The hard cases

[Dan McCosh]

I was in the club galley a couple of days ago, when a guy walks in and asks for a pitcher of warm water. Why? "I left the cover off, and the snow melted and there's a block of ice in the mast step." OK, I'm thinking, he's putting the Laser away for the winter. About ten minutes later, I look out and he's out on the lake. He was just trying to make the race. These guys do this every year, about this time, until the water gets to the point where they bring out the iceboats. Is this common? Is it something in the blood? Air? The smallest, most open board boats out the latest in the snow and ice?

[Jim Budde]

I have seen local (Lincoln, Nebraska) windsurfers out until ice keeps them from launching. Same folks who venture onto ice with their Skimmers long before I do

[bamamick]

I once chipped the ice out of my Windmill so that I could make a race. When I got in I had a patch of light frostbite on my face. A friend of mine who is a nurse grabbed me and took me into the men's room and put a damp rag on my face. I yelled 'dang, that burns'. She smiled and told me that it was cold water out of the tap.

Our Finn fleet sailed out of New Orleans a couple of winters ago and it was 29 when we left the dock.

I went out for a practice session on a 60' IOR boat and when we got to the harbor it was 9 degrees F.

I guess that we do it because it is scheduled to be done on that day. I will say that for the most extreme stuff I was about 30 years younger and full of nails. They do it because they love it and it is hard to give it up knowing that it will be gone for months. I don't blame them.

Mickey Lake

[Brian Palmer]

Used to paddle whitewater with ice forming on my lifejacket (there is usually more water in the rivers in winter than summer, BTW). Dry suits definitely expand the range of possibilities.

Brian

[elf]

Barrington YC on the Providence River sails Sunfish as their frostibite class.

[Greg Nolan]

A real hard case:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxo6mz3vQgU

[George Roberts]

I usually paddle my kayak until the ice is too thick to break with the boat.

I usually start to paddle when the ice is rotten enough for the boat to break the ice.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I sailed Dove December 2nd last year, after the first snow storm.... in 20 knots of wind down to the launch ramp. It was.... interesting.

She came out of the water two weeks ago this year.

[Tom Lathrop]

I refuse to sail if the wind is higher than the temperature.

Neat when tacking and the shaking sail showers you with ice.

Not so long ago I had to rig some 2x4's on the bow to break the ice to get out of the creek. Chewed one of the studs through.

Don't know if I'm any smarter now but I don't do that kind of stuff any more.

This will be the 15th year that I run a New Year's Day race called the "Instead of (football) Regatta". Almost 50 PHRF boats last year but it was a very nice day. We hold a mandatory Skipper's meeting after the race at a local restaurant and do the sensible thing by picking the winners out of a hat.

[Hughman]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8cf04b3127ccec5e752da8f2f00000040O00ActWbluzZOG IPbz4K/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

[Dan McCosh]

I guess I should mention that after the aforementioned incident, we went down to the storage yard where the boat was covered and bubbled, with a rented movie. Laid out on the bunk and watched it. Woke up in the morning with the harbor frozen in. SWMBO look out the porthole and wonders why it's looking so white out, then remembers about the tarp....

[Captain Blight]

I boat year 'round. Ride bicycle all winter too. This fat ol' man is a tough sonofabitch.

[johngsandusky]

Frosbite sailing is a respected tradition. It goes on in the winter here on Sundays. I don't join them, I just sail in winter for the love of it.

[Canoez]

I've been out paddling when I've had to break the ice on the surface of the water which was shaded under the trees I was launching from. If you can get out on the water safely, why not?

There was a student up at the WBS this summer building a surfboard with the guys from Grain. IIRC, he was from Nova Scotia and apparently he and his girlfriend surf year-round.

[Mad Scientist]

Yep, they do surf year-round here in Nova Scotia. Winter storms make the best surf, I guess. (Local surfers love hurricane season, too.)
And there's always a sailboat or two taking advantage of the prevailing wind (north-westerly, and very cold) in mid-January. Just a matter of dressing for the weather!

Tom

[rbgarr]

A guy in Gloucester, Massachusetts made a point of sailing his 210 every day for a year some time ago. He did it, too. Frostbiting goes on in New England quite commonly as well as farther south. The people who sail the six foot Frostys in winter seem like they're just asking for a dunking, though.

[JimConlin]

I vaguely recollect frostbite racing Turnabouts in January off a beach in Sorrento, ME.

[Bob Triggs]

My first real sailing experiences were in the classic wooden Inter Club Dinghys on Larchmont harbor, Long Island Sound -"Frostbiting" in the very dead of winter. The Yacht Club launches would patrol around the little fleet and rush over to pluck us out of the water when we got knocked down. They had a little temporary cabin placed over the launch's helm and motor box, just enough room for a few wet rats; and it was always hot and steamy in there, hot cocoa and cookies... it was all so rich and real. Soaking wet to the bone with ice forming on your hands as you waved them overhead at the approaching launch, Blue jeans and a cotton sweatshirt, two pairs of heavy socks and Converse All Stars basketball shoes... We didnt think about dying but it was damned dangerous. When you are 13 years old and sailing for the first time in your life, racing around in the bright sun and icy wind, chipping ice off of your clothes, you feel indestructiblel.