Under Ice Crawler

An under ice crawler lowerable through a hole in a layer of ice into a body of water therebeneath and operable to extend a flexible line within the body of water between two points spaced apart along the layer of ice, the crawler comprising:

• a floating body having sliding surfaces defined at an upper limit thereof to allow sliding of the floating body along the layer of ice against an undersurface thereof;
• a motor carried on the floating body to selectively drive a propeller, selective operation of the motor driving the floating body in a forward direction within the body of water below and along the layer of ice;
• a connector carried on the floating body to facilitate the connection of the line thereto;
• a termination device carried on the floating body and operably linked with the motor to terminate operation thereof upon actuation of the termination device;
• and
• a starting device operatively linked with the motor and comprising:
• a starting-signal receiver carried on the floating body and actuable to effect starting of the motor thereof upon detection of a starting-signal;
• and
• a starting-signal generator separate from the floating body and manually operable from above the layer of ice to deliver the starting-signal to the starting-signal sensor without physical contact therewith below the layer of ice.