Elk Lake and Michigan Iceboat News
View our LIVE STREAMING Iceboat/Elk Lake Cam Michigan Ice Reports are on the Michigan Iceboating Forum.Now over 1200 members strong
March 10th 2010 UPDATE WEATHER: 1" of rain now in the forecast by Saturday and more on Saturday Now here is something you don't see every day. Iceboats and Kayaks sharing Lake Charlevoix. (the iceboats are in the background)
Photo credit Rick Wolanin
March 9th 2010 Elk Lake Ice update= 58 degrees here with a real feel over 65 with this bright sunshine beating down on it. More days between 50 and 60 degrees coming this week with rain Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's already been near 50 degrees for a week.
.66" of rain is forecast by Saturday. There is slush and crap on the ice. The black ice we had is only 7" thick and starting to honeycomb and is buried beneath the slush.
There are known holes large enough to eat a 4wheeler that are just floating slush with NO ICE beneath them. These holes look just like the rest of the ice since it has slush on them. You do not know they are there until you are upon them. Fortunately we have fantastic, careful ice checkers. There are MANY cracks that are no longer frozen and flat. They are heaving open runner eaters. The fisherman have even left and the shanties are gone
See the two forecasts below, we DO NOT go below freezing at all this entire week
Here is a great video fro the DN North American Championship. Congrats Ron Sherry
Ice Boat Regatta from Catchlight Video Solutions on Vimeo.
March 7th 2010 Hot Timolly (an Arrow) was the smart one and didn't pack up to go to dinner like the rest of us and finally got to sail when the wind finally came up to 8mph yesterday, Good for you Tim and Molly....that'll teach us :) After dinner we did not get home until late last night so I did not get time to update and I am heading back out right now to party all over again. So here is a link so you can look at photos until I get a chance to update this page...ENJOY!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_wolanin
March 6th 2010 Below are a few photos from yesterday (Friday) taken by Kelly Jacobs and Rick Wolanin.
March 5th 2010 Below is an aerial (Thanks Andy) photo of the early arrivals for the Elk Lake Iceboat Party that starts tomorrow. Also a photo of just a few of the attendees that are here including Andy in his plane.
Warm temps softened the snow significantly today , but there was no wind
March 4th 2010 Jack accomplished what we didn't think was possible..HE SAILED TODAY! Winds were flukey, it would gust to 11mph then go down to almost nothing. He sailed back and forth quite a few times, lots of hiking, but when the wind would die down some with the snow that is out there he would stop. We believe with the wind up we could all sail. Lee also sailed his Spinter using slush runners, but by then the wind was down alot. That didn't stop him from getting a few pretty good runs in. Here is a link to a short cell phone video of Lee sailing
Also here are some photos of Jack and Lee sailing. Don't get me wrong, the snow is stiff, but it has improved enough that Jack got some good rides. It will continue to improve with the temps and sun
Click to see larger versions
February 27th 2010 The 4th Annual Elk Lake Iceboat Party made the Chicago Tribune. I don't know how, but here it is
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/ct-trav-0228-midwest-events-20100226,0,4246069.story
February 22nd 2010 Jack and Walt sailed Elk Lake today. Rob said that with Jack sailing there was alot of hiking across the lake and back. Winds ranged from 2mph to 10mph. When the wind was low obviously you would stop, when it was 10mph you could sail all over the place. The snow is still 1" to 2.5" deep in our sailing area and does not make a good snow ball, but is not fluffy either. The storm today completely missed us. We will be sailing everyday as long as there is wind.
February 21st 2010 Several days of no wind or very little wind has meant no sailing on Elk Lake. The ice check yesterday revealed that the snow is no worse (different, but no worse) to sail through then it has been the last two weeks. There is 1" to 2.5" of snow as of yesterday afternoon. It will make a snowball, but not a good one. The stiff stuff that was underneath is not as stiff as it was. It was near 40 degrees with bright sunshine all day Saturday and today is supposed to be above freezing and sunny as well. We should continue to lose snow, but we could sail right now with the same 8-10mph we needed last week to sail.
