As the ice on Lake Erie melts and is broken up by spring storms we are transitioning back into our STEM adventure of exploring electricity and wind turbines at our regular Tuesday meetings.
http://www.tumblr.com/blog/bayseascouts This link will take you to a short video of the wave action breaking up the ice. You can imagine how powerful the waves are.
The one thing we have leaned this winter is that to go iceboating conditions have to be just right. The ice is the number governing factor, it cannot be too rough.
Rough Ice not for sailing or skating on.
A nice smooth clear ice that is 8 inches thick is ideal for an iceboat and to reach speeds of 50-60 MPH you need a good breeze of 10+ MPH.
Snow covered ice really slows or prevents iceboats from getting up to speed.
You may have good ice and a nice breeze but then you need the space too. Is does not take long to travel a good distance at 40-50 MPH.
Your average skating pond while it may have good ice is hardly large enough.
So this year while it has been bitterly cold we have learned that iceboating takes the right conditions and a lot of patience.
It’s been a while since this blog was updated, so here goes, a quick synopsis.
The scouts spent the fall renovating an old Detroit News (DN) iceboat and had it ready to go before it really became cold.
Then the really cold weather came but with it the snow. The lakes and bays froze but were covered in snow mounds which made it impossible to iceboat. For more information:
http://westlakebayvillageobserver.com/read/2014/01/07/hoping-for-subzero-temperatures
Sea Scouts have refurbished boat and it’s ready to go sailing.
Rusted screws and broken heads made for hard work as the steel runner blades were removed from their oak bases. The runners are a critical component of the Sea Scout DN 1228 recently purchased by Sea Scout Ship Intrepid (41).
The Bay Village Sea Scouts latest move was to purchase a DN Ice Boat through Craig’s List. It will need some work to make it ready for the ice but the scouts are excited and willing to put forth the effort needed. We are all looking forward to sailing on the ice at Chippewa Lake this winter. Maybe we can go to BSA Greater Cleveland Council Boy Scout camp to sail?
A well worn boat that has not seen the ice for many years that the Sea Scouts will renovate.
