Three new windsleds---propeller powered sleds---are planned for service on frozen Lake Superior between Madeline Island and Bayfield, Wisconsin (on the mainland) in 2002. The windsleds will transport passengers---tourists as well as the several hundred people who dwell on the Island year round---when the ice is too thick for the ferry service but not thick enough for cars and trucks.

Windsleds are important for local business and tourism, but also will function as winter rescue vessels and help transport island residents who need medical attention.

A new publication, On Thin Ice, about the Madeline Island windsled and ice road operation will be available on April 20 from New Past Press, Inc. The book marks the 50th anniversary of the first boat-hull windsled operation on the island. For more details about the contents and for ordering information visit http://windsled.com/thinice.htm/.

Summarized from an article by Roger A. Gribble in Wisconsin State Journal, May 6,2000, with additional information from Ellen Fisher, Wisconsin Department of Transportation.