Ice-Out 2012

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by MAXUM

Wouldn't own anything else! It's an '03 Alpha I Gen 2

I've had a new impeller for it sitting on my workbench now for over a year and keep putting it off. Couple of hours in the garage pre-season beats a blown engine in the middle of the summer.

My last boat with a 94 Alpha I Gen 2 went 10 years before I replaced the impeller and it was probably still OK and my current boat will probably be in the same condition but having a new one in there is piece of mind I guess more than anything else. Heck it's a $20.00 part. I learned my lesson last time and didn't needlessly buy the entire housing kit.

Those are great drives. The "floppy vane" impeller design change when they went to gen 2 was brilliant. I know some people hate changing the impeller in the drive, but it's a lot easier than changing the impeller on my engine in my Bravo 3 equipped boat. That Bravo pump is in an awful place to access and the impeller is only good for 2 seasons max. The only plus is that I don't have an oily mess to deal with when I change it.

[mas1992bc]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the board as a contributor, but have been reading it for years. I setup a webcam at my house to monitor the progress of Ice-Out this year. It takes an image every 20 minutes during daylight hours and uploads it to a website I created that shows a time lapse video. I've only captured a few days so far, but I will continue to capture the images this entire month. Here's the link if you are interested. You can pause the slide show or select a specific image by just hovering over the image or the markers underneath the image.

http://ec2-23-21-133-74.compute-1.am....com/slideshow

(Note that if you are using Internet Explorer version 8 or lower, the site will prompt you to install a small Google plug-in called ChromeFrame - which is necessary for the animation)

Mike

[Mink Islander]

The Lakeport lake temperature today is 39 degrees! (insert Snoopy Dance here). Ice out is definitely accelerating. Going to be a new record, for sure. I picked March 20th and that may be a late guess.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by mas1992bc

Hi everyone, I'm new to the board as a contributor, but have been reading it for years. I setup a webcam at my house to monitor the progress of Ice-Out this year. It takes an image every 20 minutes during daylight hours and uploads it to a website I created that shows a time lapse video. I've only captured a few days so far, but I will continue to capture the images this entire month. Here's the link if you are interested. You can pause the slide show or select a specific image by just hovering over the image or the markers underneath the image.

http://ec2-23-21-133-74.compute-1.am....com/chipmunks

(Note that if you are using Internet Explorer version 8 or lower, the site will prompt you to install a small Google plug-in called ChromeFrame - which is necessary for the animation)

Mike

Hi Mike;

Thanks for the web cam!! Just curious where on the lake is this??

Dan

[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Those are great drives. The "floppy vane" impeller design change when they went to gen 2 was brilliant. I know some people hate changing the impeller in the drive, but it's a lot easier than changing the impeller on my engine in my Bravo 3 equipped boat. That Bravo pump is in an awful place to access and the impeller is only good for 2 seasons max. The only plus is that I don't have an oily mess to deal with when I change it.

Gonna move this discussion over to the boat maintenance part of the forum, great stuff to talk about, just don't want to pollute the ice out thread.

Speaking of, for the first time this morning I noticed that good old "spring smell" in the air. Don't exactly know how to describe it other than that.

Only thing better than that is fresh cut grass smell ;-)

Bring it on!

[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Hi Mike;

Thanks for the web cam!! Just curious where on the lake is this??

Dan

I guess up in narrows of Marlborough Bay.

[mas1992bc]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Hi Mike;

Thanks for the web cam!! Just curious where on the lake is this??

Dan

Hi Dan,

It is in the channel between Ambrose Cove and Moultonborough bay, just around the corner from Buzzel Cove.

Mike

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by mas1992bc

Hi Dan,

It is in the channel between Ambrose Cove and Moultonborough bay, just around the corner from Buzzel Cove.

Mike

You must be near the Clark's Landing / Bon Aire cottages?

[Island Girl]

I linked to this time lapse from the ice-out page along with a link to the Silver Sands daily picture. This way you can always find them.... and the other Winnipesaukee WebCams.