February 16th 2010 Mike Acebo (J14 #21 and #242) fowards this video from President's Day on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Black Ice at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH from Mike Acebo on Vimeo.
Sailing Elk Lake on hold today..Gusty winds are causing some drifting of the fluffy snow we had. The gusts combined with the drifts (some sticky, some fluffy, some half and half) lead to a recipe for breaking your boat. We will update once we know more, but the drifts are higher now than they have been the last two weekends. There are still spots out there with very little snow. We are not saying it is or is not sailable, we have sailed easily in much more snow that this, just the combination we have today makes for survival sailing.
February 15th 2010 Just a short video of sailing today.
February 14th 2010 There were 20-30 iceboats on Elk Lake today that had all the sailing they could want this afternoon. Everyone had a fantastic time and at almost 5pm there are still alot of boats on the ice at our house. There were also a few DN's racing north of us. I will continue to add more photos and videos as I get them posted and edited. There was so much sailing I had to split it into 2 videos. Video #1
Video #2
Photos below by Rick Wolanin
February 13th 2010 Winds were uncooperative again today, but we did get a few gusts and we did get to sail some. Check out the short video below. Click here to see the wind forecast map for tomorrow
February 11th 2010 Several of us have been sailing Elk Lake every day this week when there was wind. Today winds were light and fluky and some of the snow is stiff so there were no break neck speed runs, but we all had a great time AGAIN :) Below is a video from today. We plan on doing it again every day until snow or thaw makes us stop.
February 9th 2010 Lots of fun was had sailing Elk Lake again today
February 8th 2010 Elk Lake tomorrow the 9th...we are planning on sailing all day. The snow is not forecasted to start until afternoon and as long as it does not affect visibility we will continue to sail. Wind forecast is 8-14mph between 10am and 6pm. Please be sure to secure your boat Tuesday evening when you leave. Tuesday night wind gusts 30-50 mph
February 6th 2010 We had a great time sailing Elk Lake today. There were probably 30 boats out here. The lake has alot of clear ice that is nice and smooth, but the snow we had has styrofoamed. It is subliming, but is still there. Despite the snow we sailed all day until 4pm. Here are a few photos.
Click on any of the photos to see bigger versions and descriptions
Photos by Rick Wolanin
Photos by Kelly Jacobs
February 5th 2010 ELK LAKE LIVE.. Be sure to check in with the live cam tomorrow, we will be setting up and likely sailing
February 4th 2010 Countdown..
Approx 1 month before the 4th Annual Elk Lake Iceboat Party on March 6th and 7th
As always all types of boats are welcome! Iceboaters from all over the country travel to sail Elk Lake. Everything is free, no admission charge, free food (no donations even accepted), door prizes etc.. We have an awesome time sailing Elk Lake, hanging out, sharing stories. Iceboating is a big part of it, but definitely not the ONLY part of it. Just as fun is the friendship and comaraderie! Lunch is served in the middle of the day either on the ice or in the Jacobs' Iceboat shop depending on the weather. After sailing alot of the sailors get together to go to dinner and some go bowling as a group. We start at 8am and stop around 10pm. Come join in some or all of the activities. Watch here or the Michigan / J14 iceboating forum for info
February 2nd 2010 Our very own Bob Boyle (Long Island J14) featured in LI Sail Magazine
February 1st 2010 Ice Report Elk Lake:
Snow cover is minimal, a little more than paper thin
The lake gained 1/2" to 3/4" of ice last night. Within 20' of shore the ice is now 3" after that it quickly drops to 2 1/2". We did not go out too far. The sailing area ice formed approx 6 hours after the areas we checked so is likely a little thinner. Also the normal thinner areas are out there like the mouth of Spencer's Bay, Over near Angel Rd, near Rex Terrace etc.. We are still on track for setting up this weekend.
