Date Jan. 5, 2001

Windsleds stay in snow business for decades
By Dennis McCann

Bayfield- Our departing governor is a road builder, but not even Tarmac Tommy could pave over open water. That’s a trick reserved for Mother Nature, who annually freezes the open water of Chequamegon Bay to build a two-mile ice road to Madeline Island. For weeks each winter- and in a good winter for months- highway 13 extends from Bayfield to La Pointe, and the Island is merely a brave ride away.

But talk about the in-between season. On the final morning of a too short visit I watched the Madeline Island ferry muscle punch a channel through thickening ice on its way to Bayfield harbor, even as a snowmobile skimmed merrily, if daringly, across the frozen surface nearby. Had I stayed another day- and I was willing- I could have experienced the ferry’s last crossing of the season.

Had I stayed two more days- and I was willing on that count, too- I could even have ridden the propeller-powered windsled that links Madeline and the mainland when the ice is too thick for the ferry boats but not thick enough for cars and trucks. not sure if I’d been willing to make that ride on a cold, noisy, bone-shacking polar version of an Everglades wind boat, but I could have.

Built on Ingenuity

Necessity is the mother of the windsled. In the 1930s and ‘40s, when ferries were not the steel-hulled icebreakers they are today, the earliest crossings were by windsleds built in Island workshops by men who never threw anything away, including ingenuity. They would take junk cars, airplane parts, bed springs, buggy slats and nerve to create odd but serviceable vehicles to haul groceries, pregnant women and other passengers back and forth across the iffy ice.

"The guys just would never through anything away," said islander Charles R. Nelson, "and they would just sit around the shop and build things. They loved to tinker and really found it natural to build things."

Some, as it turned out, with more success then others. One machine briefly in service was called "The Maybe" said Nelson, "because maybe it would make it or maybe not." "Hurricane Hazel" never made it into use because parts were recalled.

Nelson should know. His father, Elmer Nelson, built the island’s first floating, boat hull windsled in 1951, which makes this year the golden anniversary of such craft. And Charles wrote the book on windsleds- "On Thin Ice," of course- and plans to use the proceeds from its April release to create the Madeline Island Windsled and Aviation Museum.

Only in America, you say? More precisely, only on Madeline Island.

Replica in the works

Nelson’s museum for "what we feel is the most fascinating form on winter transportation created by man" is still a few years, and a lot of dollars, away, but the book is at the printer and work is under way. Like his forebears, he is busy in his winter workshop, building an exact, fully operational replica of the craft his father launched 50 years ago. Eventually, if all goes as planned, there will be replicas of as many as 13 different windsleds in his museum, along with other exhibits that tell the story of the ice road, of an island in winter and of the people who found a way to cope with the challenges nature gave them.

"My dad built over half the windsleds on the island," Nelson said, "so I grew up around them. so much of it’s our family history." indeed, the current windsled is operated by his cousins, Arnie and Ron Nelson.

When his first replica is completed, Nelson will take it on the road- the paved road, not the ice road- to help promote his book and museum plans. one stop will be the Experimental Aircraft association fly-in in Oshkosh, he said, because many pilots have shown interest in these machines built largely of aircraft parts and plans. The replica, which will cost about $35,000.00 to build, also will be on display on Madeline island at various times during the summer.

Summer, of course, is when the ferry will run again. I’m willing to wait. To see pictures of the replica construction or to view historic windsled photos, visit www.windsled.com You also can order Nelson’s book through that Web site.