IG

soon, very very soon

[mas1992bc]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

I linked to this time lapse from the ice-out page along with a link to the Silver Sands daily picture. This way you can always find them.... and the other Winnipesaukee WebCams.

IG

soon, very very soon

Sorry, but I had to change the URL of the site (and it might have to change again - I'm trying to figure out where to host it without paying too much money for the hosting site). Your best bet is to put a link to my comcast site on the ICE-OUT page. My comcast site has a link to the webcam time lapse that I will keep updated and will always be correct. It is:

http://home.comcast.net/~mscopa

From that page, just click the "Lake Winnipesaukee Time Lapse Video" link. Sorry about the change.

Mike

[Island Girl]

Thanks for the update... I have replaced the link with the one you just posted.

IG

[AC2717]

I have March 30th at 3pm, think i am going to be over by a day or two, or three

[Bear Island South]

Originally Posted by AC2717

I have March 30th at 3pm, think i am going to be over by a day or two, or three

I like your thinking...my guess is the 28th.
I am going for two in a row, I had the day right last year but was 6 hours off.

[DavidAE]

Yesterday's fly over revealed that the shorelines have receded a little bit more and the open water that I witnessed on Friday have grown just slightly. The Ice has blackened but still remains intact. I am predicting that we will not have "Ice out" before the first day of spring. Definitely early but no record...I think.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by DavidAE

Yesterday's fly over revealed that the shorelines have receded a little bit more and the open water that I witnessed on Friday have grown just slightly. The Ice has blackened but still remains intact. I am predicting that we will not have "Ice out" before the first day of spring. Definitely early but no record...I think.

Hi David;

Isn't the first day of spring March 20th? Wouldn't that be a record??

Thanks for the great info on the flyovers!!

Looking forward to ice out!

Dan

[JMR]

David

Any pics from the flyover?

[Merrymeeting]

Despite the speed at which the ice cubes melt in my drink on a 60 degree day, I'm always surprised at how long it takes the ice pack to disappear.

While the ice may look weak and much darker on the webcams, it is still surprisingly strong. I threw a softball-sized bolder high into the air and onto the ice in front of my property today. It bounced and barely made a dent. While I wouldn't walk on it, I estimate that the ice pack is still ~3" in many areas.

Yes it is erroding each hour, and no freezing temps in sight. But there is still a lot of hard, dense, ice out there, and it will be awhile before it goes away.

[SAB1]

Need wind. If there are some good size holes and cracks in it nothing gets rid of it faster than a good 2 day blow.

[pontoonbarge]

Think about: Hot peppers.. Arizona in July... Coffee... Lava... Fireworks... S'mores!

Very soon now..... the ice will wave the white flag....

What a fun time! I need to go give the old boat it's spring pep talk!

[Chaos]

notice the sheet of ice moving around on the Minge Cove time lapse? Mostly from the morning shots. It's good when they start moving around.

[JMR]

Photo of Rattlesnake Landing taken this morning, if I did it right

[Barney Bear]

We always hope for calm days as the ice yields to the springtime sun. Windy days have pushed piles of ice floes against our dock [which is located on a very exposed point on East Bear Island] causing extensive damage, especially last year. If windy, we hope the wind is blowing from the north thus pushing the ice against our breakwater.

[AC2717]

I am with you Barney Bear
last year we had to replace a piling and two posts at the end of the perminant section of our docks.

plus I have March 30th for ice out!

[Quilt Lady]

As I drove by Lily Pond this morning, the ice was gone and a flock of geese had taken up residence.

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!!!

[Formula260SS]

Originally Posted by Barney Bear

We always hope for calm days as the ice yields to the springtime sun. Windy days have pushed piles of ice floes against our dock [which is located on a very exposed point on East Bear Island] causing extensive damage, especially last year. If windy, we hope the wind is blowing from the north thus pushing the ice against our breakwater.

Wind is never a good thing at Ice Out.......

[SAB1]

Shoot the darn geese! Last thing we need on Winni.

