Greasy Pole
 

Can some one please make this happen. This would be really fun off the Weirs Pier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYhPm4oeKbM

yikes!
 

I think my voice will be up a couple octaves for a bit just from watching that! :eek:
Does look like a hoot though.

Great Idea!
 

I've been to Gloucester to see this event several times. It is great! It really draws in people and everyone has a great time.

I hope the good folks at the Greater Laconia-Weirs Beach Chamber of Commerce give this serious consideration. What the Weirs needs is events that draw in people and are easy to run. I believe this would fall into that category. Do it a few times a year!

R2B

Yes, except that shows several things that would all be deemed illegal: boats rafting close together. Other boats/PWCs within 150' of each other and people, etc.

Winnipesaukee has too many buzz-kill laws (and I'm really not trying to start a forum war) for fun events like this to proliferate.

Insurance
 

I think it could be pulled off, staying within the laws, keeping separation and so on. The first thing that popped into my head was insurance and liability I am sure who ever owns the Pier would never be OK with that kinda Risk. It is the only place I can think of to put something like this together. Is there any other place, maybe build one?

Greasy Pole walking
 

Looks good! Except we will do it in Centre Harbor! We do everything better in CH!:coolsm:

Don't forget the environmental impact of the grease falling in the Lake!

anything that floats...
 

I've also seen this several times... from land AND from sea. My wife is from Gloucester so we used to make a weekend of it every year (the greasy pole runs both Sat and Sun, and there are boat races, a parade, and general all out hooligan-ism.

One year 4 of us loaded into my Coleman Crawdad with a cooler full of, um, refreshments, fired up the trolling motor, and put putted out to watch the festivities. I can't believe we didnt sink. It seemed like a good idea at the time! It was the next year or so that I bought my first real boat, what a difference that made.

That's true. And, a gender discrimination suit will obviously be filed. The owners of the pole shown in the video were clearly discriminating -- I didn't see one single woman walk that pole. I'll bet they had bouncers at the starting gate holding the ladies back. :liplick:

No, the men walk a greay pole, the women's event uses a greasy ditch.

:D

Flugtag
 

Liability was the 1'st thing that occured to me as well. Sadly there are too many [insert perjorative here] around that will hurt themselves and then look to sue afterwards to make a buck or two. Perhaps they could do cardboard canoe races or inflatable log rolling or ??? Perhaps we could get Red Bull to come in and do a flugtag contest off the pier (while underwriting the liability) ? Without reviving the other thread on the decline and fall of the Weirs Beach and Winnipesaukee, it would seem to me to be a good idea to have some unique tourist attraction(s) in a place that depends on tourists.

Maybe Red Bull could do this in conjunction with the air races they hold every year. The race could be held out in the Broads.

http://www.redbullusa.com/redbullairrace

Greasy pole
 

We have done some regatta patrols out of USCG station Gloucester for the greasy pole. It is a celebration for the Gloucester fishermen's safe return and dedicated to Saint Paul the protector of men (gender neutral) at sea.

The one that manages to make it to the end of the pole and grab the flag becomes a local hero for the year. Big bragging rights.

I remember my Coxswain remarking about the idiots and fools on the pole. All I could think was that it looked like a lot of fun and I would like to give it a try.