A 16-foot sail is last thing you might expect to see on an Island pond in the depths of a frozen February. Across the Vineyard, boats have been hauled, waiting for spring. Ice has taken over. But when the ponds freeze, a different kind of boat comes out of garages and sheds.

For much of the work week, Emily Bramhall inhabits a world devoted
to the creature comforts of the indoor world - stuffed pillows,
luxurious bedsheets and cozy handknit sweaters sold at her store on Main
street Vineyard Haven.

It was all the more shocking then to see Ms. Bramhall wearing a
crash helmet and scrunched into the wooden cockpit of a vessel capable
of reaching 60 miles per hour across the ice of a frozen pond.