Ice on Medicine NOT SAFE

[Chummers]

If you go out on Medicine, be very careful to stay in the SE area where the ice froze first. I went through the ice on Saturday because I went too far out. I was advised to stay on this side of an ice ridgeline which was visible to me at first, but when I went out on a slightly different trajectory, more downwind perhaps, I didn't see the ridge and sailed too far onto ice that was only about an inch thick. I was able to self-rescue (had my ice picks!) but it was no fun clawing through 1 inch ice for quite a ways until I reached ice I could pull myself on without having it break. The next day somebody suggested I call the Water Patrol to see if they'd be willing to try to salvage my gear and I called and the next day they went and got it with their ice boat. He said the sail had so much ice on it that one officer had to get in his drysuit and into the water to get it out! No apparent damage to my gear, or myself. Hopefully I learned a lesson! I'm going to buy an hand auger to bring with me to measure ice going forward when it has just recently frozen. Be careful out there, don't sail alone (there were 2 kiters there who helped me after my self rescue THANKS VERY MUCH GUYS!) and always wear your ice picks!

[Quetzalcoatl]

Mike ("Man from La Madrid"):

I'm glad you made it out (of Frozen Lake) alive!

Quetzalcoatl (Eric).

[Professor Robae']

Hey Chummers, I'm glad you made it out OK and We are very glad you had your ice picks! My good buddy Brian Smith is one of the kiters that helped you. It has definitely been an uneven freeze this year for the metro lakes. The middle of Lake Minnetonka remains open.
Here are a couple tips: Use a broom handle with a heavy chisel taped on the end to bang on the ice while you are initially walking around. You will be able to tell with this - if the ice is one or two inches thick. Bring a cordless drill out with you when scouting ice - easier than an auger - plus you don't put big holes in your sailing area. Drill lots of holes to check ice depth all over the area you plan to sail on. Check the ice with a buddy with each person carrying a throw rope. Always wear a set of ice picks! If you do go in: don't panic and don't take an initial gag breath underwater. With picks, you can get out easy and you do have enough time. If you are OK with it: I am going to share your story and my tips on FB, as a PSA.

[Randy]

Good suggestions. Seems we can never say too much about exit plans when pushing the window of safety. I had two weeks of epic ice, but took several precautions. For sure, the lakes this year had a huge variety of freeze points given the never ending winds. There was ice on our lake, 3rd of Forest Lake, for three weeks while the middle of the lake was wide open. I would check thickness with a sledge and started riding when it was two inches thick. I made sure I was always in water never over chest deep and wore a 7mm wetsuit under my one piece snowboard coverall. It seems panic is what inevitably gets us in trouble, so I wanted to be sure I could relax if I did break through. I also informed my wife to let any observers know that I was comfortable in the event of a ice break. The 7mm suit also serves as nice cushion for the falls I took, and made for a nice detox sweat.
Anyway, after experiencing unsafe ice over the years, that's my main insight for getting out early on thin ice. I no longer trust ice fishermen, snowmobiler and other second hand reports given the huge variety of freeze dates on any particular lake.

[Chummers]

Yes, Rob, OK to share with others. Also, the water patrol got my gear for me a few days later! Thank you to whomever suggested calling them, it worked! No damage to gear except rust on the snowfer blades which i can easily remove!

[SteveJ]

Did they charge you anything to get your gear out of the ice?

[Chummers]

There was no mention of any charge, and i have not received a bill in the mail and wasn't really expecting one. But if I do get one, it's probably gonna be worth it not having to replace my snowfer and the rig (it was a decent Ezzy sail and a good mast).