[NoBozo]

I saw a Loon today:... fishing in Narragansett Bay, RI. I've never seen one down here before. He was alone, no mate, and I'm guessing he's heading north. NB

[Bear Island South]

Originally Posted by Quilt Lady

As I drove by Lily Pond this morning, the ice was gone and a flock of geese had taken up residence.

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!!!

So if history holds true, ice-out is less than two weeks away?

[CateP]

Mergansers are back. (species most responsible for duck itch) South Wolfeboro Bay is thinning out. Looking transparent like the Rattlesnake Island shot. Sorry no pix this morning.

[Puffin]

I guessed March 28th @ 3:01 for ice out this year. Based on what I'm seeing on the cams over the last couple of days, and with the full sunshine and warm temps going into next week, I'm afraid I guessed to late. O well, always next year.

[SteveA]

I was trying to fool the "Bad Luck" day and picked Friday 4/13 at 4.13PM.. I'm going to be way off!

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Originally Posted by Bear Island South

So if history holds true, ice-out is less than two weeks away?

I believe it will be sooner than two weeks, but that is my opinion. Silver Lake here in Hollis has been one week prior to Lake Winnipesaukee since I have been paying attention, but this year doesn't follow suit. It is coming up on three weeks since ice-out here on Silver Lake.

Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates with my plan. I booked our boat for next Saturday, the 24th. If ice-out doesn't officially happen I hope we can get from Minge Cove to our boat slip in Alton Bay and out to the island. We've only been on the lake once so far before ice-out. I will be very happy if this isn't the second time!

[Slickcraft]

Much more water visible off the point than 4 days ago. There is still ice off the Glendale docks.

Very nice lunch today at the Lyons' Den today for my wife's birthday, excellent food and service as always.

[riverat]

Gunstock Acres Cam
http://www.wunderground.com/webcams/erikas/2/show.html

[Merrymeeting]

Much to my amazement, there are a few ice fishermen walking on Merrymeeting today. Thankfully they seem to be staying near shore as there are a few large open areas on the lake and the ice looks awful fragile to me. I don't plan to test it.

[Merrymeeting]

The ice is starting to look dark on many of the webcams, the Minge Cove time lapse shows lots of ice pack movement, Ossipee webcam area has opened substantially in the last 24 hours, Shaw's Pond on King's Highway went from being totally locked in to totally open in the past 48 hours, Alton Bay open past the band stand.

Won't be long now. A little wind will do it.

[Lakegeezer]

The traditional leading indicator for ice-out in my area has started to show, meaning we would normally be 2-3 weeks till ice-out. However, there are already ribbons of open water in Moultonborough Bay, so I think it will happen earlier, especially given the sunny 70's in the forecast for the week and the grey color of the ice. I'd like to pull the boat into the garage to prep it for an early spring launch, but the driveway is still soup. Update: Sunday AM, the temps were below freezing, so I dragged the boat out of its winter pile of snow and into the garage, with minimal tracks in the gravel driveway.

[LadyJane]

My guess was March 24. Looks like that won't be far off.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

WeirsCam


Click here for a Lakes Region Aerial Photography panorama of the lake taken yesterday by Flyguy


Here is another flyguy shot of The Broads yesterday from Lakes Region Aerial Photography


Lake Winnipesaukee Weather Cam at Black Cat Island

Water Temperature at 2 ft: 40.1 °F

Water Temperature at 10 ft: 41.1 °F


Minge Cove Webcam

[codeman671]

I just got off a cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale after a week. It's hard to believe that it's in the 70's at home and only 80 here. Can't wait to be home tomorrow. Already told Winnisquam to have my boat ready this week.

At $0.55 per minute for satellite Internet on the ship I probably spent $20 in the
last week checking out the webcams at home.

[Island Girl]

Pine Island Guy was at his dock earlier today... Turned the south webcam back on. P.I.G., is the other cam on?

IG

[Island Girl]

Here is the MODIS from earlier today.... a tad enhanced for easier viewing.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

It is good to see your cam back up! Been missing it. Lucky you getting an early island trip!!!


