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Log inTake care before venturing out on ponds, lakes
Take care before venturing out on ponds, lakes
by Outspoken on Fri Jan 02, 2009 5:00 am
Take care before venturing out on ponds, lakes
BY LARRY GRARD
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
Check locally. Bob Meyers, executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association, said he can't underscore that too much. Before going ice fishing or taking a snowmobile onto any body of water, Meyers said, ask the locals if it's safe.
"Maybe some places are frozen enough, but it's always a good idea to check the local snowmobile club, or the local gas stations," Meyers said. "Even under the best of circumstances, we tell people to check locally before they go out."
Traversing an ice-covered lake too soon, or in a thaw, can be fatal.
Although ice-fishing season started Thursday, most observers in central Maine say that ice conditions are not yet safe.
In the upper Kennebec Valley, following the recent cold weather, it's just beginning to freeze solid.
"There isn't a lot of snow cover, so the ice is going to form quickly," said Joe Christopher, who runs Down by the River and Three Rivers lodges in The Forks.
Christopher is in close contact with the Northern Outdoors Snowmobile Club, which features a daily report of conditions on its Web site. He said that Indian Pond had an 8-inch cover, and Wyman Lake was close to that in midweek.
"There's current in both of those lakes, so you have to be careful of where you choose," Christopher said.
Christopher added that Pleasant Pond is deep, and always the last to freeze over.
The colder weather of the last week of 2008 has made a difference, but as of midweek, conditions on Sebasticook Lake were not nearly ready to support sleds or ice shacks, said Bob Creighton, president of the Sebasticook Valley Snowmobile Club. Creighton said that some of the dead water on the pond side of the lake, off Durham Bridge, was freezing over.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5767408.html
BY LARRY GRARD
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
Check locally. Bob Meyers, executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association, said he can't underscore that too much. Before going ice fishing or taking a snowmobile onto any body of water, Meyers said, ask the locals if it's safe.
"Maybe some places are frozen enough, but it's always a good idea to check the local snowmobile club, or the local gas stations," Meyers said. "Even under the best of circumstances, we tell people to check locally before they go out."
Traversing an ice-covered lake too soon, or in a thaw, can be fatal.
Although ice-fishing season started Thursday, most observers in central Maine say that ice conditions are not yet safe.
In the upper Kennebec Valley, following the recent cold weather, it's just beginning to freeze solid.
"There isn't a lot of snow cover, so the ice is going to form quickly," said Joe Christopher, who runs Down by the River and Three Rivers lodges in The Forks.
Christopher is in close contact with the Northern Outdoors Snowmobile Club, which features a daily report of conditions on its Web site. He said that Indian Pond had an 8-inch cover, and Wyman Lake was close to that in midweek.
"There's current in both of those lakes, so you have to be careful of where you choose," Christopher said.
Christopher added that Pleasant Pond is deep, and always the last to freeze over.
The colder weather of the last week of 2008 has made a difference, but as of midweek, conditions on Sebasticook Lake were not nearly ready to support sleds or ice shacks, said Bob Creighton, president of the Sebasticook Valley Snowmobile Club. Creighton said that some of the dead water on the pond side of the lake, off Durham Bridge, was freezing over.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5767408.html
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
