Not much to report for today because snow ended sailing on Lake Mendota. However, Saturday was one of the most memorable days spent on the ice in Madison in years. There were a few thousand people introduced to iceboating at the Frozen Assets Festival at the Edgewater. Around noon, the Nite fleet and 4LIYC Renegades sailed up to the Edgewater and served as the backdrop for the MARY B stern-steerer which was on display at the festival. The boats were immediately descended upon by festival goers and sailors spent a few hours explaining our sport to the curious. Andy Gratton and Mike Kroll gave gave some rides to and from the launch area on Andy’s beloved red stern steerer (complete with the plank-riding bear) WISCONSIN. The Nite banquet was a rousing good time at the German restaurant and beer hall, Essen Haus. Nite skippers embraced the tradition of passing around glass boots filled with beer. What an exceptional day!
No funnel? No problem.
Loretta Sherry Rehe uses the MARY B plank as a scoring desk.
Catching a ride back to the pits.
WISCONSIN in the rear view mirror Sunday morning.
Here are some shots of the festival from the crowd.
INSTAGRAM PHOTOS
Back in Madison after exhibiting at boat shows (he’s a boat dealer in his day job), 4LIYC Commodore Don Anderson has been busy making up for lost ice time on Lake Mendota. EASY RIDER and Don enjoyed a great day of sailing Wednesday and today, the MARY B stern-steerer group is setting her up n front of the Edgewater as part of Clean Lakes’ Alliance Frozen Assets Festival.
This weekend, Lake Mendota will be the place to be if you embrace winter. The 2018 Nite National Regatta will be sailed on Lake Mendota February 3-4, 2018. All official information is posted on the Nite Class website.
The MARY B will be on display at the Clean Lake Alliance premier event, Frozen Assets Festival at the Edgewater Hotel. If that isn’t enough fun, UW Madison’s Hoofers Winter Carnival is also taking place. The 4LIYC will likely be club racing this weekend as well. We’ll have an announcement about 4LIYC racing by 5 PM on Friday.
MARY B on exhibit at Madison Wooden Boat Show at Christy’s on Lake Waubesa
August 5, 2017 was an amazing day for the Mary B Foundation at the Madison Area Wooden Boat Show on Lake Waubesa yesterday. A crew of the usual suspects, some in flip flops quickly set of the Mary B in the parking lot with not a glove or mitten in sight.
The B looked great on display, the glint of her varnish and reflection from her chrome inspired a wooden boat owner and kindred spirit of keeping living history alive to step forward and pledge to match any monies raised to support the Mary B Foundation during the boat show. This fantastic opportunity inspired someone else to match funds raised during the boat show leveraging this pledge even more.
Well this got the fundraising firm of Frautschi, Holtzman, Whitehorse, and Simon in full remote fundvraising mode. The alert went out on the internet, Facebook, and through the crowd at the show and people responded. After Don Sanford’s historical talk about the ‘B, the helmet was passed through the crowd and people were very generous. The Lake Waubesa Sailing Club started the ball rolling with a $50 donation and by the end of the day the helmet was full of money and pledges.