Pine Island South

[Bear Island South]

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal

I believe it will be sooner than two weeks, but that is my opinion. Silver Lake here in Hollis has been one week prior to Lake Winnipesaukee since I have been paying attention, but this year doesn't follow suit. It is coming up on three weeks since ice-out here on Silver Lake.

Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates with my plan. I booked our boat for next Saturday, the 24th. If ice-out doesn't officially happen I hope we can get from Minge Cove to our boat slip in Alton Bay and out to the island. We've only been on the lake once so far before ice-out. I will be very happy if this isn't the second time!

I just finished finished the tuneup on our 15' Princecraft, batter charged, fresh gas and 2012 registration stickers are on, all ready for a Friday 3/23 voyage to the lake...at least I hope.

It may not be ice-out but I'm hoping to get from Sheps to Bear.

[Merrymeeting]

I broke this piece of ice off of a larger section near shore at about noon today. While the ice was still thick and relatively strong, as soon as I pulled it out of the water and onto the rock, all the water drained out. It was very porous.



About an hour later, I lightly hit the chunk with a stick and it easily broke into these crystals. The ice became darker during the afternoon, and I expect it is approaching the point where the crystals will start to break apart.



A windy day would do it, but there don't seem to be any in the near forecast.

[Pine Island Guy]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

Pine Island Guy was at his dock earlier today... Turned the south webcam back on. P.I.G., is the other cam on?IG

With the incredible weather we got the itch to drive up and see how far we could get... We got the Alumacraft in the water and headed out through the ice, and made it around to the dock by hugging the shoreline...

Got the south camera up, but the east camera is still sick

What a beautiful day to be on the lake!

ice ice go away -PIG

[DRH]

Yesterday's sun and unseasonably warm temperature did a real job on the ice. Here's an image captured by the Minge Cove Webcam at 8:17 AM this morning:

[mas1992bc]

A couple of great shots caught by my webcam this morning. Moultonborough webcam link.

[CrownRay]

No way that ice survives the end of the week. Temps in the 80's forecasted! Wachusett Mountain is mostly brown now, almost no snow.

SeaRay goes in the harbor in 13 days!

[JMR]

Neighbor went from Ames Farm to the Broads side of Rattlesnake yesterday afternoon in his boat. He took some pics and hopes to post them today. We visited Rattlesnake Landing and it is still iced in with about 4 inches of ice.
Saw a boat moving at a decent clip through the cracks in the ice in Alton Bay about 3pm on way around the tip o' the bay.

Planning on being on island this weekend! Going to make week drag along.

[camp guy]

I was having lunch at Garwoods yesterday and all of a sudden a double cockpit woodie came from under the bridge, turned to the right for a while, then turned and put the throttle full-speed ahead and did a pass from north to south giving all of us in Garwoods a glimpse of hope that open water will happen soon.

Thank you to the two people in the boat - you made my day.

[bab1234]

The broads are REALLY dark, watched the big hole in front of diamond and off twards alton get bigger yesterday. I think the ice will be gone from the broads any moment, the bays that froze over first will be a few more days. Let the summer games begin. Oh and watching the ice melt is kinda like watching paint dry, a bit boring but the end result is satisfying.

[NHKathy]

mas1992bc:
Thanks for posting your webcam shots AND the link to your webcam!
Where is your webcam located? What's in the view? looks like the southern end of the Ossipess, near the castle?
(so glad to have a second M'Boro cam to look at!)
-Kathy

[Merrymeeting]

With virtually no wind, and no high winds in the forecast, it appears this will be a quiet ice-out. Just slowly melting away (or not so slow with these temps)

I can't believe I'm sitting here with all the doors and windows open, and the heat off!

