ICE BOATING ON THE NAVESINK (North Shrewsbury River)
RED BANK, NJ
(recorded announcement on ice conditions 732-747-5665)
FEBRUARY 1, 2014
click on any photo to ENLARGE
After a couple of weeks of temperatures in the teens and single digits, Ice Boating had been very active in Red Bank. As the weekend approached; the temperatures were rising and the forecast was for a reading as high as 47 degrees. As a result, the 5 inches of ice was not sufficient to support the big boats and the National Sweepstakes Regatta was cancelled. There would have been no problem for the smaller boats and racing was planned for 9 AM; however, there was NO WIND, thus, lots of interest, lots of boat owners, but nobody sailed.
Lacking wind at 9AM, some boat owners were tearing down.
One young lad had his sail up and was ready.
All kinds of interesting boats at the club today.
Boy Scout Troop 124 of Tinton Falls got a treat when one of the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club senior officials, took them on a guided tour of the various types of Ice Boats. The boys learned about wind direction, speed, tacking and the differences in handling of the various boats.
Later, the Boy Scouts took turns riding and pushing an Ice Boat to get the feel of gliding along the ice.
On the ice is a favorite place to take photos and be photographed.
From a distance, I saw this young man pulling himself along the ice in a rather odd manner. Upon blowing up the photo, I realized he had some kind of tool (hand made ??) that allowed him to jab the ice and pull himself along.
A couple of folks tried Ice Hockey, but the snow/slush topping made the puck go just a few feet. Ice skating was not a problem though.
It was really too bad there was no wind today. It would have been nice to see the ice boats race. But, there will be other days.
JANUARY 26, 2014
click on any photo to ENLARGE
It's was 25 degrees, the ice was thicker than yesterday and some of the larger ice boats were out today. There was also racing today.
JANUARY 25, 2014
click on any photo to ENLARGE
It's been a while since the river was frozen, but today was an excellent day for the "iceberg" class at the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club. I arrived around 1:30PM and shortly after that light snow started. The snow didn't hinder the fun for the Ice Boaters, but it did cause a slight blurring in some photos.
February 13, 2011. The ice didn't get thick enough this season for the famous ROCKET to sail, so it was removed from the ice today. The ice needed to be at least a foot thick to support the 2500 pound Rocket.
The ROCKET ice boat was built back in 1886. In 1999 remnants of the boat were found under the club building in Red Bank. In September 2010, the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club celebrated the conclusion of its10 year restoration project.
Shown in the first photo, the dark wood parts were the only remnants found of the original ROCKET, everything else was built by the club.
Another bright sunny day, with the
temperature in the high 40's. Lots of racing today. There were
places of thin ice but were clearly marked for the ice boaters of the North
Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club.
The club safety and assistance vehicle headed out toward an ice boat that appeared to need help, but the driver decided to push his way back to the club building.
The wind was good and everyone looked like they were having fun.
It was a bright sunny day and the temperature was around 40 degrees. There were lots of boats sailing today and many people out taking photos, walking the dog, ice skating and one guy having pizza on his skate board. The wind started to die down around noon and a few boats continued on while most returned to the boat club.
A cute little robot with a High Definition Video camera came by capturing all the boating activities. This father and son team was having fun making this radio controlled project work. The father, Frank Farrell, is president and videographer of Custom Video Productions, Inc (CVP) in Red Bank.
It looked like a perfect day for ice boating because the ice was 10 inches thick, the wind was up and the temperature was below freezing. I stopped by the Monmouth Boat Club and found guys putting together their boats.
After assembly, they headed out to the middle of the Navesink River.
The rescue vehicle returned along with several racers.
The temperature was in the teens for several days and this typically brings out ice boat racing on the Navesink River in Red Bank, NJ. It was a Monday and I was pretty sure the boats were out on the weekend but I thought I would check anyway.
My first stop was the Monmouth Boat Club, next to Marine Park, and it was clear that no one was racing. There was still some activity on the ice. A gentleman was preparing his racer for storage, a father was pulling his son on a sled, several were ice skating and one guy would run along the ice and see how far he could slide.
I couldn't help but notice how the expanding ice, when butting up against concrete would break up.
I left Marine Park for about an hour to have a sandwich and returned to find more activities. Several folks were showing interested in a very old wooden racing boat and along the shore were several spectators looking on.
Try as he might, the boater could not catch the very light wind. Even the vent from a nearby building's heating system went directly vertical.
When I was a kid (a very long time ago) there were many ice boats on the river, many men fishing through the ice for eels and many skaters. I remember one time the ice was more than a foot thick and it snowed overnight. During the day a full size dump truck, with plow, was on the ice pushing the snow away. Hope this kind of activity returns someday.