Wow, what a great weekend!
 

Opened up on Saturday - got the water hooked up, dock down, patio furniture out on the deck, antenna back up (75 meter dipole at 70 feet) - WHAT A PERFECT WEEKEND TO OPEN UP!

Very few folks up here yet - low boat traffic, scant other lights on the Island (Rattlesnake). Nice sunset Saturday night (sorry, didn't get a pic).

Lake level seems low for this time of year....

But, all in all, just a fantastic bit of weather for the first 2012 weekend at the lake :)

Antenna
 

What are you picking up with that antenna?

Great Spring weekend.
 

The marina has my boat in the water! The water is unusually low for this time of the year. I remember a drought situation back in the 60's when the dock was almost dry. I hope this does not occur this summer.

Great cruise around the lake Sunday. I love it when there are few boats on the water.:D

Great Day Sat
 

It was a great day on Sat when we went for our first cruise of the season. Went over to Alton Bay and had a mmmm good mushroom burger :liplick: at Shibley's. Our dog Rosie seemed to like her first boat ride too.

Ageed!
 

What a weekend! Passing along a few pics. Hope everyone enjoyed it!

Let the fun begin!!!
 

We opened our cottage on East Bear Island for our forty-fifth season at this great location. The lake was calm as we cruised out to the island Saturday morning from Fay's Boat Yard. Two of our pilings and one dock post were damaged by ice. Our neighbor's dock suffered much more damage. There was no damage at our place or at adjacent cotages. The water temperature is 50 degrees and the lake level is down about ten inches. Mount Washington was wearing a complete coat of white and is a beautiful site as seen above the distant notch. We look forward to this season and sharing our place with family and friends.

was up yesterday, but we are on the main land

HOLY BLACK FLIES BATMAN!!!!!

it has been years since i have seem them this bad, large swarms around any non moving object. in some spots from more than 5 feet away looked like black screens floating in mid air OMG

Great Weekend
 

Yes, it was a truly great weekend for opening the cabin. A full 3 weeks ahead of our normal opening time, but there we were having cocktails on the deck watching the fishing boats creep by.

OMG I think I might be a little bit jealous. thanks for the update.

Took a long weekend this weekend up at the lake. Went to go take my kayak off the roof rack to take a cruise on Sunday and scalped my finger pretty good. So unfortunately no being on the water :(
But what a sight to see Mt Washinton over Long Island from Belnap Pt. It was sad to leave early after noon yesterday after a great lunch at Elecoya Grill.

We managed to turn our water on and put the dock in the water in record time this year. A small leak in the water intake line was quickly fixed and we were good to go. Time for COTP.

Our water level is way down as well and things are bone dry. The only thing I miss is our evening campfire. Maybe later in the season.

Well, whoever is out there :) I use the antenna for transmitting as well as receiving, so if I hear someone I want to talk with, I'll give a call and visa-versa. There's usually a group of my radio buddies hanging out on 75 meters between 3870 and 3885 kHz (3.870mHz to 3.885mHz) in the mornings and after dark....and sometimes during the day as well, on the weekends.

The propagation is generally quite a bit better in the morning and during the evening. The D layer (the ionospheric layer nearest the ground) absorption is high in the late spring / summer / early fall during the day, when the sun is out, so 75 meters is generally pretty quiet at these times... and hey, it should be, right? Everyone should be outside enjoying the summer weather, and not hanging around talking on the radio during the day :D

Anyway, that's what the antenna is for. At that height, it works very well for distances within a thousand-plus or so miles at night. Winni to Florida, Winni to Chicago, etc. and everything in between. For longer distances on 75 meters, a greater antenna height (90 feet or more above the ground) is quite a bit better and makes a big difference way out there.

Probably more than you wanted to know :coolsm: ;)

Wow...black flies already ! I've been away from my home state of NH for about 25 years except for an occasional vacation...now with a motor home we have the ability to come for longer stays and and plan to come back for the summer, maybe longer this year...I remember " black flies " very well...

My wife has never met a " black fly ".....she says, " oh, they can't be that bad ! " ha, ha, ha..... I remember something called " old woodsmen's fly dope "...worked great...except for the smell of creosote...but as long as everyone else wore it..it smelled normal...lol

Plan on being back in about a month...looking for seasonal work, if anyone has any ideas or contacts..thanks..

Turned out to be a pretty nice day yesterday too, they were saying mostly cloudy with chance of rain, it cleared right up, and the sun was out all day, and it was warm too. I went to the beach all afternoon, there was a good number of boats going thru the weirs channel, probably at least 30 boats went thru in the time I was there. I got out and enjoyed every second of it, cause it's gonna rain the rest of the week, and not be out of the 50's. Hopefully we get our 70's back, but it's still only April.

This past Saturday really was a gift!