[hilltopper]

Not sure if this is a repeat or not, but it's an awesome picture.

http://aerialphotonh.com/ice-out.2012.htm

[mas1992bc]

Originally Posted by NHKathy

mas1992bc:
Thanks for posting your webcam shots AND the link to your webcam!
Where is your webcam located? What's in the view? looks like the southern end of the Ossipess, near the castle?
(so glad to have a second M'Boro cam to look at!)
-Kathy

Hi Kathy,

The camera is at my house, facing east from Moultonborough Neck. The Castle in the Clouds is just out of the camera frame, but in general, you are correct. Just to the right of the view from the camera is Moultonborough Bay. Maybe I will try to reposition the camera to get the Castle in the view :-).

[ishoot308]

Wow! Check out the time lapse on the Weirs cam. In the past half hour the ice completely broke up!! Awesome to watch on the time lapse!

Dan

[mhtimber]

Originally Posted by JMR

Neighbor went from Ames Farm to the Broads side of Rattlesnake yesterday afternoon in his boat. He took some pics and hopes to post them today. We visited Rattlesnake Landing and it is still iced in with about 4 inches of ice.
Saw a boat moving at a decent clip through the cracks in the ice in Alton Bay about 3pm on way around the tip o' the bay.

Planning on being on island this weekend! Going to make week drag along.

That was my cousin, Capt. Icebreaker, he took me for an ice-out excursion after he and a friend physically broke their way out using poles to break up the ice ahead and push large chunks away from the engine. The ice was basically slush, very 'shardy,'

To borrow a line from TV it was 'Ice Road Boating.'

It was one of the more amazing boating experiences I've ever had.

Thank you Capt Icebreaker.

[JMR]

Great shots. Did you get around Alligator Point?

[Steveo]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Wow! Check out the time lapse on the Weirs cam. In the past half hour the ice completely broke up!! Awesome to watch on the time lapse!

Dan

Check out the Minge Cove time lapse, so cool!!!!

[mhtimber]

Originally Posted by JMR

Great shots. Did you get around Alligator Point?

Couldn't get that far yesterday but likely I'm going to try again on Wed. or Thurs.

[Just Wonderin]

Originally Posted by Quilt Lady

As I drove by Lily Pond this morning, the ice was gone and a flock of geese had taken up residence.

If I remember correctly, Ice out usually occurs on Winnipesaukee about a week after Lily Pond. Quilt Lady posted on March 15th....if this holds true, we could see ice out by the 22nd! YAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Steveo

Check out the Minge Cove time lapse, so cool!!!!

It seems like all the ice let go at the same time! It all happened around 3:30 today. To watch it on the web cams is amazing!

Dan

[Winni-Retired]

Large ice ridge formed north of Big Island and then open water appeared on the South Down side of Paugus Bay .. about 3.40 PM today .. now at 4:30 PM the open water seems to have closed up a bit...

Message to Ice ....... your time is short ... Good BYE !!!!

Look at the Overlook Cam and you will see it starting to come apart

[Just Sold]

http://www.winnipesaukeecam.com/ cam has a great time lapse of the ice braeking up and coming right at the camera. Cool.
The http://www.winnipesaukeecam.com/ in Alton Bay is showing a lot of open water at times and others broken ice that is moving around.

Ice Out is very close in many locations.

[Misty Blue]

In my experiance, most of the damage done to the docks is not done by solid ice but usually by ice flows driven by the wind. We did some "back of the envalope math" on what we thought would be a moving 20 acre "burg:" and figured that it weighed about as much as a WW-2 battleship. 'No stopping it.

With the ice just melting in place this year I expect that there will be little damage this year.Terrrific!

Misty Blue

[Island Girl]

I love this part of ice out... the lake starts moving, the icebergs crash into each other and dissipate... Gone by Thursday!!!

IG

[LadyoftheLake]

The earliest Ice Out was in 2010 on March 24 at 2:00 pm. That was the year that I won with a guess of March 24 at 2:12 pm. Winni-Retired was second and Michael Howe was third.

This year my guess was March 15 at 1:15 pm, so I already lost. I am hoping for the Ice Out before March 24 for a new record. Last week was cooler at the lake, so that did slow the process. Good Luck to this years winner, I hope you break the old record.

