Posted by JOHN NICHOLSON (Bethany, Bryony and Bella) on November 19, 2000 at 21:42:00 from 62.253.88.167:
To TARS members, experienced ice sailors, and others…
We are reading ‘Winter Holiday’, and got to the point when Titty gasps "Sails!", and the children see the ice yachts for the first time.
As the rain continues day after day, I think of my childhood when the local lake in Kent froze solid and the snow was so deep that we could block the main road with drifts. Despite the abundance of rain, I know the weather is never cold enough to freeze lakes and cover cottages in drifts. Or am I wrong?
Tell me. Do the lakes in Cumbria still freeze solid most winters? Do people have ice yachts waiting ready for when the ice comes? Is this a predictable annual event? What are the ice yachts like? What rig do they have? How to they ‘go about’ as John notices, what do they use as a rudder? Are they any experience ice yacht sailors out there?
Some while ago we posted a notice asking about Sophie Neville who played Titty I the first film. I did not get much of a response from the TARS board, but after a lot of searching it seems we have found her, now 40 years old, and an active explorer and adventurer in Africa, with an incredible story to tell. More news to come…
John Nicholson.