Iceboating - Lake Michigan

A couple of Saturdays ago we headed for a mini roadtrip north to the Upper Peninsula - just north of Green Bay, where Wisconsin merges with the top left of Michigan - next stop Canada.

The reason - the DN Class North American Iceboating Champs...the chance to see a couple of hundred crazy iceboaters doing what they love, including a couple of Harken guys.

Driving out onto a frozen Lake Michigan was a little scary - especially later when you start hearing the black ice making crazy noises underneath you! - but it was better than parking 1/2 mile away and walking out to the staging area - not that I spent much time out of the car (there's a weather reason why the ice is frozen - it's @£$%^& COLD!).

This giant boat Deuce, pictured on the right, was originally built in 1930 and at almost 55 feet long is the world’s largest ice boat. It's based in Lake Geneva - a little south of us. We heard later that after we left a gust caught the boat and lifted it airborne resulting in some particularly nasty damage to another boat that just happened to be nearby. This sport isn't for sissies!


I found some video on You Tube that will give you much more a feel for the sport than my pictures - take a moment to have a look.