There are many areas of the big lake to watch out for. Coming out of 19 Mile and going to Whortleberry would be dangerous if you tried to cut a straight line from one to the other as it would bring you right through the Witches. You would have to circle to the south side of Melvin Island doing a long lazy circle around it. There are plenty of hazard markers all around Whortleberry and adjacent islands such as Dow. in general it is easier on the south side of those but still there are rocks hundreds of yards from shore in some areas (well marked but you have to pay attention. Familiarize yourself with The Six Pack which is a set of 3 pairs of markers with a channel in the middle.
There are essentially 4 routes out of that Whortleberry area to the main lake:
1.) through the Six Pack and under long island bridge (no wake zone under the bridge and past the marina)
2.) Between Little Bear and Long Island. Probably the most obvious and safest but it gets tight in there to a point where you may have to come off plane between the islands if a boat is coming at you to be compliant with the 150 foot rule.
3.) through Hole in the Wall which is between Little Bear and Cow island. I like this route a lot thought it is about 200 yards of no wake.
4.) between Cow Island and the mainland via the "Barbers Pole". Pay attention coming out to the main lake to avoid markers and "Middle Ground Shoal"....a rocky shoal over a mile from shore this just suddenly appears if you are not looking for it. Marked by markers but people who don't look for them can suddenly be in the middle of them.
19 Mile Bay is a nice easy ride for you as you can easily pick up groceries at the store (limited) as well as lunch and/or ice cream. Otherwise you have significantly longer boat or car rides to get to these types of places on the lake. I find that area to be quieter than the Weirs area with less of the reported insanity. In general, the folks driving through there are locals with good local knowledge of the lake and how to behave on it.
Be careful on the Broads when winds exceed 15 mph and/or many boats are about. It can get ugly out there fast. From that area, I find Wolfboro to be the most convenient port to stop into for a nice shore lunch. The docks can get busy but nothing like the Weirs docks or even Merideth. I like the ride to Center Harbor as it seems to be quiet up there and the docks always accessible with easy access to a few restaurants, a hardware store and a short walk to a full grocery store.
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