New Boaters Organization

PROPELLER · 04-27-2005, 10:25 AM

Evenstar, the only way to know if the SL on Squam has made a difference is to compare statistics from before the enactment of a SL to statistics gathered after the enactment of a SL. Maybe speed was not a problem before it was enacted. Although I have only been on Squam once, my understanding is that high performance boats probably did not use Squam to begin with. Its not as busy as Winni to begin with either.

I agree with Woodsy regarding his perception of Squam. Whether its accurate or not I do not know for sure but my perception of Squam is that its a very quiet lake in comparison to Winni, the majority of boaters probably own property on the lake & its always been perceived as very exclusive to the point of being snobbish. The property owners wanted nothing to do with public access & wanted to keep it for themselves.

My guess would be that the property owners supported a speed limit & got one passed once the new public access was established to try & keep the lake as much like it was before public access as possible & may not have had anything to do with an increase in speeding boats. It seems like it may have been more of a preventative measure to keep as many boats as possible off the lake than it was adressing an actual problem.

BTW, didn't you say in a previous post that you and a friend were swamped on Squam last year by a speeding boat that was too close? Yet your saying now that Squam is very safe to kayak.

04-27-2005, 10:25 AM	#11
PROPELLER Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 340 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Squam SL working Evenstar, the only way to know if the SL on Squam has made a difference is to compare statistics from before the enactment of a SL to statistics gathered after the enactment of a SL. Maybe speed was not a problem before it was enacted. Although I have only been on Squam once, my understanding is that high performance boats probably did not use Squam to begin with. Its not as busy as Winni to begin with either. I agree with Woodsy regarding his perception of Squam. Whether its accurate or not I do not know for sure but my perception of Squam is that its a very quiet lake in comparison to Winni, the majority of boaters probably own property on the lake & its always been perceived as very exclusive to the point of being snobbish. The property owners wanted nothing to do with public access & wanted to keep it for themselves. My guess would be that the property owners supported a speed limit & got one passed once the new public access was established to try & keep the lake as much like it was before public access as possible & may not have had anything to do with an increase in speeding boats. It seems like it may have been more of a preventative measure to keep as many boats as possible off the lake than it was adressing an actual problem. BTW, didn't you say in a previous post that you and a friend were swamped on Squam last year by a speeding boat that was too close? Yet your saying now that Squam is very safe to kayak.