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email address: thehouse@potterslake.net
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When finished, hit the back button on your browser to return to this page. To use the chatroom or view saved videos click on the video window above. 2009 Message Board Archive
The Rules: We're looking for guesses of the date that the north end of the lake is free of ice - all clear blue water from the house to the big rock in the middle and all the way across to the far shore as seen from the webcam (assuming it keeps working this year!)
So take a look at the results of previous years and please post your guess/ scientific predictions, etc. to the guestbook at our webcam - www.potterslake.net, email thehouse@potterslake.net or post to Bob's Facebook page:
Update - March 6, 2010 It's great to seen the sun again, for a change. The temperture (see above) is well above freezing in the daytime and well below at night. Bob just walked out on the Lake and cut a hole through 16 inches (40cm) of hard, blue ice 50 feet (15m) off the end of the jetty. He stuck a log in the hole to make make watching the ice melt a little more interesting on the Webcam (it could hardly be less interesting...as some have pointed out...)
The sound of the ice is rather dramatic right now - loud WHOMPs all around that radiate and shoot down the lake - especially, it seems, to and from right where you're standing!! The sounds are most frequent and loudest at in the morning and evening as the air temperature changes. They can be heard on the Webcam, but it's not quite the same...
No sign of the eagles today, but we hold out hope that they are still moving in next door.
February 27, 2010 - Announcement We realize it's still only February and it may seem like we're jumping the gun, but this has been a very strange winter, as avid Potters Lake-cam-watchers and those who live here can attest. Daytime temperatures and, often, nighttime temperatures have hovered at or above freezing for much of February. And while much of the Eastern Seaboard has received record snowfalls, we have often gotten rain - and a lot of it. As I write this, the sound on the webcam of water running off the roof is drowning out the sounds of the chickadees at the feeder.
Last year on March 14 the ice in the lake was 22 inches (56cm) thick, out about 50 feet (15m) from shore. On March 28 last year it was down to 18 inches (46cm) and we walked across the lake in the sunshine listening to the unsettling sound of water percolating down through the increasingly porous surface. This year we have similar conditions a whole month earlier than last year!
Ice fishermen were falling though through lakes all over Maine last weekend (mostly in cars and ATV's, mind you). Last Sunday, February 21, Cate chiseled through just 16 inches (40cm) of ice. The top six inches (15cm) or so was only slush; the hard black ice was only just five or six inches (15cm) thick near the bottom before breaking though to clear water.
It's still winter here and everything may change - we certainly haven't seen the last of the snow. But, who knows?
Rules: We're looking for guesses on the date that the north end of the lake is free of ice - all clear blue water from the house to the big rock in the middle and all the way across to the far shore.
So if you want to play, post your guess/ scientific predictions, etc. to our guestbook (above) or email thehouse@potterslake.net - there's a bottle of New Brunswick bubbly (Sussex ginger ale), Nova Scotia wine, or Newfoundland Screech for the winner. But wait, there's more! This year we're throwing in a homegrown, home-picked, homemade Blueberry Pie! Of course, the winner is expected to come and retrieve the prize in person. Doug and Dawn Coughran traveled all the way from Perth, Australia for their bottle of wine last summer!
Check out last year's results below and take a chance! That's all the clues you get.
Ice out guesses so far: March 17 - Charlie Mullen - Vinalhaven, Maine March 19 - Tora Johnson - Sullivan, Maine March 23 - Doug & Dawn Coughran - Perth, Australia March 24 - Jon Benoist - Park City, Utah; Happy Birthday! March 25 - Bob March 26 - Cian Tenney - Washington, DC March 28 - Shirley Grové - Parys, South Africa (and no, airfare is not included if you win...) March 29 - Kathy Lauder - Nashville, Tennessee March 30 - Chris Kenoyer - Alna, Maine March 31 - Cate April 1 - Chris Mullen - Sullivan, Maine April 3 - Grace Mullen, Vinalhaven, Maine - Posted March 15 "Got past Cates birthday without a blizzard, so I will guess ICE OUT will be April 3rd. Happy Birthday, Cate!" April 6 - Ed Lyman - Maui, Hawaii April 14, Midnight - Jack Jones - in a trailer somewhere in the Sonoran Desert: Bob says,"If the ice isn't out by now, I'll go down on the Jetty at Midnight, throw a rock, and listen for a splash."
The official Ice Out photo (below) shows the last of the floes from the north end sailing by. There is a bit of accumulated ice down there in the south end, but we won't worry about that.
Congratulations to Doug Coughran of Perth Australia, a person with many extraordinary skills, but exceedingly little experience with frozen lakes. Doug and Dawn will be traveling from Western Australia to Potters Lake on August 11 to claim their prize!
April 16, 2009 - 3:40 PM ADT The last ice floe sails south
Potters Lake Ice Out Contest On March 14, the ice in the lake was 22 inches (56 cm) thick, out about 50 feet (15 meters) from shore. On March 28 it was 18 inches (46 cm) and we walked across the lake in the sunshine listening to the unsettling sound of water percolating down through the increasingly porous surface.
We're looking for guesses on the date that the north end of the lake is free of ice - all clear blue water from the house to the big rock in the middle and all the way across to the far shore.
So if you want to play, email thehouse@potterslake.net with your guess - there's a bottle of New Brunswick bubbly (Sussex ginger ale), Nova Scotia wine, or Newfoundland Screech for the winner.
Ice out guesses so far: April 12 - Cate April 14 - Dawn Coughran, Western Australia April 16 - Doug Coughran, Western Australia - The Winner April 18 - Bob April 19 - Charles Beck, Belfast, Maine April 20 - Kathy Lauder, Nashville, Tennessee April 21 - Jonathan Mullen, Bar Harbor, Maine April 22 - Charlie Mullen, Vinalhaven, Maine April 25 - Bridget Mullen, Alna, Maine April 26 - Grace Mullen, Vinalhaven, Maine (pessimist!) April 27 - Chris Kenoyer, Alna, Maine (OMG)
