My wife and I were out on our first boating experience on Winnipesaukee taking an in-water test ride on a boat we were considering purchasing. The marina's temporary registration was in place on the windscreen and one of their staff was with us for instruction, etc.
This was September 2 and we were feeling the effects of hurricane(?) Ernesto so it was blowing pretty good. Realistically it was not a day we'd choose to go boating - very windy, lots of chop and overcast & cool - but a good test day never-the-less.
The boat checked out fine, though the weather conditions led us to instead choose a bigger, more stable boat (23' instead of 20').
But the highlight of the test was my getting pulled over (for lack of a better term) by NH Marine Patrol way out in Sanders Bay and getting yelled at for not keeping to the right in a head-on situation. The officer apparently didn't notice that we were stationary (had stopped and were discussing the boat with the marina guy out with us), and were therefore the stand-on boat. Not to mention there were virtually no other boats even in sight and the entire bay was wide open for maneuvering.
Everyone we related the story to that day all had the same response - since there was hardly anyone else out he was just bored. And this was not a young guy.
Since I've now got that first stop under my belt, I figure I'm all set from here on out.
NHskier