ICE BOATING ON THE NAVESINK (North Shrewsbury River)
RED BANK, NJ
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.
On display was the famous ROCKET ice boat 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 10 year restoration. As soon as the ice is a foot thick, the 2500 pound Rocket will sail again.
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.
