Ice boating on the St. Lawrence River

A weekend in Northern New York...

 My wife & I, representing HRIYC, set up a table on ice yachting at the Small Craft Festival at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton NY,  on Oct 11.    ABM is a wonderful small museum with an  extensive collection of rowing skiffs, antique motor boats, outboards, canoes, and much more. Past commodore Bob Wills had made a connection with the Museum early this year and they have a nice exhibit on ice boating on the St Lawrence, including some items we loaned for the exhibit.   

One wall of the Iceboat exhibit at Antique Boat Museum, in Clayton, NY. 

Ice Yachting trophies:

HRIYC trophy (c) for Rainbow 1904.

MMGCC (?) trophy 1st in class, 1963

A few pictures of Ice Yachts off Clayton, on the St. Lawrence River, circa 1910-20.

Our display table, featuring Reid Bielenberg's model of Sappho, the Athens ice yacht, circa 1870. 

One of the rewarding aspects of setting up ice boat displays or doing a talk on the history is the opportunity to meet folks who have a story to tell or their own experiences on iceboats in the past. You never know.     We met several folks who recalled friends or relatives sailing the river in long ago winters. Lisa talked with a woman a number of years older than us who wasn't familiar with ice boats but recalled riding horse drawn sleds across the ice.  Like the Hudson River, winters have been much milder in recent years and the St. Lawrence does not freeze reliably. Last winter though, it did freeze over, the first time in awhile. 

The day after our time in Clayton, we stopped in nearby village of Cape Vincent, and went to the local village museum. Volunteers Rick & Karen were happy to see us and when they heard our story about the Iceboat display in Clayton the previous day, they immediately turned us onto to their archives of iceboat items!

All images courtesy of Cape Vincent Historical Museum

Sailing as early as 1898, off Cape Vincent. No doubt they sailed between Canada & US.  Cape Vincent is where the St Lawrence meets Lake Ontario, or the other way around... 

 

A scene as described by the elderly visitor the day before in Clayton. 

A set of runners and an old model where on display along with ice tools and an old Ambulance.

 

An old  album contained a nice collection of photos of ice boats off of Cape Vincent and Clayton. 

circa 1940s - 1950s

trussed planks on most boats. 

an E skeeter is part of this line up.

races clearly drew large crowds here... 

 Rick - museum volunteer - noted that he remembers the ice boats racing in his youth (50s) - though he didn't sail. He did make a crude ice sail to use with his skates. He recalled skate sailing with a buddy from Cape Vincent to Clayton - approximately 15 miles!

My favorite pictures from the Ice Boat scrapbook.  Rick noted that most winters an ice bridge was established from Cape Vincent to Wolfe Island, across the river in Canada. The crossing closed after the first car went through the ice. I haven't found pictures like this on the Hudson yet! 

Barn Find!

Well, not exactly a barn find, but a request to retrieve an old stern steerer and to find a good home for it.  

In the rafters for at least 40 years....

Thanks to HRIYC member Maggie McNamara who connected the Club to a former colleague of hers.  The family was looking to get the family ice boat out of their garage. Maggie put them in touch with Bob Wills & the Ice Yacht Preservation Trust about donating the boat to the Trust. The family just wanted it to be fixed up and maintained and sailed. We agreed and recently pulled together a team to remove it and find a new home. Aeolus will be restored and hopefully ready to sail soon. 

History:

Aeolus was built circa 1981. She's a "new" traditional  stern steerer. The late Jim Neilson built her to plans sketched up by none other than Ray Ruge.  

Jim and family lived on the Hudson River in Port Ewen, often sailing out of the Hidden Harbor yacht Club, just south of the Roundout Creek in Kingston. There was a contingent of ice yachters in the late 70s and early 80s sailing on that west side of the Hudson.   