January 31st 2010 Elk Lake Ice report= We only gained 1/8th of an inch in thickness last night. After you walk out 15-20 feet from shore the ice is thin enough it starts cracking. Since we are not going to be sailing for a couple days, rather than getting a wet foot, we will check again tomorrow. The ice is not glass smooth, but it appears from shore to be at least as good as last year. It was snow free, but it is snowing right now. We don't expect much accumulation. Tenatively we will be setting up iceboats on Saturday, but if we continue to grow ice this slowly or we get enough snow to slow down the ice build, this may change. Just because you see our boats in the pits, please don't assume the ice is safe for sailing. We often have much more ice in front of our house than out on the lake. We went to Birch Lake today. Some Jboats and a few DN's were sailing. The ice is reported as ranging from smooth to rumbly with medium density drifts, but with more than enough wind it was still fast and fun. See some photos below of this afternoon. (These were taken from the car)
January 30th 2010
Elk Lake froze yesterday. It will still be several days before it's ready, but it's finally here.
Click the live cam page below to check it out.
January 29th 2010 Tomorrow some of us Jboat sailors will be sailing one of our "club" lakes, Birch Lake even though Lake Charlevoix is in better shape. We will just be cruising the lake no course or anything as usual. Remember this lake is very small so good visibility while sailing is a must when there are more than a few boats.
January 28th 2010 We have some Michigan Ice Reports as they were emailed to me in the last couple days,
Northern Michigan, Lake Charlevoix will likely be the local sailing spot this weekend.
Via Gordon Howie, he was on the ice today. He went out a 1/4 mile, poked a hole through 7 inches of rock hard ice. He said the snow ribbons could be sailed through with no problem. He said that near shore the snow ribbons were sort of slushy, but beyond them it should be good. Word from Gull Lake hopefully later today. Lastly, Elk Lake is still soft. Temps below zero with calm winds are expected Friday night and Saturday.
Southeast Michigan Via Al and Larry..
Notice: from the Orchard Lake Group, Oakland County, Mi.
This is just a heads up notice. Larry drove around Pine Lake and Orchard Lake this afternoon, and a visual inspection revealed snow-free, smooth ice on Pine Lake and nearly snow-free, smooth ice on Orchard Lake. The snow is still blowing off Orchard as I type this. Larry and I plan on walking both lakes at around noon on Friday (29th) and I will post the findings A.S.A.P. We are sure that both lakes have sufficient ice, but as we all know, it's up to each sailor to check the ice in the area where he or she will be sailing. Today, NOAA predicts Saturday wind to be about 6-8 mph. (yesterday, they predicted 3 mph all day for Saturday) so, we are hoping for an even better prediction by Friday night; 10 would be nice. Sunday wind is predicted to be around 15 mph all day till abut 4:00 pm., then gusts up to 20. Both days should have a little sun. Chef Larry will be bringing his BAR-B-Q and I will bring hot dogs, buns, k & m for all. Just bring something to drink for yourself; lunch is on us. We plan on sailing both Saturday and Sunday on Orchard or Pine--to be determined Friday afternoon. Keep an eye on your e-mail for the update and directions to the launch site. If you have any questions call Al at 248-977-0523
Larry and Al (not a couple, Just friends) Cass Lake via John Harper, walked Cass Lake today from Dodge Park #4. 75% snow ice, 25% clear see thru ice. Drifts cover about 20-25%. Most are 1/2 inch and no problem, others are up to 3 inches and already quite firm. Should be good for recreational sailing where you have the option of avoiding the drifts. DN size boats are going to be "skitteriing" around over 20 mph because of the .5-1.5 in. bumps. Thinnest ice I found was over 5 inches in the middle over the deepest part. Have fun!
Gull Lake, 1.5 inches of medium snow
Ohio, Sailing has been going on at Pymatuning Lake and they are also checking Mosquito Lake for sailing. The TIYC is also holding their Winterfest this weekend. In Wisconsin the NIYA Regatta has been called ON for Lake Winnebago. This is a very cool event with a big variety of iceboats. Click here for more info, lodging, directions etc..
