Danger: Thin Ice

[ellyssian]

According to my brother, this is standard operating procedure: Authorities Warn of Thin Ice, Snowmobilers Learn the Hard Way.

During the winter, many residents also park cars on the lake. Once spring thaw hits, one or two always end up down below. Each day the car is underwater, additional fines are levied.

I understand that it gets a wee bit colder, and ice is - or used to be - thicker, but still, you'd think they'd have a bit of respect for it?

Comments

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

That story was for a fishing derby, and the standard method of setting up your ice-fishing shack is to drive your truck out onto the lake.

Of course, it takes four inches of ice to support a truck. The lakes up in New Hampshire will typically have six to eight inches of surface ice. The problem is that the water near the dam has been flowing faster than usual this winter, which leads to thinner ice. The free-ranging snowmobiles are far more likely to find the thin spots than the veteran fishers.

If the ice is strong enough to support a shack, it's strong enough to support a fisher who wants to hike out to their shack to measure the ice depth. Only an idiot drives their truck out without measuring first. There tend to be two idiots per springtime.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Only an idiot drives their truck out without measuring first. There tend to be two idiots per springtime.

I believe my brother's estimate on the number of idiots was a bit higher, but yeah, that's more or less what happens.

When I was up last April, there were still a few shacks out there, even though there was a growing quantity of open water to be seen. One of the complications with knowing when to bring things seems to involve the method of lubrication that helps keep them warm out on the ice...

[patrixa.livejournal.com]

Well, I believe Lake Winnepesauki is about 12-15" thick this year. A few Saturdays ago, I went on a drive up Bear Mountain and returned via Tenne Mtn Road. On the drive, I saw at least 3 other large lakes and each had more than 2 dozen Bob Houses scattered about and not close to shore, either.

Last year was my first winter in Laconia and, being a city girl, I did not see the attraction of sitting in one of these teensy tiny shacks while hoping to catch a fish. Brrrrr. Nor could I see why anyone enjoys on-ice-truck-racing. Even stranger are the crowds who stand out there... for long times... and watch. That was last year. This year, I like seeing those shacks -- in uneven patterns -- because it looks festive.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

It still boggles me that Once Upon a Time, Watertown used to park the plow trucks out on the Charles. I can only remember a few years where they didn't warn people away from skating there.

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

The divers had to pull a dead ice fisherman out of the lake here earlier this week. Given how variable the weather has been lately, going out on the ice strikes me as foolish.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I posted about that as a quasi-follow up to this.

Checking the ice just seems like it would be important to me. I mean, I've (literally) been out on thin ice, and you know it.

I've also been on ice that went pretty close to surface-to-bottom, and you could tell that as well.

I expect some of the problem is similar to why PA hunters report not finding any deer... =)

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

I expect some of the problem is similar to why PA hunters report not finding any deer

What, you think the PGC's bad management is to blame for bad ice too? After all, we know that's why there are no deer for the hunters around here.

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Yep, those six packs have nothing to do with it. =)