Donzi Poker Run violating the law
 

We love looking at the boats and the sound is a rare treat. But would it be to much to ask to have them slow down to somewhere in the vicinity of no wake speed when they go through the Bear Island No Wake Zone. After all it IS a real NWZ and having that many boats go through a what I estimate to be 3 to 4 times the maximum no wake speed is just wrong.

There was a helicopter taking video. Check out the video and make your own estimate of the speed through the NWZ.

Couldn't agre more. Saw them last year, no 150 foot rule or speed limit applies to them apparently.. They think they are all above the law $$

BI, why don't you contact the organizers of this event to complain? Also are these the only type of boats that violate the NWZ? I never see post's from you about family bow riders violating the NWZ.

I believe they are required to get something like a "regatta permit" for the event. This permit may give them waivers of some rules like 150' and 'no-wake.'

You should express your concerns to the Department of Safety or Marine Patrol and ask how to get your issues addressed or at least heard, when the permit request is filed for next year's event or other activities.

Must have been a terrifying 3-4 minutes for ya, BI.:rolleye2:

What K said is true. :cool:

Just returned from the Poker Run...best couple of hours I've had on the lake this year... It was a BLAST!!!

The Marine Patrol was part of the group, from port to port....never said a peep to anyone about speed or distance...great event. SMILE!!!!

Bear islander,

I was a participant and I can tell you that all boats I saw slowed to nws including me. And at best, there were boats in that zone for less than 5 mins if some didn't.

Everyone was being safe and respectful and as the run went by, others enjoying the lake but not in the run seemed to enjoy it. The thumbs up and waves were so frequent we lost count.

You can post all you want about participants going no wake speed.

I was there!

If you want to prove something post some pictures or video.

We are all there via your web cam
 

BI, all anyone has to do is look at your web cam and see countless boats of all shapes and sizes violating the no wake by your house. Why do you choose to single out this particular type of boat/event?

I was also involved and everybody slowed down to no wake speeds in the no wake zones.

99% of the non-participants we encountered were loving it. You will always get a few grumpy killjoys that have a problem with anything fun, but as far as I can see, they were a small minority.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

BearCam-2 at 3:27 pm..Saturday: (Still Up) A bow rider speeding by the house. I don't hear BI whining about that yet. :look: BI is getting totally Bored... sitting on The Island this summer...nothing exciting to do. I followed you to Antarctica (IceTent) this past spring BI. ..... NB. :D

BearCam-2 (Disregard the label.)

http://www.bearcam1.com/

Doesn't look like Bear Cam 2 is pointed at the No wake zone.....

So to be clear, you want me to post a video I took of people going no wake speed? I can show you one the clearly shows 45mph in the broads. ;-)

Yup.

I'd love the sound of Hell's Angels pulling their Harleys into my State Park's campground.

:rolleye1:

Where is the video of the NWZ violations? Do you have a link?

BI needs something to do.Reminds me of the local old curmudgeon who used to wait by his door to yell at us kids if we stepped on his lawn on the way to school.

Dave, I think you misunderstand. The helicopter took the pictures. The problem is that nobody has the guts to post any of those pictures. Pictures of the boats going through the Bear Island NWZ will clearly show them violating the law. Therefore instead of posting the evidence they make personal attacks.

All anyone has to do is watch bear islanders web cam number three and see all types of boats violating the no wake zone by his house day after day, week after week, and year after year. It is disturbing bear islander chose to single out a particular type of boat.

Hey BI, seems to me YOU started this thread. YOU have the WebCams. YOU show US the "violations".:rolleye1:
SamIam, good analogy.:cool:

The typical excuse of a scofflaw is to wine that other people are also breaking the law. "Yes officer, I was speeding but so were lots of other cars!"

Another way to handle the situation is to take responsibility for you actions.

NHBUOY - I stopped recording the images after a man drowned on my webcam. It was disturbing to have those images recorded.

