Iceboating on Williams Lake – Seize the Day
By: Cathy Vaughan
[Reprinted with permission from Chebucto News – February, 2022]
Hurtling across a frozen lake at whip-lash speeds, feet-first, on your back, on a plank, centimetres from the ice is what iceboaters live for! The bone-numbing temperatures, the frightening speeds and the exhilarating thrill of a swift sail on a smooth sheet of ice is worth the wait. But the universe has to align for optimum conditions before passionate iceboaters can safely seize the day.
Weather patterns, ice thickness, safety gear, solid boat, knowledge of the lake and a review of HRM’s latest ice thickness posts is on the list of safe-sailing practices. The ideal day is sunny with a steady wind, 15 cm of smooth, snowless ice with a public access area to the lake. With current issues of global warming, iceboaters are usually scanning conditions daily with their boats packed and at-the-ready to be transported to their favourite lake.
An iceboat is a thin, one-person hull, mounted on 3 large blades with a tiller to steer and a rope to control the sail. No suspension. No creature comforts. No breaks! To stop safely, the skipper has to steer the boat in a wide semi-circle, into the wind, to slow down and glide to a stop. An ideal lake has to be long and wide, without rock-hazards for safe sailing and stopping.
A popular iceboat design is a ‘DN 60’ named after the ‘Detroit News’ publication which in 1937 sponsored a competition to design an iceboat that could be built in your garage. The ‘do-it-yourself’ design is economical, straightforward and plans are available on the internet.
Iceboats are designed in several pieces for convenient storage and transportation. Boaters usually assemble their crafts at an accessible shoreline on the lake. Spryfield’s Williams Lake has historically been a popular recreational lake for winter activities and for iceboaters for many generations.
HRM has several community-access areas on Williams Lake. You can launch your iceboat or put on your skates at any one of the access points located on Wyndrock Drive, Acorn Drive, the Williams Lake Beach and the Shaw Wilderness Park on Purcells Cove Road. Williams Lake has been and still is a popular recreational lake for generations of skaters, snowshoers, cross-country skiers, hockey players, iceboaters and outdoor enthusiasts who want to seize the day!