Stir crazy without snow!

Webbsatwinni · 02-09-2010, 02:16 PM

Without snow it looks like all ice updates have slowed, while I sit here wishing for snow (CT will get some tomorrow but not much north of here), I was wondering if the ice has been growing without the blanket of insulation. Does anyone have ice thickness updates to help pass the time?

Also, what impact will the lack of snow have on the Alton Carnival if any?

Formula · 02-09-2010, 03:22 PM

on the local noon news they state that the snow strom has moved more northward than this morning. the dusting in the lakes region is now up to 1-2 inches. Lets hope for more of a northward trend.
Snow...Snow...Snow

riverat · 02-09-2010, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webbsatwinni

Without snow it looks like all ice updates have slowed, while I sit here wishing for snow (CT will get some tomorrow but not much north of here), I was wondering if the ice has been growing without the blanket of insulation. Does anyone have ice thickness updates to help pass the time?

Also, what impact will the lack of snow have on the Alton Carnival if any?

I hope we get enough snow for the snowmobile radar runs and the horse drawn sleigh rides and dog sled rides, these events could be impacted if we don't get any snow. So turn up the Snow Dancing a couple notches.

fatlazyless · 02-09-2010, 07:44 PM

Not having anything better to do this morning, I checked out the snow covering the six Meredith tennis courts and attempted to shovel some snow-free rows down to the hard surface which would speed up the melting process in the court with the tennis ball backboard. Surprisingly, the existing snow cover on the court there, is about six inches of very crusty icy hardpack; too tough even for a strong aluminum scoop shovel!

Two tennis nets are still up! Hey, if people can ski outdoors in the winter cold, then people can play tennis outside in the winter cold!

Actually shovelled some of the tennis court snow out onto the very nearby snowmobile trail......every little bit helps........right!.

Today was total sunshine, and a high temp of about 40......on February 9.......no kidding? So, what happened to winter......where did it go?

NoBozo · 02-09-2010, 09:10 PM

It was January 3rd at Lake Attitash...near Amsebury MA. There was plenty of ice..except for a melting hole over on the other side of the lake. It was sunny and warm..50 degrees..not much wind. One of our oldtimers "Went In."

He was in the water maybe half an hour. They got him out and made him WALK ..1/2 mile..back to his van..a VW Bus..and cranked up the heat. He survived without any ill effects. The experience did take it's toll though. He never went iceboating again..moved to Florida. NB

Mee-n-Mac · 02-10-2010, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoBozo

It was January 3rd at Lake Attitash...near Amsebury MA. There was plenty of ice..except for a melting hole over on the other side of the lake. It was sunny and warm..50 degrees..not much wind. One of our oldtimers "Went In."

He was in the water maybe half an hour. They got him out and made him WALK ..1/2 mile..back to his van..a VW Bus..and cranked up the heat. He survived without any ill effects. The experience did take it's toll though. He never went iceboating again..moved to Florida. NB

How often is Winni suitable for such activities (iceboating, not dunking) ? I've seen a few iceboats and some guys with sailboard-ish devices out and about but it's pretty rare in most years. How good would a snow-boat work ? Something with ski-ish devices alongside the runners ? It would be slower but have people got such a beast to work ?

NoBozo · 02-10-2010, 09:20 PM

On Lake Winni the Spring is usually the best for Ice Boating. I have Ice Boated on Winni after April first. The bob houses were gone leaving large open holes that had to be avoided.

The snow ice starts to settle every day in the sun and freezes at night. The next day the frozen snow ice will support the runners until....such time as the snow ice turns to snow again. The transition is almost instantanious..back to snow...a Phase Shift.

If you were not prepared you will NOT Sail. You will be relegated to walking...towing the boat behind you...maybe miles. Most of us would carry an Extra set of special runners designed to slide over/through transitional snow ice.

Sometimes..areas of the lake would Ice Out all together and refreeze over a day or two... yielding NEW Black Ice. I have 35mm photo slides of 15 or so ice boats on the east side of Rattlesnake on 4 inches of new black ice. Those were the days.

NB

EDIT: I really need to convert all my 35 mm Ice Boating slides (1970s) to digital format on CDs so I can post them. I have tried photographing them off a projection screen with a digital camera. It does work, but not with the best quality.

Resident 2B · 02-10-2010, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoBozo

I really need to convert all my 35 mm Ice Boating slides (1970s) to digital format on CDs so I can post them. I have tried photographing them off a projection screen with a digital camera. It does work, but not with the best quality.

NB,

I had thousands of 35mm drag racing and oral track photos from back in the '60s and '70s. I purchased a film scanner and was able to get the 35 mm negatives to digital format with very little loss of defination. It works for slides too, but it takes more time.