And now you post a personal attack, go figure. I await your answer on why you do not complain about family bow riders breaking the no wake zone by your place?

The typical way old curmudgeons complain about something/someone is to post on web sites about them rather than stepping up and address the situation with those who are the problem. In this case I think most adults would have contacted marine patrol and the organization who put this event on and handled it that way. That IMO would be the adult way to handle this rather than fan the flames.

I have complained to the Marine Patrol many times over the years about violaters of various regulation including the NWZ. I have signed written complaints twice and one offender was convicted in court.

A few years ago I almost singlehandedly contacted State Legislators and defeated a bill that would have deprived twelve year olds and younger the privilege of operation power boats under 25HP in NH.

Many people do violate the Bear Island NWZ but most of the time they are anonymous to me. On the few instances I have been able to get a bow number or otherwise identify them I have forwarded that info to the Marine Patrol.

In the case of this poker run I was able to contact some of the perpetrators because I know they are members of this forum.

I made my post as a gentle request that the NWZ be observed. I was not intending to take it any further. However because of the responses I have received, I will be going to the Marine Patrol offices tomorrow and file a written complaint against the poker run.

That is what you should have done in the first place IMHO, let us know how that goes.

Here we go again!
 

I wonder why BI did not pick on the Easter Seals poker run. They did not have the MP pacing that run. Is BI of the Board of Directors?

How about the Formula poker run or the Sea Ray? Does BI have something against Donzis or is he jealous because they had MP presence.

The only violaters of the 150' rules and NWZ are the non participants. I joined them last year and it was fun. It was the wannabes and some of the proponents of a certain law that tries to stir up the pot.

My Apologies
 

BI and concerned others..... Not that I feel I need to post this but I would like to explain. First off, I was in the helicopter taking photos. There was no videos of this run taken except by spectators that I saw and a few go pros on some of the boats. And a still shot of a boat in a NWZ will not really prove that someone violated the NWZ not with that many boats going through one area. What apparently happened according to the anchor DONZI was that when my husband (the organizer & lead boat) went through The BI NWZ he idled out and quite a bit more and then took off. When he did that boats coming out of the NWZ did the same causing quite the wake in the NWZ and some boats did violate the NWZ as they were getting swamped.

As for the pictures you are looking for as proof, we are still in the process of touching them up and sorting them out to sell to boat owners for the sole purpose of paying for the helicopter. The pictures will be up soon on the lake Winnipesaukee DONZI Facebook page. Feel free to look at them and if you recognize the violator(s) I will personally speak to them.

This run was not planned to directly cause you stress, but rather get a bunch of boats, both performance and family boats to have fun seeing the lake and getting a nice picture of their boat. We have always been respectful of the lake and of others as it is our lake too. We had DONZI boats from all over New England as well as PA, DE, & NC. We try to hit as much of the lake as possible to show off our lake.

To address another concern/comment someone made, yes, marine patrol was notified about the event and they were either at or near every stop that we made. This is a condition to the permit.

Again, we did not mean to show disrespect to anyone.

In this same post I would like to thank everyone who participated and supported the run. As always we had a blast. I believe for the first time ever, we ended with more boats then we started with. It was great to see the family boat with the tube tied to its engine hatch join us. Again thank you all. Pictures will be up soon I will post when they are up.

Regards
George and Bonnie

donzi poker run
 

I was there in the run...maybe towards the front of the pack, and I can tell you we were as well as the boats around us were respecting the NWZ as well as all no wake zones we encountered. I can not vouch for all participants, how ever its up to all participants to adhere to the rules, and if they dont, they are individually responsible for there own actions, and has nothing to do with the event itself. Complain all you want to marine patrol, it has nothing to do with the event itself.

Just a simple case of the elitists having another temper tantrum because they have not succeeded in scrubbing the lake of performance boats. If this had been a Four Winns Poker Run, there would have been no sabre rattling to speak of. That's all - case closed.

