One of the more paradoxical signs of spring along parts of Lake Michigan are the wild and wonderfully weird ice shards which pile up in fantastic geometric patterns along the shoreline. As the lake begins to thaw, water underneath the ice pushes broken sheets up to the surface, forming jagged otherworldly landscapes of jagged ice. Here is a video of photographs taken along the shore of South Haven, MI, by Joel Bissell for MLive.com. Thanks to Irwin Bryan for contributing to this post.
Old Salt Blog
a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea , hosted by nautical novelist Rick Spilman
That’s something I remember with a certain awe from my first college years on the shores of Lake Michigan.
In the 1960s we held a Penguin Class Frostbite Regatta in Chicago’s Jackson Park Harbor. The were ice shards on Christmas Day! My crew did not drop the centerboard at the mark and we turtled my #8888. I swam him to the USCG station within just a few feet pushing the damn shards out of the way from the ladder, rescued the boat, and by that time I just about had it. Damn shards!