My 2007 Backyard Rink - Howard's Corner of the Web

My 2007 Backyard Rink Journal

Dec 2005 - No changes this year at all. I put my boards down (still not painted white) Dec 26 and I am waiting for cold temperatures. It has been pretty mild in Dec again this year but the forecast is good so I may get started soon.

Dec 28, 2006 - I have started my rink!!! The forecast is cold for the next 6 days and today was a very decent day for putting down the liner. As usual, it took me about an hour to put down the liner, and then I turned on the water. This year I am going to try something different. I filled the rink (for about 3.5 hours) so that there was about 4 inches in the deep end and I left about 30% of the rink without water. Last year it took forever for the deep end (usually 9 inches deep) to freeze because we didn't have an extremely cold night (-15 C or colder). So this year I will try freezing in layers. Never done that before so I am not sure what to expect. I will add more water tomorrow. ( -9 C tonight ).

Jan 1, 2007 - Skated for the first time today!!! I had to section off parts of the rink, but there was enough good ice to skate and practice shots on. Hoping to add some more water and build some ice thickness over the next few days, but the forecast is not good. It's calling for some mild weather!! ( -5 C tonight ).

Jan 8, 2007 - Uggghh!! This is crazy!!!! It's Jan 8th for god's sake!!!! It's been very mild this past 7 days and the temp right now is 0 degrees Celcius. It's supposed to be +7 tomorrow morning. Can you believe it? It's supposed to dip below zero (-5... woop-de-do!!) by the weekend and then back up to +6 and rain. This is almost a carbon copy of last winter....which is torture!! My rink is gone...the plastic is blowing around...I basically have to start over!!! ( 0 C tonight ).

Jan 14, 2007 - Put down liner #2 tonight. Forecast is good for the next week, so I decided to buy a 30x50 white tarp at Home Depot. Only took about 45 mins to lay down and I ran water for about 4 hours. The entire liner was covered with water in that short time because I had left some water/sluch/ice in place that hadn't run off...so it was fairly flat. ( -7 C tonight)

Jan 17, 2007 - What a difference a temp like -15C makes. After about 45 hours of minus 10 Celcius I still cracked the ice on my rink when I walked on it. Got the 10cm of snow off of it and let the -15C temp do it's stuff. After 24 hours I can walk on it no problem. Two floods so far tonight, about an hour apart. Should be skating tomorrow. Just goes to show there is no substitute for intense cold temps. ( -15 C tonight ).

Jan 19, 2007 - Skating yesterday and today. Got 2 hours in last night in -10C temps and another hour after school today in warmer -2 temps. The ice is perfect...just like glass all over... nice and level. It will rain for a while tomorrow, should be minimal damage. ( -1 C tonight ).

Jan 27, 2007 - After a very mild week and a couple of storms over the last few days we managed to get some skating in over the last couple of days. Altogether about 6 hours between both kids. Ice is great...one of the best surfaces I have had, considering I have not been able to do much flooding. Used my homemade resurfacer recently as well...this is necessary when the temps are not that low (-2 to -4C) and I need to get a fresh surface...it lowers the risk of shell ice as it puts down a thinner layer of water. Here is a short video. ( -6 C tonight ).

Jan 29, 2007 - More skating over the last couple of days. It hasn't been real cold so I have been hesitant to flood for fear of ruining the good surface that is currently there. Another heavy snowfall on the way. Lots of snow after a slow start again this year. Note: There is about 3.5 inches of side boards showing on my shallow high side boards. The end boards have about 7 inches showing of the 12...meaning I have 5 inches of ice in the shallow end.( -4 C tonight )

Feb 1, 2007 - Put my Habs logo down and have done lots of flooding over the last 3 days. Got some skating in as well of course. Temps have been around the -10 area all week, but the forecast calls for some "plus" temps on the weekend.( -15 C tonight ).

Feb 12, 2007 - Great rink weather these days. Except for two days, Feb 2nd and 3rd when it rained heavy, it's been cold and excellent for flooding several times in one night. Anyone that doesn't have a rink here this year, just didn't try. My Habs logo floated to the top and had to be re-applied after the heavy rain. We are now into our 4th week of skating. Stephanie has about 15 hours in so far and Brad has about 6 hours in. I actually got an hour in myself yesterday. ( -9 C tonight ).

Feb 21, 2007 - As of Feb 17 we were into our second month of skating. The first month was one of the best on record. The rink wasn't ready for only a few days (Feb 2nd and 3rd) in that first month. The ice is really thick (4 inches at lowest point) and the quality is as good as I have ever had...i.e. glass. It just survived a 60 cm storm and is ready to go again. Both kids are enjoying it as one would expect. ( -9 C tonight ).

Feb 27, 2007 - Skating tonight...may be the last time. Temps are not as low as they have been over the last 6 weeks. Once we get past the end of Feb, any skate could be the last one. ( -3 C tonight ).

Mar 5, 2007 - Skating again tonight. I haven't flooded in about 2 weeks or more as the temps are not really cold. Just staying below zero C and we haven't had any rain for a while. Stephanie has been skating alone these days, which is why I haven't had to flood...she doesn't chew up the ice too much. Most of our skates are spur of the moment decisions so we haven't had a chance to plan a group skate. Forecast is for cold weather so I may get one more flood in before I call it a season. Shooting for March 17...trying to break my record for the latest date skating. Currently we are into week number 7. ( -4 C tonight ). For more info on this years rink, visit my 2007 Rink Journal.

Mar 10, 2007 - Flooded on the 8th (-16C) and had a very short skate today (-6C). This is the 8th week and the ice is still perfect. I think this is the longest time that I have had such perfect ice. I contibute it mainly due to the cold temps we have had this year. Even when it wasn't that cold it was still -5C. The white tarp should probably take some of the credit. I ran it up the side of my fence a foot or so and that has reflected a lot of the sun's rays. I have had a rink for 8 weeks before but the ice quality has been up and down. Usually some shell ice in places, or some high spots, ridges, that sort of thing. This year, nothing but glass. Some rain in the forecast...so this may be it. ( -7 C tonight ).

Mar 19, 2007 - IT IS OVER!! The short skate on the 10th was the last one. This year's winter seems to have gone out like it came in...very abruptly. The temps went up to +10C some days and haven't gone below zero very often. This years rink was definitely a success after a real shakey start. I will bite the bullet from now on and buy a white 30x50 tarp from Home Depot. No more 6 mil plastic. Plastic has gone up in price, so it's just as well to buy the tarp...plus the plastic is too narrow for me anyway and the tarp is in one piece. ( 0 C today ).