TCC for 3/6/08

The Caretaker's Concern 3/6/08
Ghetto temp. 49 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 37 F. Yesterday's L/H: 26/36 F.
Current conditions: Mostly clear night, little to no wind.

Not much to report today, the Caretaker spent much of the day getting heating fuel. He made a number of trips back and forth to the mainland. With the amount of water and slush on the ice, he probably could have gone kayaking through it.

The Caretaker will be going on hiatus for the next few days for computer maintenance.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 3/5/08

The Caretaker's Concern 3/5/08
Ghetto temp. 60 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 32 F. Yesterday's L/H: 22/32 F.
Current conditions: Cloud covered sky, a few flurries, wind from the South 5 to 10 mph.

Mostly a quiet day here on the Island. Quite a bit of wind and rain last night and this morning. The Caretaker went over to the mainland to drop off an empty propane tank at his car, at first he tried skiing over, the rain has melted most all of the snow and flooded the ice. It was like skiing through wet cement. After some 100 yards or so the Caretaker decided to return to the Island to switch out his x-c skis for just boots. This proved to be a very good idea, on top of the ice is a layer of slush and water some 4 to 6 inches deep, hopefully it will freeze over thus adding to the ice. Overall, the ice and snow on the Lake gets a "not so good" rating for the entire winter thus far, hopefully things will improve before the thaw begins.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 3/4/08

The Caretaker's Concern 3/4/08
Ghetto temp. 46 F. and rising.
Island tmp. 31 F. Yesterday's L/H: 35.5/37.5 F.
Current conditions: Mix of freezing rain and hail, strong wind from the East, 15 to 20 mph gusting to 30 mph.

The current warming trend was a pleasant break from the below zero temperatures, however with the wind tonight and the resulting heat loss it is tending more towards the cold side again. As pleasant as the warm weather has been, it is not very good for the ice nor the snow, quite a bit of snow on the Lake has melted, soon too will follow the ice. It would be better to save this warmer weather for later in the year, hopefully the cold will return soon.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 3/3/08

The Caretaker's Concern 3/3/08
Ghetto temp. 50 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 35 F. Yesterday's L/H: 20/32 F.
Current conditions: Mostly clear night with a slight bit of haze, little to no wind.

The ski over to the mainland today was rather pleasant, it was the first time that the Caretaker was actually able to kick and glide. The return trip, due to the warm weather, was not so good--top layer of crusty snow, below mostly mush. If this warm weather keeps up ice-out will come much sooner than the Caretaker would like, at this rate there will be pleasure swimming in April and the Caretaker will switch from hot tea to iced.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 3/2/08

The Caretaker's Concern 3/02/08
Ghetto temp. 58 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 22 F. Yesterday's L/H: 21/30 F.
Current conditions: Mostly clear, little to no wind.

It was a clear bright morning with very little wind, some occasional gusts, the Caretaker skied out to Dome Island to finish up the project he started the other day. For those who are interested you may now view what it is the Caretaker has been working on over at Dome. Under "Favorite Links" to the left, at the bottom you will see a link labeled "YouTube", if you click on that you will be taken to the video that the Caretaker made, and for those of you who have not seen the Caretaker's previous work put up on YouTube you will be able to do so by clicking on the link for other videos by the Caretaker, it is labeled "Other Videos by WreckLooseIsland" or something like that.

Also, the Caretaker noticed that he had provided the wrong web address for the company that makes the alcohol stove he is so fond of, just above the YouTube link is a link to the company Brasslite, if lightweight backpacking is your thing you might want to check out their product.

The x-c skiing on the ice today was not much better than it has been these past few days, however, with the bright sun, it was rather warm. Eventually the Caretaker had to take off his jacket to keep from getting too hot--it was much like Spring skiing which is always nice. Other than skiing over by Dome the Caretaker went to the mainland to shovel out his car. The weather report calls for a mix of rain and freezing rain tomorrow, the Caretaker did not want the snow around his car to freeze in, especially since he has to go to Albany yet again. If he can he will go tomorrow, if not then hopefully Tuesday. Other than that not much else worth reporting on for today.

--The Caretaker