Happy Birthday Dan
 

Drop a line in on your way over to the camp...may be a bonus day :) .

Latest ice report
 

I was bored this morning and decided to take a ride from Alton to Meredith to check out the ice. I was REALLY bored and ended up going around the entire lake and here is what I saw:

Alton Bay: open water from end of bay past Sandy Point. Ice sheets from there past Moose Island.

Ames Farm: open in the bay and out to Broads. Build up of ice right in front of Ames

Ellacoya: totally open from park to Glendale and the Broads

Glendale: Totally open, launching boats

Smith Cove: some ice at end of cove, Fay's is open and launching boats

Saunders Bay: ice sheets in the middle of bay, open around the coastline

Governor's Island Bay:all open and on both side of bridge

Weirs Bay: ice sheets in middle of bay out to Eagle

Meredith Bay: ice sheets through most of bay(from Weirs to Meredith), ice around docks, can't launch

Center Harbor: ice sheets way out, open water for quite a ways,boats launching

Trexler's: open water, both sides of bridge, launching boats

Melvin Bay: ice sheets

20-mile Bay: ice sheets

19-mile Bay: ice sheets but dock clear, launching boats

Libby Museum: ice sheets

Wolfeboro Bay: Ice sheets a ways out, docks clear, launching boats


Every port that Mount goes has ice but all ice is very porous and thin. A good stiff wind could wipe it out in a couple of hours. Very calm now so very little movement. My guess of April 16th still has a shot.

Happy Birthday! We are heading south today for a birthday party for my granddaughter who was 16 on Wed. Looks like you will beat us to Welch this year, finally.:D

Rattlesnake
 

Friends just called from the Broadside of island. They went from Ames Farm to other side of Rattlesnake with little trouble. Slush in many dock areas, but otherwise navigatable. Pics later

Yahoo

South Bear to Mark and Mink is ice free.
Anyone know if you can launch and get out of Shep Browns?

From Emerson Aviation FaceBook Page
 

Just saw this on Emerson's FB page.
"All Major ports are Iced in. About 60% of the lake is gone, but with a day of wind, that just might do it. Tomorrow's forecast high of 51 degrees F and W-NW wind about 12 MPH."
He has some great photos of the ice on Paugus Bay.

There's a loon just of our docks and there's a boat trolling a few hundred yards out. It was great seeing and hearing wake crashing into our docks and shoreline. The little things....;)

Paugus
 

I got the boat our there and fished Paugus open water for a while in "Good Stuff". Made my way out through the channel and fished Meridith for a while. No luck but it was "reel" nice to get back on the water/ice. It was a real squeeze getting back into Lakeport, but off to Fratelos for a great plate of Sofia and the first day on the water is in the book!!
Don't you just love it here??

Smith Cove still has an area of ice blocking the channel, Ames Farm down to the Alton Line has ice pushed up to the shoreline, Alton Bay is open to just past Sandy Point and there are large areas ice all the way out to Ship & Moose Islands. Note in the last picture the long slice into the ice from the left. That was made by a boat.

I thought that might be you Dan!
I saw you do a couple laps from the channel to Christmas Island past the front of my dock. It must have been nice cruising the lake and getting those lines in. I am sure next weekend will have more boats taking their first ride of the season!

Center harbor and Moultonboro/Melvin Bays both are pretty much wide open as the ice flows have been blocked at their entrance points. Merideth Docks had some floating slush around them but the bay itself seems navigable. 19 mile seems mostly open though floating slush seems to be present out past Chases Island...might be some solid sheets out there too.

Doesn't mean some ice wont drift in as it breaks up but launching and getting out seems fine. The Not many boats trying it at any of these bays. Water temps still lingering at 39. We are at a point where a good windy day should open most areas up. Seems by the pictures that many more southern areas are holding floating slush or light sheets of ice and need some wind to push it out.

Be careful of floating debris....we encountered lots of it yesterday.

My guess is ice out will be declared late tomorrow or Tuesday.

Loon
 

This Loon was all around Ellacoya on 4-10-13. I sent a few pictures off to the folks at the Loon Center and got back a nice series of emails from several of the Biplogists from the the Loon Center.

Attachment 7802

From Tiffany Grade (Loon Center Biologist)
"I'm copying our Senior Biologist, John Cooley, on this message, as he will
certainly want to hear about this first arrival on Winni!


Hi Steve,

"Echoing Tiffany's thanks for your sighting, interest, and report, the first
confirmed loon sighting in the Lakes Region! We compile the early season
reports and provide them to our field biologist for the lake, who begins her
regular surveys in mid-May."

Best,
John Cooley, Jr… (Loon Center Chief Biologist)

Decided on Alton Bay yesterday. Unfortunately we couldnt get out to the main lake. Trolled the bay and came up with 2 nice salmon. Here is a pic of ice blocking us.

Ever Hopeful
 

Thanks for that VERY encouraging shot form Cattle landing- we hope to open the cabin on East side of Bear Saturday 19th & stay through school vacaiton week- keep us posted!

Breaking up at Balck Cat
 

I just posted this video of the ice breaking up on my breakwater in another section but it's probably more appropriate here.The wind is picking up and driving the ice south at a pretty good clip.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cKxUFXHm9cY?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Nice Movie
 

Terrific video, Gatto Nero. For anyone who has not witnesses ice-out first hand, you have to watch this.