January 25th 2010 Don't forget, Iceboat Larry is doing weekend Iceboating recaps when he sails. For those of you who have sailed Elk Lake...you know Larry Follow Larry's page by clicking here
Here is Larry's recap of last weekend.... Let's start out with GREAT TIME!!!! We arrived at the launch at 8:30 AM. Of course, we were the first to show. The ice looked great. I rated it an 9 and there was no snow on it. Al's boat was unloaded by 8:45. Other people started to arrive by 9:00. There were probably 40 boats on the ice by 10:00. It was almost like being up north with all of our Elk Lake friends;Beth & Rob, Robert, Ed, Al, Doug, & others. We sailed with at least 6 J boats, Arrows, Nites, Skeeters, (Al's Adrenaline), Ice Scream and some DN's. Wind was good (10-15) all day. There were no mishaps. We would like to extend our thanks to the Gull Lake Club for putting up with us, even though we wore our hats in the bar. The country club was gracious enough to allow us to use the facilities ... sans the hats... A young lady in the bar took issue with our wearing of hats. Memo to me: do it like they did in The Blues Brothers..Tip the hat and inquire "HOW MUCH FOR THE WOMEN?"
Here is a short video from the weekend
Here are more photos from the Elk Lake gang sailing on Gull Lake Saturday (Thanks Robert, FA-1)
One last video from Gull Lake...Ride along with Runnin Wild III
January 24th 2010 From Neil Betts, an Ohio Jboat (former DN) sailor..
Unfortunately some of our group had other commitments and only a few of us could sail. We sailed Pymatuning and had 7 inches of snow ice with fairly smooth surface and decent winds in the morning but diminished after noon. A few of our members also sail Lake Arthur in Pa.
See photos below
January 22nd 2010
Check out Gretchens fantastic photos of the
Ice Opti North American's here in Northern Michigan last weekend. LONG ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE ON! THE Long Island Championships are scheduled for:
Saturday January 23 at Lake Ronkonkoma!
Skippers meeting at 9:30 AM at State Launch Ramp
January 21st 2010 Gull Lake iceboating is still AWESOME !! Check their hotline for the latest 269-552-6036
Below are some photos and a short video from yesterday (thanks Doug)
The Oakland Press..
Ice boating season has begun, locals win hardware
Click here for the entire story
January 20th 2010 Freeze, Thaw, Freeze, Thaw..Elk Lake just can't make up it's mind.
Watch the process on the live cam by clicking the photo from earlier today below
January 18th 2010 Ice reports from area sailors: John Harper reports that today he has found a better area of ice further up the lake from Boyne that is significantly better. It may be as good as Boyne was originally a week ago, but way better than Boyne is now and was for the Centrals.
Ice update from Walt re: Lake Carlevoix, Boyne City = Ice is still bumpy since the snow refroze, but there will be some people sailing it throughout the week.
Also sailing will continue on Gull Lake in Barry County
Lastly Kevin reports he sailed Higgins Lake (north half) he would rate it an 8, below is a photo
January 13th 2010 Every iceboater really should watch this video.
It is the funniest iceboat video I have ever seen !! It is Rick Mercer of the Rick Mercer Report iceboating in Canada (Thanks Ken for the link)
On a different note...
Very cool video of iceboating Lake Ronkonkoma in the Nida core J14.
January 12, 2010 Sailing from Mike Acebo on Vimeo.
January 11th 2010
First Sail, J14 #242, Lake Ronkonkoma, NY from Mike Acebo on Vimeo.
Watch the first Nida-Core iceboat (J14) sail on Lake Ronkonkoma (Long Island) For those of you watching Mike build this boat, check out the video above.
...This movie is of first set-up and sail. Boat performed as hoped with no adjustments needed. Very fun day on Long Island to start the sailing season...Mike
January 10th 2010 Lake Charlevoix at Boyne City ice is gorgeous!
Sailing currently going on at the Boyne City end of Lake Charlevoix.
