Summerside - While pretty much everyone else on the Island was enjoying Thursday's mild, if wet, weather, there were some who were left scrambling.
Smelt fishermen along Summerside's shores awoke to find the ice their shacks had been on to be rapidly melting away.
By lunchtime, several shacks along Glover Shore were sagging into the water - close to what appeared to now be patches of open water.
Some managed to haul their shacks in before the ice became too iffy to move on, but they were a slim minority.
Adam Richard owns a shack on Glover Shore with a friend. He made a couple of drives out to the beach throughout the day to check on things.
He's only been out ice fishing for three years, but he's never seen such a quick thaw as what happened on Thursday.
"Not this quick anyway. That's pretty quick - one night," he said.
In fact, Summerside set a record on Thursday with a high of 11.1 C.
Richard wasn't alone. Several other fishermen stopped at the shore to check on conditions in the short time the Journal Pioneer was there.
Most seemed confidant the remaining ice would hold up most of their shacks until some of it could refreeze Thursday night - but they were still nervous.
It wouldn't be a disaster if someone had a shack sink, but it would be a big hassle, remarked one fisherman.
If a shack sank, and ice reformed around it, there would be no getting it out until spring, he said.
Kenneth Muttart and Alfred Arsenault spent more than an hour securing their shack. They even tied it down against the wind.
What struck them about the situation was just how fast the ice melted.
They said they'd been out fishing on Wednesday and had measured more than a foot of ice.
Their shack wasn't leaning into the water as of about noon, but there were several only a few feet away that were.
They planned on keeping a close on their home away from home until temperatures dropped again.
@journalpmaclean
I believe that Ann meant to write that the schools would have to stop using the newspaper as a teaching aid. Like she said she is no expert.