GREAT POND REPORT

Bill Bucholz shares his thoughts on Great Pond, which delivered the goods in a big way yesterday!
“Great Pond is one of the three fabulous lakes in Maine that iceboaters cherish. All three have their times and attractions. Damariscotta has it’s intimate charm, Pushaw it’s great north south orientation, but Great Pond is just, well, great. The majesty of big Hoyt Island dividing the lake into two halves, and then the two deep ends beyond Oak Island south of Hoyt. When the plate is as flawless as it was today you just rack up the miles with a smile frozen to your face. Deep downwind gybes going on forever. Long upwind tacks with an occasional self-indulgent peel off into a power gybe just because you can offers an amazing sense of freedom. And this with well matched boats side by side the whole way.

The great photo of the day was missed due to a frozen phone, but it was of Gee Whizz, W-5, the red boat against a blue sky in a long, tall hike which, from the view from my cockpit, put his windward runner above the horizon, miles away at the top of the lake. The air was crystal clear and the colors vivid. Time stood still.

Perhaps twenty boats showed up, including a clutch of hot DN’ers training around the marks. The NEIYA is hosting the DN Worlds in the eastern region next season so if you’re not in training to get the gold then please consider helping out with the operations end. Stand by for details over the course of the off season.

Not that this is the start of the off season yet. There is still scads of ice up north, so tank up on the ridiculously cheap gas and come quarantine on the ice! We’re all good: we already wear masks and gloves!’