Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post

Resident 2B · 03-14-2006, 03:17 PM

I had been a close to shore ocean boater for ten years until we decided to give that up and focus our vacationing, and now living, most of the summer on Lake Winnipesaukee beginning a few years ago.

From personal observations, compared to boating in and around Boston Harbor and the ports along the North Shore of Ma., boating on Lake Winnipesaukee is very passive. Even though the 150' rule is not fully observed by all, for the most part it is observed and it is effective in making a safer boating experience.

The big challange in making the transition from ocean to the lake is learning the lake and the NH bouy system, but that is something that is managable with some work and time. Adapting our learning from USCG Aux classes to the lake was easy and the internet version of the safe boating class helped in this transition.

In addition to power boating, we also kayak. We are very near to Weirs Beach, the busiest part of the lake, and we can kayak almost every day. We kayak early when things are flat, we stay away from the channel when things start to get busy and we use common sense at all times when in the boat or the kayak. To us, the lake is big enough for all to enjoy, as long as we all use a little common sense.

On busy boating days, bringing the kayak to less congested parts of the lake or to the smaller lakes around, either by car or by boat, is also a great common sense option. I do not see why anyone would choose to kayak in the broads on busy weekends, unless they were thrill seekers. There are so many other, more responsible, options for kayaking.

It would be great if we could all get along. I realize there are two very polarized camps around the "safer boating" issues, but there is no real or big problem to be solved in our opinion. Perhaps we should have a week or two to cool off after HB-162 is voted in the senate and use that time to think about getting along better.

03-14-2006, 03:17 PM	#71
Resident 2B Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Shore, MA Posts: 1,354 Thanks: 988 Thanked 310 Times in 161 Posts	Lake boating I had been a close to shore ocean boater for ten years until we decided to give that up and focus our vacationing, and now living, most of the summer on Lake Winnipesaukee beginning a few years ago. From personal observations, compared to boating in and around Boston Harbor and the ports along the North Shore of Ma., boating on Lake Winnipesaukee is very passive. Even though the 150' rule is not fully observed by all, for the most part it is observed and it is effective in making a safer boating experience. The big challange in making the transition from ocean to the lake is learning the lake and the NH bouy system, but that is something that is managable with some work and time. Adapting our learning from USCG Aux classes to the lake was easy and the internet version of the safe boating class helped in this transition. In addition to power boating, we also kayak. We are very near to Weirs Beach, the busiest part of the lake, and we can kayak almost every day. We kayak early when things are flat, we stay away from the channel when things start to get busy and we use common sense at all times when in the boat or the kayak. To us, the lake is big enough for all to enjoy, as long as we all use a little common sense. On busy boating days, bringing the kayak to less congested parts of the lake or to the smaller lakes around, either by car or by boat, is also a great common sense option. I do not see why anyone would choose to kayak in the broads on busy weekends, unless they were thrill seekers. There are so many other, more responsible, options for kayaking. It would be great if we could all get along. I realize there are two very polarized camps around the "safer boating" issues, but there is no real or big problem to be solved in our opinion. Perhaps we should have a week or two to cool off after HB-162 is voted in the senate and use that time to think about getting along better.