Throw Back Thursday: 100 Years ago on Mendota
Stern-Steerer Ice Yachts, skaters, and winter enthusiasts enjoying the perfect ice on Lake Mendota in 1919.
Robert “Ecky” Eckstein
Photo: Ken Norton
UPDATE: October 16, 2019: Please join family and friends of Robert “Ecky” Eckstein at his celebration of life
CELEBRATION OF LIFE
LOCATION: South Side Ice Yacht Club
1842 S. Main st. Oshkosh.
DATE: Monday, October 28, 2019
TIME: 3 PM – 8 PM
Open bar and catered food.
Oshkosh ice yacht sailor, Robert “Ecky” Eckstein, passed away on October 13, 2019. Ecky was a long time Lake Winnebago iceboater and sailed A stern-steerers, Renegades and multiple other iceboats. He was a lifetime member of the South Side Ice Yacht Club in Oshkosh, WI.
In true ice boating spirit, Ecky always offered his help and shop to any sailor who needed it. An example of that was during the 2006 Renegade regatta on Lake Winnebago when he made sure two 4LIYC skippers were able to complete their regattas after some first-day equipment failures by fashioning new steering components and a front stay tang.
George Gerhardt and Ecky enjoying a beautiful day of sailing Ken Norton’s boat in Florida a couple of years ago.
Sail Siberia 2020
Ice sailors, in March 2020 you have an opportunity to take the trip of a lifetime. Sailing on the largest freshwater lake in the world in one of the most remote areas of the planet is an adventure you’ll never forget. Below, German DN sailor Jörg Bohn G-737 shares his love story to Baikal.
Baikal: What To Know for 2020
Going East!
Have your ever considered going to Lake Baikal?
Here is why it’s worth the trip!
By DN G-737 Jörg Bohn
The Baikal Short “Love“ Story!
Since 2012 I’ve traveled every year to Siberia and the Far East to go ice sailing.
In 2012, I heard about the Lake Baikal event from British ice sailor, Chris Williams K-1.
The logistics of getting our iceboats to Siberia were solved that first time with help of our Russian ice sailing friends in Moscow and the Trans Siberian Railway. We flew to Irkutsk from Europe through Moscow. We arrived in Irkutsk early Friday morning, one day ahead the event.
A minibus was waiting for us at the airport, thanks to our hosts, and took us straight to the sailing area called “Little Sea“ (Sarma), opposite of Olchon Island, to a place called Uyota. Even though, I was tired it wasn’t possible to fall asleep on that five hour ride. I had never before in my life seen such a wide open beautiful mountain landscape. Thousands of cattle and horses were scattered on both sides of the road and sometimes right in front us. Half way into our trip we stopped for a delicious meal at a roadside restaurant made by the indigenous Burjatien people.
Freeze Alert!
If you’re an ice sailor, the cold front moving across the Midwest (which has prompted a freeze warning opportunity) is a good sign of things to come. Snow is falling out in DN Western Challenge land in Minnesota.
Nite class Commodore John Hayashi shares news about an early-season Nite regatta:
The Nite class is adding an early season regatta to the mix for the end of 2019. Hopefully there will be good ice in the upper Midwest so that we can get new Nite owners up to speed and out on the ice sooner than normal. Now is the time to work on your Nites, don’t wait for those last minute repairs or new parts.
Spaight St. Syndicate: Bubble Baby Skeeter Got Back
Daniel Hearn continues to work like a mad scientist while building his Class C Skeeter in his basement laboratory.
Previously at the Spaight St. Syndicate
Baby Got Back
The little hussy is no longer prancing around leaving little to the imagination. I call it the Lulu Lemon Effect. Much to the delight of testosterone-filled young men across the country (OK, the old guys don’t mind either), stretchy pants have become acceptable casual wear, formal wear and everything in between for young women. I’m dying to know how they wear them without ANY undergarment lines showing. I’d ask my wife, but that would be a dead giveaway that I might occasionally look. All three of my daughters pull this off, as well, but I decided I probably really don’t want to know. But know this, young men—big daddio is watching. He may not be all that big, but he’s Pitbull-mean and fights dirty. Eyes on the horizon, Bevis.
She’s still got her tramp stamp showing, however. I’m pretty sure she’s intentionally leaving the small of her back exposed, like she’s proud of her decision to deface her body for life. You’d think spending time at a waterpark would be enough to demonstrate that these things don’t end well. What she doesn’t know is that I’ve tipped off her mother. Yesterday will be the last time the base of her spine sees the light of day, unless she’s wearing a swimming suit. Which is going to be NEVER, because iceboats and swimming don’t go together.
RAMBL’N Red
Paul Krueger’s Class A Skeeter RAMBL’N is sporting a new coat of paint today in the traditional colors of the 4LIYC, red and white. Paul’s daughter asked Ken Whitehorse if all the recent modifications on PK’s boat would make him go “too fast”. Ken told her not to worry, he went for the pretty paint job instead of the fast one. Paul said, “We waited for a west wind so there were no complaints from the neighbor on over spray”. [Hey, there’s only one neighbor, iceboat.org headquarters!- Ed.]
