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Ice Boating, Anyone?

© Anne Schwab

Most lakes around the country are in the process of losing their ice, and sailors are gearing up for another season on the water. But wait! Have you tried ice boating yet?

It's quite a ride, and for the thrill seekers among you, what better way can you travel at incredibly high speeds across frozen lakes without that annoying hum that drives a snowmobile?

Ice boating also has the positive (for some people) aspect of being more a more stable ride than that of a scow. A little girl I know said to me only the other day, "I like ice boating, because you don't tip way up."

I was surprised, I must admit. Here's a little girl who wouldn't go out in the summer with her father on his M16, because it "tips too far up in the air, and I might fall off Daddy!" Instead, she'd prefer to fly across the ice at incredible speeds, just missing gaping holes of open water, and wearing a helmet becuase the impact if the boat were to tip over is so great she would surely get at the least a horrible headache without one. Yes, I can see how that would be much more comforting than tipping way up in the air on a sailboat.

Now, don't get me wrong, I do love the feel of ice boating. There's something incredibly exhilerating about the cold air stinging your cheeks as you hurtle across the ice, gripping a screwdriver in your hand. What does a screwdriver have to do with ice boating? Well, I learned that little tip long ago from a neighbor.

The screwdriver comes in very handy when you've steered your boat a little too close to one of those open patches of water, and you happen to go under. As you flounder in the horribly cold water, gasping for air, and pounding at a roof of ice blocking your way out, that little screwdriver is quite a handy little tool for knocking a hole in the icy roof to thus enable your escape from your sub zero swimming pool.

So get out there, find some ice, and rig your boats. We've got some sailing left to do before summer arrives. Just watch out for open water, and always carry a screwdriver.

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