Locals up in Boyne report 3 3/4" of hard ice.
Photos taken by Rick Wolanin (Helmet Guy).
Click the photos for a larger view
Thank You Walt and Rick for making the other iceboaters aware of the gorgeous ice up there. They all owe you THANKS!! The wind is winding down and Elk Lake is starting to skim
Check out the live cam to watch it skim
January 5th 2010 Even though there is no sailable ice it sure is looking like iceboating season at Elk Lake. Rich, Rob, Walt, Dick and Jeff all came by to lend Jack a hand and check out Walt's boat.
Click any photo for a larger view
January 4th 2010 Check out the live cam over the next couple days to watch and see if we get a calm enough day for Elk Lake to freeze. Click the photo below to go to the Live Cam page. You can control it!
January 3rd 2010 After Al realized his back was not designed for DN sailing you can see him trying out Larry's iceboat on Pontiac Lake in southeastern Michigan. To read about their weekend check out Iceboat Larry's Weekend Recap page
January 2nd 2010 Here is a quick video of Jeff sailing Lake Neppessing near Lapeer, MI yesterday and today
Also don't forget the DN Westerns are coming up January 9th and 10th. See the DN forum for info/postponements or changes
December 30th 2009 First safe sailing of the year in our area was done today on Birch Lake.
Below is a photo from Rich and a report. Birch is a very small lake (under 1 mile x 1 mile) north of Elk Rapids.
Today Birch Lake had 4.5" to 5" of hard, clear, fast ice and plenty of air all day. The sailing was terrific. Very little snow but there are quite a few seams that are rather bumpy, but no open cracks or heaves. There was also 5 DN's scrub racing and a good time was had by all. Barring any significant snow I will be sailing it daily as conditions permit.
See you on the ice.
Rich
J14#6
December 19th 2009 While there is no shortage if ice and sailing in Michigan and Wisconsin there are also several J14's getting ready for the ice this season. For the latest update on Mike's First in Glass, nida-core based J14x click the photo below
December 13th 2009 This weekend we had a glue party to get Walt's iceboat all epoxied together. Here is the video and then click the link to see MANY photos from this great weekend! http://elklakeiceboating.com/walt.html
They are sailing in Wisconsin already, check it out.
Photo credit Robert Cummins
December 11th 2009 Short update video from yesterday in the Jacobs' Iceboat Shop
December 10th 2009 NEW Live Dedicated Elk Lake Webcam...
The new cam will be up 24/7 and you can control it!
Internet Explorer users can even zoom in.
The link will always be on the left side of this page with the other links.
Click here to check it out http://elklakeiceboating.com/cam.html
December 8th 2009..update Dec 10th..Bass Lake broke up and is water again Well, we have gorgeous, smooth, clear ice on Bass Lake. It has been there since the night before last. We will have to wait and see what this storm we are getting over the next two days does to it. Meanwhile work continues on building J14's and other iceboats across the country. Check out our message board for updates on boats from Michigan, New York, Ohio and Minnesota.
You can also view Mike's page, Walt's page and Ed's blog for building updates.
December 3rd 2009 Jacobs' Iceboat Workshop updates...
With visits from Walt, Rick, Dick, Rob, Bob and Henry in the last week there has been alot of progress in the shop. Walt's boat is taking shape (and a very cool shape I must say) and we also set up Black Ice with the new mast and it's new storm sail to make sure it all fit well. Click the photo of Black Ice to go to the Jacobs' Iceboat shop page or click Walt's boat to go to Walt's page.
November 30th 2009 It's starting!!
Check out some of the Minnesota webcams. You can see the ice starting.
Click here for Minnesota Live cams
Watch the Minnesota forum for info about the Great Western Challenge and when it is scheduled.
November 29th 2009 East Coast iceboater Mike Acebo tried out this cool tiny new cam http://www.goprocamera.com/
He says "This camera is very cool and tiny. I can't believe what it can do. Fully waterproof, and it even supplies heat to the battery for longer battery life (HD model)." Click to watch the video below as Mike cruises around Long Island. The quality is amazing. He said the sound would have been better if he had not had the waterproof cover on.