Helicopter Flyovers
 

I have experience with Helicopter (Photo) Flyovers on Naragansett Bay a few years ago. I have a Donzi. There was a flyover but I was unaware that the helo was "interested" in ME.

Maybe three months later I got a letter in the mail stating they had photos of my boat and would like to sell them to me. OK: FINE. IF I were to agree to BUY the photos they had of me...The fee was about a $125 each pic. They DID Not offer to SHOW me the photos. :look:

Here was the Catch. THEY would Still OWN the copyright. Even though I payed them..I did NOT OWN the picture...and I therefore could not Copy, Transmit..Print..or Save.. the picture.. .yada yada. :eek: NB

Sorry to hear about your experience with your flyby. We have no intentions of charging that much money for pictures. We took between 6-10 pictures of every boat that was in or near our pack. We are selling all the digital images to the boat owners. They can do whatever they please with them. We do not know how much we are going to charge but I can assure you it will not be even close to what your were quoted. Thanks for the post and I hope this puts my groups minds and pocketbooks to ease.

I realize that NWZ violations are very annoying to some people. I've seen it on the lakes and on the canals in Florida. I know of several people who sit on their lawns or docks every weekend just waiting to scream at anyone who raises more than a ripple and it's too bad because they're not enjoying themselves if they spend the whole day being angry.
I, also, live on a NWZ zone and learned long ago that violations will never stop because some people don't care and many others don't know the rules.
Instead of getting upset, Installed mooring whips so I don't have to worry about my boat getting pounded........also, the occasional waves help keep my beach clean :D

Turn the lake back over ti the Indians
 

It seems that some folks won't be happy with the way the lake is used until we remove all the boats, all the homes , especially the Mc Mansions , and only use the lake to look at .
The exception would of course be their home on the lake.

Who owns the state park????

Disturbing, perhaps, but recorded video surely allows law enforcement to perform post-incident assessment (much like after the marathon bombing).

Must be a miserable existence to sit around and watch for the next NWZ violations. I truly hope no one actually does this, but rather spends most days enjoying the lake.

There is such a person, one of the founder's of Winnfabs, who watch for me to 'fly by' so she can call the marine patrol that I am going 100 mph!

Glad I have GPS that records my maximum speed of 30 MPH to CMA.

I'm not sure if that comment is in reference to my injuries from the bombing or not. If so it is innapropriate.

Even though I know that you believe the world revolves around you, it most certainly is not in reference to your experiences that day.

Video Surveillance is something I happen to know a little something about. How were the bombers identified? They were identified using video from multiple businesses and agencies that were RECORDING their cameras.

"Fun" Disturbance at My Doorway?
 

ETA:

Will return to the questions later. 'Believe I am over my limit today...

:confused:

The Harleys, of course.

• Sensible and peaceable folks will relocate/abandon.

• In the year Legislators declared Winnipesaukee "yours for the taking", most of Lake Winnipesaukee's shoreline looked like this:

Aps,

As with many of your cryptic posts, my question is what are you trying to say?

Don't even try to figure it out....only he ( and the voices in his head) and his shrink know what he is talking about.....

I figured as much but wanted the voices to know they are visable :D

So much for the repeated claim that no boats violated the NWZ.

Please have the decency to at least post the entire quote and explanation from Bonnie W as opposed to parsing and taking it out of context.

"What apparently happened according to the anchor DONZI was that when my husband (the organizer & lead boat) went through The BI NWZ he idled out and quite a bit more and then took off. When he did that boats coming out of the NWZ did the same causing quite the wake in the NWZ and some boats did violate the NWZ as they were getting swamped."

There is a BIG difference and you know it.

You are involved with some pretty big events at the Hatch Shell- do you think that all the attendees are well behaved and don't irritate the neighbors as they come, go and partake in the events? Permits and a police presence allow your group to break many laws- fireworks, noise, etc.