      Ray Ruge at the helm of Ariel, off Hidden Harbor, 1981. (image from the Ray Ruge collection at the HRMM)  

 Ray acquired Archie Rogers prized yacht Ariel from Port Ewen resident Warren Spinneweber. As I understand, he traded an Arrow for the historic stern Steerer. As I also surmise, several Yachts from the Rogers estate went to Port Ewen after the auction of ice yachts from the Rogers estate Crumwold, that took place in May of 1942. Ariel & Cyclone ended up in the Port Ewen area and are still sailed to this day.  

These two pictures must be from the same time period as above shots. I made images from photos of a woman I met in Port Ewen who had some old sails. The sails didn't pan out but she shared these pictures. I can't identify the boats for sure. 

oh yeah, the barn find.... 

40 years of debris, dust, raccoon droppings....   

Backbone carefully lowered around a,  shall we say,  quite full garage...

dry wall, and did we mention raccoons??

Plank & Spars

Plank & backbone loaded on Bob's truck. 

       Offloading at Schooner Capt Sam's shipping container, to be set up and polished soon!  

 

We seem to have all the pieces, including sails. 

Aeolus appears in the 1982 registry of iceboats of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club.  

Length: 27'      plank: 14'7"      sail area: 240 sq ft.    gaff rigged

Dimensions are very similar to Aurora, a boat Ray Ruge had found and brought into the club years earlier. I had heard Aeolus' design was based on Aurora.  Curiously Jim's widow noted she didn't know it as Aeolus -  they just called it "The Iceboat."  As far as I know she was never sailed on Tivoli Bay or Barrytown, where much of the HRIYC fleet sailed in the 80s & 90s. 

 

Aurora.  Capt Frank at the helm. Astor Point 2014.  Aurora is a bit longer and also has 240 sq ft of sail.   Henry Bossett photo

 

Ray Ruge with Jim Neilsen, Hidden Harbor 1981.  Ray's putting on his creepers on Ariel's plank. Bob Clark's Tyro in the background.   Below, Tyro sailing south of the Rondout Lighthouse, 1985. 

These 2 pictures from John Clark's ice boating scrapbooks.  I'm hoping to find a picture of Aeolus rigged and sailing on the ice.

Seasons over 2025!

      Happy Vixen crew at days end, 3/3/25                                                  Betty Boomer photo

 Monday -Tuesday marked the last days of sailing the ice here in the Hudson Valley.  A dozen folks enjoyed a last few sails on Vixen on Copake Lake Monday. The one local resident (who recently moved to the neighborhood) who stopped by got his first ride.  And a friend of a club member had his first time on the tiller for a few tacks. A lovely NW breeze propelled the 1885 Vixen for a last few runs.  She's been sailing for 140 years! The Merritt brothers, John A. Roosevelt & Ray Ruge are all smiling at her longevity!   

       Puff, Boreas, Lady  on a breezy Sunday, Orange Lake. 3/2/25              photo courtesy of Emilie Hauser

Meanwhile sailing also continued on Orange Lake. A contingent of Arrows, along with Boreas, Puff & Lady  sailed on Sunday & Monday.  Puff closed out the season with a last few runs on Tuesday before rapidly softening ice sent her home. 

 There was also the unveiling of a new boat to the Club, as ice yacht Puck was rigged up.  A nice story: At the 2023 Ice boat display at the FDR Welcome Center, Captain Steve Schwartz got talking to a visitor at the exhibit who noted they had an old stern steerer in their barn. After more talk the individual donated the boat to the Club and Steve gathered up some sailing buddies to caretake the boat. Jake & Andy from the Puck team worked with Steve to get her set up. The small (and old) sail wasn't quite enough to push her through the sticky surface, but the chance to get her on the ice was a joy. She'll have runners sharpened and a new jib ready for next season.  

                            New to the Club - Ice Yacht Puck;    First time on ice with 2 of her new caretakers Andy & Jake .  Great to see new members with their boat.  Vintage???  hmm..  1930s-40s?  what do you think? 