So, if there is floating unattached ice, can that be considered Ice Out ?

I hope that this warm dry weather continues all summer.

[codeman671]

What does Glendale look like? The Smith Cove cam looks like we have a bit to go before we can get to the marina but the Varney Point cam looks like things outside are going quick.

I am planning on dropping the boat in by Friday if Glendale is clear, even if it has to stay there at the town dock for a few days.

[meredith weekender]

Weather stations showing 8 to 10 mph winds with 15 to 20 mph gusts. Won't be long. Let's see what morning brings.

[Merrymeeting]

The same thing happened on Merrymeeting today. At noon, the whole lake was still pretty much ice covered. By sundown, large portions of the lake were open, and the remaining ice is looking very dark and fragile. I wouldn't be surprised to wake up and find it all gone.

Even more amazing, within an hour of the water opening up, we had about 20 water fowl swimming in the open water. They were far enough away I couldn't tell for sure, but through binoculars they looked like Merganzers. I'll post a picture I took of them shortly.

Here they are. Guess there were more than 20!



This is a cropped, zoom view. Anyone know what they are?

[Dave R]

There were a bunch of those on Pawtuckaway Lake on Saturday. Really skittish.

[Kings Bluff]

Alton Bay is free of ice as of late yesterday.
see WWW.Winnipesaukeecam.com

[CateP]

Originally Posted by Merrymeeting

Even more amazing, within an hour of the water opening up, we had about 20 water fowl swimming in the open water. They were far enough away I couldn't tell for sure, but through binoculars they looked like Merganzers. I'll post a picture I took of them shortly.

Here they are. Guess there were more than 20!

This is a cropped, zoom view. Anyone know what they are?

These are breeding mergansers.

[webmaster]

After 3 pm yesterday the ice started to break up on the WeirsCAM. This short video shows the dramatic changes:

[SLI]

So I went in to refresh my memory as to what my guess was this year. Apparently, I forgot to put in a time... but the date is tomorrow. Aaargh! I swear if my head wasn't attached, I'd lose it!!! Oh well, I'm still hoping for tomorrow....

[geordie]

There was a boat on the Weirs cam half an hour or so ago. Some intrepid soul who can't wait a moment longer.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by SLI

So I went in to refresh my memory as to what my guess was this year. Apparently, I forgot to put in a time... but the date is tomorrow. Aaargh! I swear if my head wasn't attached, I'd lose it!!! Oh well, I'm still hoping for tomorrow....

By my unscientific count of over 600 guesses there are 13 of us in the running tomorrow.....More likely late Thursday when it's 85 degrees.

[bab1234]

Originally Posted by geordie

There was a boat on the Weirs cam half an hour or so ago. Some intrepid soul who can't wait a moment longer.

that would have been me if I wasn't working! dam work gets in the way of everything.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Two shots of Sanders Bay from NHBoat.com's Ice-Out pages
(I just love the Old Man of the Lake!)






Today's satellite shot from MODIS (Lightened up)

Winnipesaukee Dataphone at the Lakeport Dam (603-527-0071) is reporting is 41° F

Water Temperature at Black Cat Island: 2 ft: 40.7 °F and 10 ft: 41.8 °F

[Lakesrider]

Wolfeboro Bay is all dark ice and broken up. It goes up and down on the waves a bit so it can't be that thick anymore.
I'll bet it will be gone on Thursday. The ice that is.

[Just Sold]

Seeing some Ice movement off Welch Island
Current Image
Updated: 8:14 PM GMT on March 20, 2012 (1 minute ago)

But Smith Cove needs another day or so.

[Crusty]

Here is 4:30 view of west side of Sleepers

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...1&d=1332276188

...And the 4:30 view of the south side of Rattlesnake

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...1&d=1332276218

[Slickcraft]

We launched the Whaler at Glendale and made the trip over. A small amount of soft ice near Glendale but mostly open water with only very scattered thin ice sections.

The seasonal dock is down and the flag is up!