I then sold the film scanner for about 60% of my purchase price. My opinion is that is the only way to go.

R2B

Oletimer · 02-10-2010, 10:23 PM

NB, Try placing the slide on a house window where the two window rails meet. Choose window on shady side but a bright day. Just lean the slide against the glass at a fairly straight angle-enough to keep the slide upright. Then take a picture on close-up or macro mode.The ones off the screen you did are not bright enough so that's probably why they did not come out too good.

I did a few thousand this way and quite happy. Did some editing but not many.

Hope you try it. Let us know what you think.

02-09-2010, 02:16 PM	#1
Webbsatwinni Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Lebanon Ct and Rattlesnake Island Since 2007 Posts: 610 Thanks: 180 Thanked 137 Times in 72 Posts	Stir crazy without snow! Without snow it looks like all ice updates have slowed, while I sit here wishing for snow (CT will get some tomorrow but not much north of here), I was wondering if the ice has been growing without the blanket of insulation. Does anyone have ice thickness updates to help pass the time? Also, what impact will the lack of snow have on the Alton Carnival if any?

02-09-2010, 03:22 PM	#2
Formula Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 183 Thanks: 12 Thanked 28 Times in 16 Posts	The storm is moving on the local noon news they state that the snow strom has moved more northward than this morning. the dusting in the lakes region is now up to 1-2 inches. Lets hope for more of a northward trend. Snow...Snow...Snow

02-09-2010, 07:44 PM	#4
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,873 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 303 Thanked 1,043 Times in 761 Posts	Not having anything better to do this morning, I checked out the snow covering the six Meredith tennis courts and attempted to shovel some snow-free rows down to the hard surface which would speed up the melting process in the court with the tennis ball backboard. Surprisingly, the existing snow cover on the court there, is about six inches of very crusty icy hardpack; too tough even for a strong aluminum scoop shovel! Two tennis nets are still up! Hey, if people can ski outdoors in the winter cold, then people can play tennis outside in the winter cold! Actually shovelled some of the tennis court snow out onto the very nearby snowmobile trail......every little bit helps........right!. Today was total sunshine, and a high temp of about 40......on February 9.......no kidding? So, what happened to winter......where did it go? Last edited by fatlazyless; 02-09-2010 at 09:00 PM.

02-09-2010, 09:10 PM	#5
NoBozo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Portsmouth. RI Posts: 2,231 Thanks: 400 Thanked 460 Times in 308 Posts	Ice Boating 1971 It was January 3rd at Lake Attitash...near Amsebury MA. There was plenty of ice..except for a melting hole over on the other side of the lake. It was sunny and warm..50 degrees..not much wind. One of our oldtimers "Went In." He was in the water maybe half an hour. They got him out and made him WALK ..1/2 mile..back to his van..a VW Bus..and cranked up the heat. He survived without any ill effects. The experience did take it's toll though. He never went iceboating again..moved to Florida. NB

02-10-2010, 10:23 PM	#9
Oletimer Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 89 Thanks: 15 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	convert 35mm slides to digital NB, Try placing the slide on a house window where the two window rails meet. Choose window on shady side but a bright day. Just lean the slide against the glass at a fairly straight angle-enough to keep the slide upright. Then take a picture on close-up or macro mode.The ones off the screen you did are not bright enough so that's probably why they did not come out too good. I did a few thousand this way and quite happy. Did some editing but not many. Hope you try it. Let us know what you think.

02-10-2010, 09:20 PM	#7
NoBozo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Portsmouth. RI Posts: 2,231 Thanks: 400 Thanked 460 Times in 308 Posts	On Lake Winni the Spring is usually the best for Ice Boating. I have Ice Boated on Winni after April first. The bob houses were gone leaving large open holes that had to be avoided. The snow ice starts to settle every day in the sun and freezes at night. The next day the frozen snow ice will support the runners until....such time as the snow ice turns to snow again. The transition is almost instantanious..back to snow...a Phase Shift. If you were not prepared you will NOT Sail. You will be relegated to walking...towing the boat behind you...maybe miles. Most of us would carry an Extra set of special runners designed to slide over/through transitional snow ice. Sometimes..areas of the lake would Ice Out all together and refreeze over a day or two... yielding NEW Black Ice. I have 35mm photo slides of 15 or so ice boats on the east side of Rattlesnake on 4 inches of new black ice. Those were the days. NB EDIT: I really need to convert all my 35 mm Ice Boating slides (1970s) to digital format on CDs so I can post them. I have tried photographing them off a projection screen with a digital camera. It does work, but not with the best quality.