A few years ago I had the unique opportunity to be on Rattlesnake Island for the first part of ice-out through the generosity of good friends. It is amazing to see the power of te ice moving. Late one afternoon we heard what sounded like gunshots.... A very loud cracking. We went next door to see their dock destroyed.

Thanks again GN

We launched from Shep Browns this morning and made it over to south Bear.
There was a big ice sheet along the west side of Bear from the Mail Dock to Cattle Landing.

Trying to get the dock in today the weather is not the best though.

I would say yes. CR just posted they were having lunch on the island...

Us too, just finshed our lunch...Quesadillas from the Wineing Butcher.

Rattlesnake Landing
 

Went to the lake this afternoon for something to do. Here are pics of Rattlesnake Landing. A bit of slush at the edge, but totally open after that. Cove to the right of landing all filled in with windblown ice. Cove to left open. Open all the way to Rattlesnake according to friends who spent the night out there.

Most of Alton Bay open. Some sheets of ice moved by wind.

Lots of ice towards Wolfeboro. WAM open and putting boats on the water.

Always a great choice for lunch on the island...

Ice out
 

Couldn't get in at Minge Cove, couldn't get in at Rattlesnake Island landing. Paid $ 20.00 to get in at Faye's Boat Yard. Clear boating to the eastern broad end of Rattlesnake. Nice quiet evening on the Island last night with the noise of the loons in the background. Found a deer leg, thinking coyote have been on the island.
Our dock and others were iced in, we forced our way in through the ice.

We launched at noon from Glendale and it was clear sailing out to Mark and all around. There was a wide band of broken ice in Smith Cove at noon, but by 3pm when we came back in it was completely gone-no sign of it anywhere. It was like someone just vacuumed it up.

Alton bay still had a decent area of ice out towards the mouth.

The water is on and the season has begun.

Goin' crazy
 

So I'm on St John Virgin Islands and I cant beleive I'm looking at pics of Winni ice out. I want to be there so bad.
Snorkeled today and had afternoon apps and cocktails at the High Tide restaurant. This is an unbelievable place but i had to get on line to check ice out progress.

Winni is tugging at me

WOW..Caneel Bay is a very beautiful area. Just a testament to the seductive powers of Winni!:D

Our dock is in...good day to call ice-out :D

Overnight
 

The lake looks clear this morning. The flyover will tell if the mouths of Alton Bay and Wolfeboro Bay are still locked. Come on, Dave, time to go for a ride. If you take pictures, (i loved the last series), please snap one of Minge Cove, West Alton Marine, Smith Cove, etc. these were pretty locked up on Saturday and the people who store their boats in those marinas would be most appreciative to see if they can get their boats out.

IG

Wolfeboro Ice
 

It looks like Wolfeboro still has a large berg floating around. Should dissipate today. I lost the ice-out contest.:(

IG

Ran out to Rattlesnake from the landing yesterday (had to break some ice) Minge still has ice in the channel, the marina is open. Everything around Rattlesnake / Sleepers is wide open. The landing should be wide open now, the Minge channel may take another day or two. Seemed like a lot of ice around Barndoor and into Wolfeboro, Alton bay should be wide open to the broads in a few days.

You had me at "Sleeper's"

Not that it matters for "ice out" declaration, but Paugus Bay is ice free except for the area where all of yesterday's blown ice bunched up. Everything blew SSW into the area behind the Margate and Eastern Shores. I wouldn't want to have a dock in that area. The Margate's ice bubblers were running, trying to deflect any ice away from their docks.

Thank you for the update PBFF
I hope our docks are ok, we have the main dock on pilings that stays in and fingers that crank up from it, and then we have pilings out in front of it as well two years ago we had to have oen redriven becasue the ice bascially ripped it out but better than than the main part of the dock

Do you mean the area after the margate down near spinnaker cove though? I hope you do

I was at the Margate yesterday meeting inlaws and all the ice was on there beach , docks, etc as PPFF stated nothing down by Irwins.Hope this helps!

Not Out Yet
 

I can tell you from where I sit that the Mount couldn't make it's rounds just yet. Here is a photo from my dock that shows ice still packed in from Black Cat to the Beavers and 3 Mile. 3 Mile is at about 11 O' Clock and the Beavers are just past 12

Not Spinnaker, the corner of the bay where White Oaks, Lake Street and WB Blvd meet.
AC, I drove right down into to the condos in Eastern Shores. I didn't want to get out and walk between condos so I couldn't see any dock damage. It was really bunched up back there but the lake is dead calm. Hopefully there's no problems for anyone.
The two previous springs ice drifted into our docks and heaved them. This year we got lucky on the north end of the bay. I think it's safe to remove the ice circulators on this end.

Still some places locked in
 

These beautiful photos show our lovely lake... with ice. Oh, how I wish I were out there.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater
Thanks Dave

IG

Today's ice report with pictures from Emerson Aviation:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...6851023&type=1

Boat is in!
 

I have been busy this weekend, so no boat ride. Temperature should be in the 70's toward the end of the week, I'm looking forward to going out.

You're not the only Lakes Region person in St. John now. There are some folks from Wolfeboro there too. We were there the last week in Feb.

We did a shakedown cruise today from downing's to the mouth of Alton bay, all clear.