Unfortunately, there’s been no improvement on the ice front. Dennis Bassano, the NALSA president and a friend from Santa Cruz, drove to the lake last weekend to see how it was and test his Class 3 ice yacht with some new skates. He reported back today and conditions are far from ideal. “There are clear patches between the drifts which are sailable for the small boats, but pretty brutal when you hit them. Definitely not speed record conditions”, he said.

As far as I know, there is no better ice elsewhere in the US right now, so no point in travelling at the moment either. So we have no choice but to sit tight at the base in San Francisco and continue to wait for things to improve.