Water Mill - If the forecast called for a stretch of teeth chattering and body shivering, nearly everyone would beg for mercy while Tom Halsey would beg for more. More wintry conditions mean more ice and more time on frozen ponds. He and his family – third-, fourth- and fifth-generation ice boaters based in Water Mill - long for days and weeks when Mecox Bay and Mill Pond are a solid sheet of ice.

That is, without two feet of snow piled on top of it and without wind whipping the water every which way.

Ray Geminski sails in a Class B Skeeter.

The cold that draped the East End last month was like paradise for the ice boating aficionados, including Halsey, whose heritage in the sport dates back to Tom's great-grandfather, Charles Everett Halsey, in the 19th century. They managed a solid week's worth of racing on Mill Pond in December, but the blizzard that dropped snow on their choice bodies of water brought their hobby to a halt.

"We did get some fun in, but it just hasn't worked out," Halsey said. "Through the end of January, it's supposed to be warm, and if we don't get ice by Valentine's Day, it makes it a little difficult."

In ice boating, captains steer their crafts from the front, lying flat on their backs to reduce wind resistance. Ice boats face less friction than boats of the soft water variety. Racing, which requires boats' inhabitants to make three laps around two points on the ice, is not for the faint of heart. A DN routinely reaches 60 miles per hour, with skeeters topping that. The fastest recorded speed by ice boat is 143 miles per hour.

Last year was the best they'd had in some time, according to Halsey, who said he and his family - son Adam and grandchildren Eli and Lauren - got almost a month of sailing on Mecox Bay. The Long Island Ice Yacht Championship Regatta was held on the bay last January, with a DN, J-14 and Skeeter fleets taking part in five-race regattas.

Class C Skeeters are just one class of boats that race on East End waters if the weather is right.

For Chris Geminski, ice boating is a family affair, as it is with the Browns, Prices, Marans and many more. Geminski, who with his father races B Class Skeeters, said that holes and thin spots in the bay caused by wind have made the conditions less than ideal, but nevertheless they're holding out hope that ice boating will resume soon. They've sailed as late as early March in the past.

"If we get some cold nights in the next week with not too much wind, the ice will remain and we might stand a chance to get on the bay this year," Geminski said.

In addition, opening up the bay to the ocean has made the bay very salty, which is productive for finfish and shellfish, but makes it difficult for the water to freeze. Thus, it's a common practice for the die-hards, such as Geminski and those at the Lake Ronkonkoma Ice Boat and Yacht Club, to put their boats on top of their cars and travel for ice. Destinations include to Bantam Lake and Candlewood Lake, both in Connecticut, farther north into New England and New York, as well as out to Wisconsin, where the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club has been in existence for more than 75 years.

Now in his 70s, Halsey doesn't travel to find the ice like he used to, yet he remains patient. According to the journal kept by his dad, Everett Halsey, there were spells in which not much racing was done for five or six years. Although the weathermen call for a mild January, ice boaters across the region are holding out hope that there's one more cold front coming through before the spring.

"It's been frustrating," Halsey said. "Maybe there will be ice soon, but right now there isn't any."

Ice boats out east are covered up, waiting patiently for the temperatures to drop, ideally without the company of snow or wind.