, even as a refresher.

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fish...ety_on_ice.pdf

Personally, I wait for at least 6 inches measured off Cattle Landing before heading out to Mink and I ALWAYS test the ice along the way the first trip out. Ice thickness can vary by several inches over that 2 mile trek. Carry ice awls -- they could save your life.

Please be especially careful heading out at night or blazing the first tracks over unfamiliar areas this time of year. For example, I've hiked out to Mink in the past only to find the ice between Mink and Jolly to be at best 2-3" thick (vs. 7"+ elsewhere on my hike out) - passing snowmobiles were literally creating wave action on the ice. I remember thinking they were taking far greater risk than they realized. Sadly, hardly a year goes by that someone doesn't die in the Lakes Region from a mishap on the ice.

Given the forecast, we should have a very solid base (>12 inches) by mid January -- Nice!

Watching the time-lapse pics on Bearcam, I saw the group turn around before the ice-surface water flow.

I've never tried it but my understanding is that these things can get up alot of speed up so maybe the skimming effect helps save them. The stopping/turnaround thing these guys did may have made them vulnerable.

A quick search on google gave me this link to their sport.

http://www.iceboat.org/faqiceboat.html

I"m sure there are many more.

And yes, although I've taken many chances in my life, I'm sure I wouldn't have been out there doing that yesterday without a lifejacket or even a full exposure suit.

Three of my favorite pics from winni.com are of vehicles that went through the ice. I can't find them in the gallery to link to. I have local copies I can repost. I think they're from '03

Just looking at the ice boat I would think that if it did break through the ice, OK maybe it would float. But how would you get it out of the hole in the ice? I would think the skates would get hung up on the edge of the ice and make it impossible to get out. So you would end up floating in a hole in the ice surrounded by unsafe ice. This is sensible?

It seems to me that others have mentioned how they use a flat bottomed boat and push themselves along. If the ice breaks the boat can be maneuvered back on top of the ice because there is nothing on the boat bottom to get hung up.

I'll take the hovercraft, thank you very much.

tracks not to follow.....
 

See attached example of tracks never to follow when on the lake in winter....

Any ice reports? How much snow is on the ice? Looks like another storm coming. Hopefully not to much falls or it will insulate the ice from the real cold temps coming this week.

Not much snow this weekend
 

I do not think we will get much water content in the snow during the next 24 hours. The air is very dry, so what will start to fall will evaporate on the way down. It will take some time for it to reach the ground.

The air is cold, so there will be a high snow to water ratio 15:1 to 20:1, so if we get 4" to 6", there will not be much water content and the winds early next week should blow it off the clear ice and compress it some.

Bigger problem is possible later next week. Too soon to make a call on that storm.

R2B

Thanks for the refresher as one does have a tendency to forget from year to year.:)

Ice-In Official
 

Dave Emerson, of Emerson Aviation, officially declared Ice-In on the BIG Lake early on Friday Morning, January 9.

click here to read the CITIZEN ARTICLE

http://fdimg.sv.publicus.com/apps/pb...ef=AR&MaxW=250
photo by Dave Emerson

PLEASE NOTE...

In Gilford, there were quite a few ice fishing huts on the ice and we saw one guy (from shore) with 20 + tip ups. We drove the sleds on, but left quite fast when we saw an ice fishing hole that was near us and only 2 - 3 inchs thick. They had two snowmobiles and a quad next to their hut.

Maybe his name was Jimmy. :D

One guy/20 tip-ups?????
 

Where's Fish & Game when you need them?! You're allowed 2 lines at any time (excluding cusk lines where you're allowed 6, but there are additional rules/restrictions on those). That means 2 tip-ups or you can be jigging in one hole with a tip-up in another. That's the limit per person.

One guy with 20 lines working at the same time? That's rather outrageous if accurate. By this weekend, I'd expect the F&G guys to be out and about on the lake -- particularly on the weekends. I'd love to hear his explanation if he gets caught.

He was the only on there, and I saw it with my own eyes. I don't know what the rules are as I do not ice fish, but that is what I saw.

Wow!
 

I don't doubt you. It's just disappointing that some folks think the laws don't apply to them. F&G would take his fishing license and fine him for such an egregious violation. And they're pretty active once the ice gets a bit thicker. It's an unusual weekend when one doesn't check in with me and I'm typically fishing in relatively remote places (far from the mainland and relatively out of sight). With luck, he'll get nailed the next time.

It just seemed strange to me that, on thin ice, you would drill holes all around you.

Agreed!
 

The Army Corp of Engineers says 2" of black ice will support a single person. Personally, knowing the downside risk if I miscalculate, I'd surely not be out there either. An older gentleman drowned on a pond near me in MA when he went ice skating by himself and fell through. Experienced person who skated on that pond for years. Just made a number of poor decisions that led to his unfortunate demise. My wife already considers herself an "ice fishing widow", but she really doesn't want it to be literally true! I'd prefer not to be a statistic like that either....

Risky Business!
 

On my way home this evening, well after dark, I saw 2 snowmobiles entering Alton Bay from the vicinity of Moose Island. They were travelling
at a fast speed, thank goodness. They were moving right down the center
of Alton Bay. Not sure if they made it to the end of the Bay where there were many bob houses and several cars on the ice. I suppose we will find out on the 11:00 PM news or in the morning if anyone needed rescuing??!!

I am noticing a lot of snowmobile tracks appearing on the web cams. Is it still that unsafe if there is so much traffic or are they just really lucky?

Very safe, at least in parts
 

In the northern part of the lake - including Braun Bay, Moultonborough Bay and north to Lees Mills, the lake is "mid-winter" safe. No open water. No slush. Shoreline is solid. I can't speak for the southern or western part of the lake, but we were at over 6" of ice a week ago and its been quite cold since.

Of course, that hasn't stopped the fools. Light marker 52, the first entrance towards Greens Basin area, never freezes, but is more frozen now than usual. This is the place a home-movie was posted of a skimmer dying a few years ago. Sure nuff.... there are tracks through it again this year. Picture follows.....

Report From West Alton
 

Quilt Lady and I rode from Minge Cove to Alton Bay yesterday on the ice. There were many snowmobile tracks on the 4" - 6" of fluffy new snow, and we stuck to where others had ridden before us. We saw no areas that appeared unsafe. This area of the lake froze before the Broads to the north and west of Rattlesnake did, so the ice is thicker here. The ice we saw is clear and solid. Riding conditions were excellent, as there are almost no ice ridges (yet).

Last Saturday an ice fisherman set up a bobhouse several hundred yards out from the mouth of Minge Cove and reported that the ice thickness at that time was 6 inches. The weather has been very cold since then so the ice thickness is no doubt greater now. We did not venture out on the Broads side of Rattlesnake yesterday, so I can't report on conditions there. But from the south side of Sleepers Island to the end of Alton Bay the ice appeared to be fine and we saw no areas that concerned us.

Because of the large footprint of the track the weight of the snowmobile is very well distributed. Also a moving machine places that pressure in one spot for only a moment. If the ice is thin and you stopped you might break through but as long as you are moving you are OK. It's still a risky operation.

I think the danger is that someone zips over some ice at 30 MPH and is fine but the next person see the tracks, thinks the ice is OK, and then stops along the way on the thin ice.

Ice Aerial
 

Our friend in the air, Bill Hemmel, sent a great pictue of the southern end of the lake taken today...

I put it on the ice in page at www.rattlesnakecam.com/icein.htm.

It is so cool.... ummm or cold!!

IG