Official 2018-2019 Ice-in Thread

[fatlazyless]

Three days ago, I was down at the town docks boat ramp, at the big Meredith intersection, pounding away on the ice with a heavy ice chopper, looking to see if getting my boat out there was doable ……. and all that ice was thick and strong, maybe 3" thick and way too tough for ice chopping.

Now, it is totally all open water at the bottom of Meredith Bay ….. the ice is all gone …..and you could launch/retrieve a boat pretty good except for a little ice on the ramp itself.

You know that ice seems to be much stronger when the air temp is 15-degrees than when it is 30-degrees. At 15-degrees, it is much more difficult to break it up with an ice chopper.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Three days ago, I was down at the town docks boat ramp, at the big Meredith intersection, pounding away on the ice with a heavy ice chopper, looking to see if getting my boat out there was doable ……. and all that ice was thick and strong, maybe 3" thick and way too tough for ice chopping.

Now, it is totally all open water at the bottom of Meredith Bay ….. the ice is all gone …..and you could launch/retrieve a boat pretty good except for a little ice on the ramp itself.

You know that ice seems to be much stronger when the air temp is 15-degrees than when it is 30-degrees. At 15-degrees, it is much more difficult to break it up with an ice chopper.

On a sunny Spring say—about two or three days before "Ice-Out", select a spot in the Lake whose depth is known—and where Ice-Out boat travel can be expected to be minimal. With the sun directly overhead, peek at the bottom between ice floes. There's a good chance you can see lake bottom detail through 40-feet of water!

[Island Girl]

It’s happening!

[joey2665]

I hope it sticks. 4 of the next 5 days have daytime highs above freezing including 45 on New Years. UGH

[fatlazyless]

Ain't no way ice-in is imminent ..... expect it to happen about January 9 .... the big work construction barges are back out making money ...... and my dock and boat lift is still in, with no worries here!

Am looking forward to the big warm-up ........ warm-warm-warm ..... heat-heat-heat ....... rain-rain-rain ..... wind-wind-wind ..... plan to be raking those leafs on Tuesday, January 1! Anyone here need any old oak leafs?

[fatlazyless]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Ain't no way ice-in is imminent ..... expect it to happen about January 9 .... the big work construction barges are back out making money ...... and my dock and boat lift is still in, with no worries here!

Am looking forward to the big warm-up ........ warm-warm-warm ..... heat-heat-heat ....... rain-rain-rain ..... wind-wind-wind ..... plan to be raking those leafs on Tuesday, January 1! Anyone here need any old oak leafs?

So, what day is today? Today is January 9, and what did I say above, and what do you see today on the Snake Eyes Cam? You see ice, ice, ice, and more ice!

Am I the greatest ever ice-in predictor ever, that ever lived, since ice was first invented, or what!

Above quote from December 28, 2018!!!

[Mink Islander]

Power just back on. Gonna be making ice for the next week (notwithstanding some insulation from the snow).

[cessnaair]

Broards just opened up

[Island Girl]

Well, FLL, easy come, easy go. The broads is breaking up.

[fatlazyless]

Yes, that was a very serious piece of do-it-all-by-myself dock removal, done on Sunday, and it would be, as of Tuesday, a serious piece of a frozen icy mess of a 30' dock and boat lift problem. I usually do it over three days, in three steps doing different difficult and challenging parts one day at a time. But not this year, what with old age, senility, general laziness, and leaky waders all adding up for me to keep putt'n it off until I got a-round tuit .....and, oh yes, on Sunday, January 7, the dock was seriously surrounded by a thin, sorta soft 1" ice, all around.

Hurray for those waders ..... they hit the spot .....best 99.98 I spent in a long time.

At the very outset, at about noon ...... standing out on the far end of my dock ..... a big huge sheet of wind driven ice slowly, slowly snuck in and then, all of a sudden ..... the big boat lift starts slowly moving along, toward the dock......when I wasn't look'n ...... what a shocking event! ...... it snuck up on me ..... Next thing I know, the dock is sort of folding up and twisting, and then the shore ramp falls into the lake ...... omg ... and then my next door neighbor comes out of his mega-million dollar house ..... walks to his shoreline and shouts down at me ....... "why don't you leave it in for another two months!" ...... oh well ..... at the end of the day ....about 7:30 at night, with seven hours, going up & down the steep 6' rocky embankment maybe 50-times in & out the icy water ..... I did a hell of a job with how it all went .....thanks to my Walmart waders which didn't leak even a little bit ........ because leaky waders would have made it a total no-go …. even a tiny leak makes it very cold, and very wet, very fast ……. so's ……. hip-hip-hip-hip-hip hurrah for the Walmart Hodgman $99.98 waders from the Tilton NH, Walmart!

Looking at all the five large, different, aluminum docks sections, all with big legs still attached, and the 10x10x6' 450-lb boat lift, all sitting in the side yard there, it makes me scratch my head and wonder how I do it? Using two come-a-longs and a ten foot wood ramp, built with three 2x10"x10's and two 2x4"x10's all held together with three 3 1/2"/ outside deck screws per/meet-up, I manage to inch these big bulky items up and out, across a rough, rocky, 6' high, steep, embankment with the two come-a-longs. And, for a really good come-a-long, go to the ServiceStar Hdwe in Lakeport, and get a Maasdam Powr-Pull, which is a much better come-along than what you get at Walmart or Lowe's. By the end of the day, lever'n all this stuff up and out, my right arm and wrist were ready to fall off .... very sore!

And, all things considered, probably a Powr-Pull is a better, more descriptive name for these devices than a come-a-long, plus the Powr-Pull is definitely more powerful, better quality, easier to use, and it costs more, about $50 vs the $28 big-box item.

In my not so humble opinion, I do believe I deserve the Presidential Medal for Dock Removal ...... except, not from this president ....... and thank you very very much!

[MAXUM]

Presidential Medal for Dock Removal?

I don't think so - what that really sounds like is a Darwin Award Nomination.

Sorry FLL you can't actually win a Darwin Award as you managed to live though your self inflicted ordeal. Hey keep trying though, don't give up, we're all rooting for ya!

[Slickcraft]

Iced in between Belknap Point and Welch. Broads is open.