DARK CLOUDS, BLUE SKY MERGE IMPERCEPTIBLY
THE LA POINTE RESCUE WIND SLEDThursday, 9:45 AM. 18.5 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is mostly overcast with high dark clouds which merge into the dark blue sky so it is difficult to tell where one stops and the other begins, much like blue water and blue ice. The barometer predicts snow.
Well, we had the first “through the ice” event of the season off Bayfield yesterday. A Madeline Island woman (name withheld) on her way to Bayfield drove her 4-wheeler over a pressure ridge and right into open water. Oops! Luckily she jumped off before the vehicle sank out of sight. Jumping off a moving ATV is not easy, I might add. Adrenaline does wonderful things.
I hope every ice fisherman and other adventurer who goes out there with snowmobile, ATV or pickup truck takes note.
The red wind sled pictured is the smallest, really a runabout with an airplane engine on the back. I thought it was only used as a rescue vehicle but it evidently transports passengers as well. I hear it does a nice job of jumping the pressure ridge and open water, and of course it will not sink. The old green wind sled is also in operation now.
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