Good News

We have the exact same conditions yesterday as we did last year !! And we were able to boat out by May 14th.After the 1 5/8" rain stopped at 14:00 I ventured out to see how far I could get.Made it as far as Red Bouy # E26, at this point the ice was a little thicker @ 8" and the boat just drove up on top and would not move any further. To get this far I had to push through ice 5" thick.From this area I'm looking towards South tip of Queer Isl. I can see the open water at Queer but solid ice between us,by Monday Eve should be able to touch Queer Isl? Also my source on Laurenson Lake informs me she is almost 1/2 open,again exact same as last year,he expects it to be completely gone by Monday? Since the first open water showed up around the docks the lake has risen 7", should be a nice level by start boating.Now for the bad news,the only reason the ice went out when it did last year was the strong winds that switched from N then to S. The longest it has taken us to reach BarePoint once we get to E26 (site of the sample ice) was 9 days in 2009-that would mean boating on May 18th,From this day forward we need winds to get ice moving but this am. Winds are calm and the open water out front flashed over. Still cannot boat around our Island.Next post will be Monday Eve after I try getting to Queer.By clicked on pic will enlarge it.