Boats are now off the Lake, though a few Arrows remain on shore. The ice is deteriorating and more openings are appearing.   

              Past Commodore Chris brought his grill for the traditional hot dog lunch on the ice at Copake. Thanks Chris!

                          Last sail, 3:57 pm Monday. Vixen glides in to the launch area to drop sails for the season.

Thankful for the many chances to get some sailing in this winter. See you next season!

Seasons winding down!

 Sunday sailing at Copake.  Might have 2 more days before we dismantle. Reid at helm of Vixen with Bard student Liam on his first ice boat ride!

Copake Lake February 22 & 23

                                                                      Ice Conditions------>  

Nice to see our friend and director of the Hudson River Maritime Museum, Lisa Cline, stop by Copake Lake Sunday. Lisa caught her first ride on Vixen, here with owner, skipper Reid Beilenberg.  Lisa's grandfather Joe Jova acquired Vixen sometime around 1920.  According to Capt. Frank Drake her grandfather was encouraged (by Moses Collyer) to buy Vixen to challenge the New Hamburgh Club for the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America.   Vixen did race in that last race of the old stern steerers for the Challenge Pennant, with Vixen builder Charlie Merritt at the helm.  Charlie & his brother William built Vixen (originally named Eugene) in 1885.  Frank Drake won that race, sailing Scout.  Joe Jova owned and sailed Vixen for many years. He, as well as his father Juan, were long time members of the Orange Lake Ice Yacht Club.  Lisa recalled her mother sailing on Vixen in her youth. Ray Ruge acquired Vixen and sailed her on Orange Lake for many years. Reid acquired Vixen in the early 80s from Ray. Lisa had a great sail & was thrilled to see that the old yacht is still sailing today, being in very good hands.

     Chickadee, under the steady hand of William.

A memorable race on Tivoli Bay -Happy Groundhogs Day!

                                            Ice Conditions 

It's Ground Hogs Day! Of course, always ready for many more weeks of winter & ice in my hopes... 

  In honor of that large nuisance it's a good time to dig into the White Wings archives to revisit a memorable race eleven years ago (January 30, 2014) on Tivoli Bay, involving not a groundhog but a close relative.  I almost forgot about this... 

 Racing on Tivoli Bay 2014

Runaway Ice Yacht... then and now....

 

 from John A Roosevelt's Ice Yacht scrapbook; Courtesy of the FDR Library and Museum, Hyde Park 

We had a little excitement at Orange Lake today , which led me digging back into the archives of Ice boating on the River.   This goes back to 1886 and involves Archie Rogers and his prize yacht Jack Frost.

 from John A Roosevelt's Ice Yacht scrapbook; Courtesy of the FDR Library and Museum, Hyde Park  

During a pause in the racing, the group of ice yachts pulled up at the North end of Orange Lake, to assist in righting Rainbow II, which had flipped onto its side. All the big A boats were hiking steadily in the strong NW wind. Even with sheets loose and tiller at a 90 degree position , a puff of wind propelled the Red Bank yacht Ruth away andheaded her to the south side of the lake.  Just what Archie Rogers encountered in 1886?  

Several of us noticed a lone gaff rigger heading towards us, thinking one of the skippers was heading back to get help or assistance for Rainbow.  What a shock to see no one at the helm. The boat was headed directly at the "pits" filled with boats not sailing or being rigged.  Just before the pressure ridge outside this space, she veered east and took off, eventually veering back and running full tilt into a stone bulkhead off the neighbors house.  Starboard runner, and chock and the boom took the brunt of the hit, and will need replacing.  Fortunately no one was hurt.  I'm sure Ruth will be made right quickly and we'll see her on the ice next winter.  We think they can come up with the 100 dollars to repair....

Archie Rogers has had his share of excitement at the helm of an ice Yacht: (in February 1903 he was skippering Ariel with his wife aboard)

And, not the first time winds have had their way with Orange Lake ice yachts.... 

     photo courtesy Dave Disbrow                                         2022