GoPro Camera Test from Mike Acebo on Vimeo.
November 28th 2009 Don't forget to check out the Elk Lake surface temperature page.
I updated it today and was pleasantly surprised that it is 42 degrees.
November 27th 2009
Upcoming Events...
The DN Western Challenge is traditionally sometime in the beginning of
December on the best ice in Minnesota.
Watch the Minnesota Iceboating webpage
for info and updates.
The New England Iceyacht Assoc. Indoor Tune Up Clinic is scheduled
for December 5th at Lamb Co.'s shop at 85 Jackson St., Canton, MA. 02021.
This event is open to anyone that is interested in iceboating,you do not
need to be an NEIYA member to attend.
See the East Coast area's Yahoo message board
Via Mike Acebo:
Lake Ronkonkoma Ice and Yacht Club Swap and Buy Meet next Saturday at Weeks Yacht Yard, Patchogue, Long Island. Hopefully Steve From NORTHWIND ICEBOATS will show up and have all the parts anyone needs, he sharpens runners also. Let him know if he needs to bring something specific for you. That way we know he will show up! New member sign up and meet the Long Island Icboaters.
November 23rd 2009LIVE Iceboat Chat Room every Tuesday night at 8pm...
Come join in and chat with people around the country about iceboating. This is a trial to see how it goes. As long as there is interest and it remains friendly we will continue it every Tuesday night at 8pm eastern standard time. http://elklakeiceboating.com/chat.html
Just put in a user name and click connect. Then click "enter without password"
November 12th 2009Building J14 #247 begins.. Walt started on his JX today, you can follow along by clicking the link below or the photo. I also added a link to the left side of this page under "Personal Pages"
Walt's J14x Build
Also remember to check out Mike's First in Glass J14 build, Ed's new J14 building blog and follow the J14 message board for Phil Jim, Jeff and Taras' J14's currently being built
November 10th 2009Report from the Gull Lake Iceyacht Club Swap Meet...via Pete Sarelis...
We had another successful meet with great "parking lot weather" (upper 60's). Great turnout from all. Doug Schoener from Sarns and George Seigel were there too printing hull numbers as you waited. Ron Sherry gave a highly motivating lunch presentation of getting everybody to the ice this year and the "how-to's" to sharpening runners. See the photos Pete provided below
November 4th 2009Today we set up the electric J14x in the driveway. It has been in storage for approx 12 yrs. Walt, Ed and Dick were here to help. Lots of photos can be seen by clicking http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv326/iceboatphotos/ also here is a video of the setup
November 2nd 2009
Swap Meet reminders... The Gull Lake Iceyacht Swap meet is coming up.
November 7th 2009
Gull Lake Iceyacht Club annual swap meet...
Check out GLIYC's new website for info.
Location: Grand Rapids Yacht Club on Reeds Lake.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch: 1 p.m. Raffle: 2 p.m. Directions to the Grand Rapids Yacht Club: From Interstate 96, exit at the East Beltline (M-37) and head south. At Lake Ave, turn right, heading west to the traffic light at Lakeside Blvd. Turn right at the light, you can see Reeds Lake and the football field. The GRYC is down a steep driveway past the Dept of Public Works building. GRYC address: 740 Lakeside Dr. SE, Grand Rapids MI 49506 Telephone: (616) 949-0221. Also the Skeeter Ice Boat Club (SIBC) annual swap meet
November 8th 2009
Sailing Specialists, Inc.
210 N. Walworth Ave., Williams Bay
See iceboat.org for more details
October 25th 2009Getting in the mood....
