This thread was started to discuss boating safety on New Hampshire water bodies. It is not here to discuss the current speed limit law, opinions of the law or articles about the law. As long as it is a law I will follow it as I believe most people will.
I became greatly concerned with the boating laws about 3 years ago. We were traveling through the graveyard in my old boat (a 20 foot bow rider). We were about half way through the channel when a 30+ foot cruiser entered the channel. We were headed towards each other at no-wake and all was fine. Suddenly, when the cruiser was only 3 boat lengths from our bow the Captain he decided to open her up. The cruiser passed us at no more than 15 feet throwing an absurd wake that through my four year old son across the boat. Fortunately a friend was able to break his fall and he was unhurt.
The captain of the cruiser was an idiot and his actions could have caused serious injury. I believe he did what he did because he was simply unaware of the boating laws in NH. As mentioned by another member, that type of operation is legal in some other states. The question is how do you limit such behavior on our lake? Short of giving an I.Q. test to all operators, education and enforcement are the best alternatives.
As previously stated, the Governor has elected to take some of the funds collected from boater’s registration to help balance the budget. This action should infuriate all boaters. While I understand it is necessary to balance the budget, it should not be at the expense of boater’s safety.
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