News
Getting The Low Down - To bring the big boats out, iceboaters need a solid freeze
By Ryan Fennell
RED BANK - The recent frigid weather brought with it a brief window for hard-water sailors to get out on the Navesink River, and members of the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club (NSIBYC) are hoping the Two River area is hit with single-digit temperatures, and soon.
For the past several days, members of the NSIBYC, which was founded in 1880, have been able to open up the storage areas and get their ice boats out on the icy Navesink.
For a sport that is entirely dependent on the weather, getting out on the Navesink each winter is never guaranteed.
"People think we're crazy because we spend our entire year spending money and building boats for maybe six hours of sailing," said NSIBYC member Jake Clapp.
He said that he has been sailing his whole life and that ice boating has been a long-standing family tradition.
Clapp said that ice boating goes back several generations in his family and that he learned the sport from his father who, in turn, learned from his father.
"It's different," Clapp said of ice boating. "The sport itself is fun but the family that's involved and the tradition and the anticipation of going out," is why he does it.
So far, 2010 has given these hard water sailors a few days of sailing but that could change very quickly according to NSIBYC Commodore Dan Vought.
"The weather changes and the ice changes with it so it's holding, but if it warms up it could be out tomorrow. Who knows?" Vought said.
Vought said that the ice is soft because of the salt water below it and in order to continue the season the temperatures need to cooperate.
"We need really cold weather to keep this hard," Vought said. "Another cold (spell) in the single digits. That really hardens it up."
Vought said that the ice conditions are currently in flux because the temperatures reach the 30s during the day and drop into the 20s at night causing the ice conditions to soften and harden with each shift.
"The small boats can go on but the big boats haven't gone out yet," said Vought. "We're almost there but not quite. It's January so it should be coming. The ocean temperature is 34, 36 degrees so if it's going to happen, it's going to happen now."
