[NH1322]

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies, exactly the type of feedback and suggestions I was hoping to get, even if the end result is it is not very feasible. BTW, and this probably doesn't make much difference but just to be more precise, this would probably be the Tuesday after Memorial Day, so not exactly Memorial Day weekend proper.

I realize an hour is very short and would love to do longer, but ultimately if it the choice between running around on land for a couple hours (beaches, trails, Funspot, etc.) and being on a boat for the same period, the kids would probably enjoy the land more at this point. Plus it sounds like the going rate for charters is about $150/hour, so a couple hours would be getting a bit pricey for us. I have rented a pontoon on our local lake in Maryland (Deep Creek) and driven it around ourselves and had pleasant one hour outings, but that is a much smaller and controlled man made lake where you can't really get into any trouble, and I realize Lake Winni is probably a much larger scale, as well as the other constraints (congestion, speed/wake zones, etc.) that others have helpfully pointed out that I would not know never having visited. One of the things I was hoping to find out was how much could be seen an hour in this area even if one willing to take us out, and I guess the answer is not much.

By the way, someone mentioned Sophie C and Doris E; I actually forgot to mention I also looked at that, and those would actually be my first choices as they are inexpensive and allow dogs; I have taken our dog on a similar mail boat in Acadia and it was perfect and the dog did just fine (basically just sat on my lap the whole time). Alas, they tell me these boats will not be running until after "bike week", which by my research is not until later in June. Mt. Washington would be an option if not for the dog. Another ideal option would be a water taxi type service, did that in Charleston also with dog, nice hour loop, but looks like does not exist on Lake Winni (is that the Foxy boat service someone mentioned?)

I will continue asking EKAL about Miss Meredith (similar to the Millie B in Wolfeboro others have mentioned, I take it); that is a 45 minute ride and I guess even if not much can be seen there would at least be the thrill of being on a speedboat. Squam Adventures also does 1 hour tours of Squam Lake and allows dogs for extra fee, maybe that is an option too. And I will follow up with some of the other places people have suggested.

Or maybe we'll just rent a canoe or paddle boats from EKAL and circle around for a bit just to get a taste of being on the water and getting a little exercise.

Thanks again, and would continue welcoming more feedback if others want to chime in.