If these videos don't get you in the mood for iceboating, nothing will
October 19th 2009
NEW PAGE ADDED! I have added a new page to our ever expanding website :)
It is a page I will use to track past and present Elk Lake surface temperatures so we can compare year to year. The question marks (?) are just place holders. The page is a work in progress as I have to dig up the previous years temperatures from several different computers I have it stored on. I will slowly fill in the temps to replace the question marks. This new page also tracks the # of days sailed each year, set up dates and tear down dates.
Check out the new Elk Lake Surface Temperature Page.
I will also add a permanant link to the left side of this page.
October 17th 2009These are AWESOME! I need a pair! (Thanks for emailing the link Rob)
Sunglasses with a built in video camera!
October 11th 2009Ed from Traverse City is starting to build his J14/JX iceboat. We have added a blog page to this Elk Lake Iceboating website so you can follow along with his build. You can post comments, ask questions etc.. Since it is set up as a blog Ed can update it at will. Check it out and follow along.
Ed's JX Iceboat building blog
September 25th 2009Up and Running... The Gull Lake Iceyacht Club website!
The GLIYC has a great new website. It is the oldest and most historic iceyacht club in Michigan. Be sure to check out their history, their "meet the skipper" feature, videos, photos and more. Right now you can also keep tabs on their upcoming swap meet. It is a very cool website. I will be adding a link to the left of our homepage here so you can always view the GLIYC site. We will also be adding a link to the Michigan Iceboating forum's link page.
September 16th 2009Ron sent me some awesome videos to add to his media page, you have to check them out.
An hour of talking DN iceboating with Ron Sherry, Videos of the Detroit Ice Yacht club racing with some very cool footage, three generations of Sherrys on the news and many more. Here is a sneak peek
Now go to Composite Concepts webpage to view them all
Click on the link on the left side of the page that says "Photo and Video Page" Below are a couple of the many stories done on Jack and Elk Lake Iceboating within the last year or so. I will try to dig out some of the older ones. I have about a dozen or more magazine ones to scan and a half dozen or so more TV interviews including one for ESPN about 15-20 yrs ago MyNorth.com/Traverse Magazine does a video interview with Jack.
Click the iceboat below to watch it If you have trouble viewing this award winning video go directly to it: Jack on the news Also here is the Lakeland Boating Article for those who haven't seen itClick here to see the large version
Jack's Award being presented
Photo of the award that was presented to Jack is below: 
Jack sailing his twin masted iceboat on Lake St Clair in southeast Michigan
You can also view the patent Jack holds for this boat just for fun.
Black Ice doing some amazing hiking on Bass Lake in Elk Rapids, Michigan with 5" of snow. Make sure to watch it all. The hikes get bigger as the video goes on.
Jack, Al, Larry, Rich, Mike, Ed and others enjoying one of the most fun sailing days of the year.
Map of recent visitors from around the world
Art by Harry Whitehorse is a must see
Harry's sculptures and paintings are some of the most beautiful and creative I have seen.
Harry painted "Wildest Renegade Race Ever"
More contributors Elk Rapids Sweet Shop (Incredible doughnuts, pastries, cookies and eclairs)
108 River St, Elk Rapids
Downtown Elk Rapids
(231) 264-9732
Looking for some great Pizza in the Elk Lake area.
Be sure to try these fantastic places:
Water's Edge Resort and Market
7263 Cairn Hwy
Kewadin, MI 49648
ph: 231-264-8340
The Moose
127 River Street, Elk Rapids MI 231-264-9266
Chef Charles Pizza
Located at 147 River Street, Downtown Elk Rapids
To place an order call: 231-264-8901
The Town Club (the place to be after sailing)
133 River St, Elk Rapids
(231) 264-9914
Java Jones
131 River Street Downtown Elk Rapids
Art Galleries:Beautiful blown glass and artwork can be found at Mullaly's 128
Click their banner below
Restaurants: Pearl's New Orlean's Kitchen
Elk Rapids, 1/2 mile east of the light 231-264-0530
Iceboat Elk Lake right out your front door !!
Owned and operated by long time iceboater Rick Conrad
You are Iceboater number
to visit Elk Lake Iceboating
since November 30th 2009
