Crazy Kenny’s Closeout Corall Via Daniel Hearn:
Merchandise was flying out the door this weekend at the Past Champions Iceboat Shop. A special invitation was needed from Crazy Kenny himself to gain access to the Closeout Coral, which is hidden behind a secret doorway cleverly disguised with hanging drop cloths. Once inside, new Michigan-based ice sailor, Tim Bellard remarked, “With all this red and white everywhere, I kept looking for the fat man in the velour suit. He never showed, but Christmas definitely came early.” Bellard took off with a 24 foot Sitka Spruce Skeeter wing mast that he purchased for a buddy who had an “unfortunate incident” last year. And Crazy Kenny even threw a sail into the deal and free delivery to the top of Tim’s trailer. Several other unsavory characters from the 4LIYC were around the shop witnessing the selling frenzy, but none was willing to publicly comment. “Maybe if we just stand here next to Kenny acting like nothing is going on, then no one will ask any questions,” suggested Sage PK. Due to their resounding silence, they must have all agreed.
Not to be outdone, Wonky Donny’s Discount Emporium across town was also dealing. He was all out of 10-speed bikes to entice Bellard to close a deal, but he was still able to send him out the door with a classic 4LIYC, red and white Renegade. Rumor has it that said Renegade was also loaded on the 12 ft. utility trailer, including mast and plank, directly adjacent to the Skeeter mast. Fearing that his insurance provider might yank his liability policy, Bellard requested that no pictures be taken of the impressively loaded vehicle. As yet, there have been no reports of flying ice boats on the east bound corridor of I-94, so all equipment must now be safely in their new home somewhere in the hand.
Left to right; Ken Whitehorse, Kyle Koch, Greg Whitehorse, Paul Krueger.
Yesterday’s fine weather provided the perfect opportunity to set up Paul Krueger’s rear-seat Class A Skeeter in the Past Championships Iceboat Shop parking lot. Kenny and Paul hoisted four sails before finding the 26ft sail that fit the 26ft mast. On Facebook, Ken wrote, “It occurred to us that maybe we should mark the dimensions because we sure can’t remember anymore.”
The Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club bi-weekly iceboat meetings are kicking off tomorrow night, November 10, 2021, at 6:30 PM on Zoom. Members who are current in dues should have received an email with the login information. Would you please let me know if you didn’t get the email?
The Swedish company Sail Racing has released its latest Black Ice campaign, incorporating Skeeter class iceboats to market their technical clothing. Daniel Hearn’s C Skeeter, to be specific. Pat Heppert also makes an appearance in his C Skeeter on their website video.
Dejope (Four Lakes) is the territory of the Ho-Chunk Nation, the indigenous people who always have and continue to live here. The Whitehorses are Ho-Chunk Nation tribal members and long-time Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club members, including my late husband, Harry Whitehorse. I’ve always thought Native people had the technology to make iceboats. Harry told me that his uncle George Seymour built traditional snow sleds using deer antlers for the runners. Indigenous people could have made an iceboat using deer antlers for insert runners, woven rush mats for a sail, and a dugout canoe for the hull.
Yesterday, November 2, 2021, archeologists carefully removed an ancient dugout canoe from the bottom of Lake Mendota, where it had been resting for 1200 years. Looking closely, one could imagine a mast step and a steering chock hole.
Via Tom Kneubuehl posted on the Historic Madison, WI Photo Facebook page:
“This dugout canoe was pulled out of Lake Mendota around 1:00 p.m. today. It could be the oldest known sunken boat/shipwreck in Wisconsin. It is about 1200 years old and was discovered by a diver in June when it happened to catch their attention. Apparently the diver contacted the State Historical Society and a chain of events happened which led to today. A cache of fishing weights were found in the canoe so apparently it was used by the inhabitants of that time to fish with weighted net. Note how small the canoe looks. They must have had great balance and were obviously smaller. The canoe is undergoing a lengthy preservation process to make sure it survives. I live close to the lake location where it was brought ashore so this information is from conversations with people at the scene. The number of people involved is long. City and state had a lot of archeologists and other key personnel there to direct and help the extraction. The Mayor was there along with other key city department leaders. Divers did the underwater work and brought the canoe to shore including from the Sheriffs Department. Anyone else who knows more details can add to the story in the comments but in summary it was a pretty amazing sight.”
Stuff changed hands, there were quite a few new faces, and Ron Rosten’s Runner Whisperer clinic was a big hit at yesterday’s Wisconsin Iceboat Swap Meet. Thank you to all who attended and to our host, Daniel Hearn. If you missed this one, there’s another swap-meet on November 7 from 10 – 2 PM at the Delavan Yacht Club in Delavan, WI. Information on the Midwest Hard Water Sailing Facebook page.
Dash supervises the iceboat race course mark clinic.
Joe Norton and the Green Lake group planned their work night schedule.
The big swap is on Halloween this Sunday, October 31. Ooooo….spooky! Feel free to come in costume. At Stephan Brady Strategic Marketing, 1352 E. Wilson St., Madison. Company parking lot is reserved for items for sale. There is plenty of street parking in the surrounding neighborhood, or you can park in the lot of the Chrysalis Building at 1337 Dewey Ct., which is directly behind the display lot.
Order of Events
9:00 – noon Official Swap Hours
11:00 Runner Sharpening Clinic
11:30 BBQ Fiesta catered by Famous Dave’s Barbeque
$15/person (RSVP to debwhitehorse@iceboat.org and help us plan food quantity)
Beverages sponsored by the 4LIYC
9:00 – noon Ice Sailing Videos on the big stream to get into the groove
Ron Rosten ” Runner Whisperer” Sharpening Clinic Ron Rosten, of the legendary, Rosten ice sailing family will be sharing all of his secrets. When asked, he replied, “That would be like giving away US missile defense secrets to China.” An “authority,” who requested to remain anonymous, promised, “don’t worry, I’ll get you a pardon.” Ron is a champion ice sailor and talented engineer, who has fine-tuned his sharpening program to earn the title, “Runner Whisperer.” Find out why! And it’s FREE!
Iceboat Scale Models
New to the swap this year is Tim Bellard. He’s an ice sailor from west Michigan who has family in Janesville. Not only does he have a DN to sell, he will also be selling full models of various iceboats cut using a CNC router. Maybe the perfect Christmas gift for the Mrs.?
There is no charge for participating. This is the day to swap, buy, or sell new and used iceboats and misc. equipment. Boat builders & hardware manufacturers will display new products. For more info, email debwhitehorse@iceboat.org
Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club 36th Annual Southern Wisconsin Swap Meet(founded by the Skeeter Iceboat Club of Lake Geneva, WI) Date: Sunday, October 31, 2021 Time 9:00 to Noon
Location: 1352 E. Wilson St. Madison, WI
Crazy Kenny’s Closeout Corall
Kick Off the New Season at 4LIYC Swap Meet!
