Island Life;
I agree with you, I was responding to the conversation that Winnipesaukee Divers had with a woman he ran into whose perception was that Lake Winnipesaukee has "Hundreds of Thousands of boats" that travel "70 MPH" so she no longer wanted to boat on the lake, and Winnipesaukee Divers believed it was because of news media coverage.
The impression of this woman is what I was addressing and when I said "we" are to "blame" I mean this forum and those like it, along with word of mouth.
There are other internet forums that discuss boating and Winnipesaukee, so even beyond this site there are others that discuss the issue and/or link here.
I believe you're right. My family's condo that I rented out this year was booked very quickly with only 2 weeks open. When the gasoline prices started going nuts I didn't even get phone calls for the two weeks.
There are many different reasons for the drop in tourists this year, but for the
family of 4, 5, or 6 that doesn't have a place up here and are looking at a couple of hundred miles drive (up and/or back) on top of everything else, yes I can conclude that gasoline prices were the major factor.
It's like when there is snow in the north country, but it doesn't snow in Boston. Folks just don't go skiing.
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