This group had a permit and a LEO presence and by all accounts, yours excepted, enjoyed the day and had fun. Last time I checked that is what life is all about.

If you can't deal with a few minutes of inconvenience when the Donzi Poker run comes by Bear, that is too bad- and really kind of sad.

Nice job summarizing! and to add the donzi poker run did not violate any laws.

Great reply, I am glad most people enjoy the lake in thier own way and allow others to as well.

Do as I say, not as I do. :mad::mad::mad:

just remember its controllable speed going in a nwz up to 9 mph
and some boat will put up a wave..

I really don't understand how you can think the poker run did not violate the NWZ. Did you not read the post by the organizers that admitted that "some boats did violate the NWZ".

The idea that boats might have been swamped changes nothing. Read the law and tell me where is says anything like that. I have watched the Marine Patrol stop boats going fast through the NWZ during a bad thunderstorm. And if you check with the MP you will find that poker runs get no dispensation from NWZ laws.

That "I can go fast through the NWZ because there is a storm coming" idea is a common misconception. You can't!

As a matter of priorities, most boaters would probably choose to rush through a NWZ if there is a lightening storm bearing down on their family. Equally, I would expect that some land owners along NWZ's would understand.

I have no problem with someone rushing home when a storm is coming. And I doubt if my neighbors have a problem with it either. However I have talked to the Marine Patrol about this very subject and they have a different view.

Then again would you go through the Weirs Channel at speed if a storm was coming? Who gets to decide which NWZ must observed, and which can be ignored when not convenient.

What is the Marine patrol perspective?
 

I posted earlier that early in July there was a severe thunderstorm alert in Meredith and when the storm appeared as many as 50 boats left the public docks and headed WOT through the NWZ. There was a patrol boat in the NWZ near the docks and he didn't do anything about it. I and another boater waited the storm out and left later. Why didn't the patrol boat put on his lights and sirens?

Maybe we should be asking just why there is a no wake zone there in the first place? I mean 150' from shore is the standard rule so why isn't that good enough?

The mail boat docks just fine at the Weirs without a special no wake zone. There are plenty on narrower passages without no wake zones. I'll have to get out my tape measure but it looks like there's plenty of room to safely travel between Bear and Pine without being 150' from either.

How many signatures do I need to petition for it's removal? I mean I'd agree to leave it there it there was a demonstrated need for one. Removing the zone would free up people from guarding it to watch the real danger areas on the lake.

The NWZ that's off Bear Island is there for safety reasons..... its blind corner of sorts and narrows down a bit because of the underwater hazard. While I am not a fan of this particular NWZ, I do understand why its there...


I just usually avoid that area all together... Its way more fun to drive between Mark Is & Bear Is or Mark Is and Timber IS when I am heading to that side of the lake from the Weirs.


I have seen people blow thru the Weirs Channel when there is a storm.... if safety wasn't an issue I would rather they go thru on plane instead of pushing a tom of water with their noses high all panicked because of some thunder & lightning.... I think the MP gives some leeway when people are rushing about due to a storm....

Woodsy

poker run
 

The poker run violated no laws or rules. "If" a boat that happened to be participating in the poker run violated a rule or a law, they individually are responsible for their own actions. Its very simple really.

As I read this thread, I continue to think about one thing.... SAFETY..... Now I have been in more then a few No Wake Areas around the lake, and had to throttle up, to prevent swamping...

If I read this thread correctly there are those that believe that no matter what the NWZ should be obeyed. So I guess I should let me boat get swamped next time.......

There are times where safety must override everything else...

what would you do in the weirs channel with the water run the way it is you
can't help it but too make a wave or the boat goes back wards.

When will the pictures be ready to view.....
 

Bonnie.....when will the pictures be ready to view from the Poker Run?

pictures
 

they are on the lake winni donzi club facebook page

Pictures...
 

Any way to see the pictures if I don't have a Facebook account?