[SAB1]

Its going fast. I think the Governors Island cam showed the most change today. I know some of you don't want wind but if we had a little I think you'd be iced out tomorrow.

[Slickcraft]

Heading out to Welch today from Glendale; light 26 ahead. Also view astern.

[Lucy Goose]

I took a drive around the whole lake today and popped in and out of places.

It seems Alton Bay is pretty much ice free except the west part of it. The Gilford area looks pretty good except around the Lyons Den area there is still some. The Weirs still has some and has some pretty awful looking green ice on the beach. Meredith is still very dark. Thought it would be gone by now but it's not. Center Harbor still has dark ice as well as different spots throughout Moultonborough and Melvin. 20 mile bay still has a lot of dark ice and 19 has a lot but not as much as 20. Wolfeboro Bay still has a bit but is breaking up.

I have my guess in for Thursday morning I think. Wonder if I'll hit it! Seems a little further away to me. But what will be will be.

Nice drive today however. I took some pics but my card reader decided to crap out on me when I got home.

Lucy Goose

[dippasan]

Thanks to a generous friend I took a pontoon boat ride with my son from Ames Farm to Sleeper Island to check out ours and our neighbors camps. It felt great to pull up to our dock, to be out there and to think of the summer to come. Winter 2012 is but a distant memory. Just a bit of ice on the beach at Ames Farm otherwise it was clear sailing to Sleeper.
Everything was wide open around Sleeper, Diamond, Rattlesnake, Cub and Treasure. The lake was absolutely flat. I saw one Personal Watercraft on the lake (brave soul) other than that it was a bit eerie but beautiful to be virtually alone out there.
It is bittersweet as my family loves to snowmobile too and we love the winter though it was a less than perfect one. But isn't that the magic of New Hampshire? I snowmobiled last Saturday with some friends and 3 days later I'm on the lake!! I feel so fortunate to live in a place where all 4 seasons burst on the scene so dramatically and mother nature always keeps us on our toes and interested.

[Kings Bluff]

First day of Spring! Good bye Winter, come on Summer!!

[Dog's Ear]

What a beautiful shot, thanks for posting

[Smith Point]

your making me smile

[Bear Island South]

A friend sent this to me this morning...couple of more days maybe?

[Pineedles]

Nice picture and perspective of Meredith bay. Anybody have any shots of Centre Harbor bay?

[LadyJane]

I'm am finding myself checking the web cams and Forum a few times a day. Who would have thought that watching ice melt could be so exciting !! The photos that people are posting are fabulous...thank you !!! Some of the time lapse photos on the Weirs Cam are spectacular too. I guessed March 24...wonder if we'll make it? It will be close I think.

[Island Girl]

when I said I watched the ice melt! We are all in good company. This many people can't be nuts.

Today has been especially gratifying to watch places that were socked in this morning be free or almost free of ice.

Boat goes in tomorrow!

IG

[Belmont Resident]

It is too hot for this early. Give me 60-70 and I'd be happy. Working outside in heat this early make for a tough day.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

when I said I watched the ice melt! We are all in good company. This many people can't be nuts.

Today has been especially gratifying to watch places that were socked in this morning be free or almost free of ice.

Boat goes in tomorrow!

IG

We are launching Friday. It would have been today but the marina dropped the ball on my request to have the boat ready this week. Launching the backup boat instead. Can't wait for that first ride!

[webmaster]

Originally Posted by LadyJane

I'm am finding myself checking the web cams and Forum a few times a day.

You're not alone. Site traffic has skyrocketed this week as it does every year around Ice-Out. Traffic today is about 3 times what it was a month ago.

[Steveo]

Originally Posted by Belmont Resident

It is too hot for this early. Give me 60-70 and I'd be happy. Working outside in heat this early make for a tough day.

Poor Baby

[ishoot308]

Just got off the phone with Fay's and they have already started dropping boats in the water!! Very little ice left in the cove and should be gone by tomorrow. My first trip to the island house will be Saturday! Can't wait!

Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable first trip to wherever you are going!

Dan