Hi gang........I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth regarding the boat ride last Friday night. First of all I want to say I was with the group who started this post so I saw what they saw.
I have to say the crew were very helpful upon boarding the boat. The helped anyone who needed assistance and welcomed us onboard. It was raining and windy at the time and I knew we were in for an interesting night. We were on the main deck.
I am a lifelong resident of the area so I am familiar with the lake and the kind of weather that can come up. I did ask if they had a cancellation policy and was told I could save it for a day cruise. But, being a yankee and having bought 3 tickets, I still wanted to go...after all, the day cruise would not be a dinner/dance cruise and I really wanted to see the band. (Annie and the Orphans!)
I'm not sure why the captain decided to go through the broads knowing it would be rough and not just go towards Meredith and Moultonboro etc. That would have been my choice. However I'm not sure if the are rough spots out there as well.
Regarding the older people and those with handicapped people, they may have been "from away" and had no idea how rough it could get out there. There were some announcements made but some were hard to hear. I'm sure most people thought it would be a little windy and that would be it.
To clear a few things up, the swells easliy could have been 8-10 feet with out question. I looked out the window a couple if times and it was interesting to see. I have been on the ocean and this was not unlike an ocean cruise.
And there WERE people injured so to say "no one got hurt" is an understatement........I bet the man in the wheelchair had some bruises as well as his caretaker who also fell. The band also stopped playing and sat down holding on to the equipment etc. There was a least one broken window upstairs which was taken out and replaced but I have no idea if anyone in the upstairs area were injured. I believe there was physical and mental damage...........I bet that was the last ride for a few folks.
Me? Well I'm kinda crazy like that and I considered the cruise an adventure but I would have liked to have seen it in the daylight!
My biggest complaint was that it was cold on the boat.....heaters not working? The company was good, the food was good and the band was good. Things could have been done differently for sure.
In my opinion, it's kinda 50/50. On one hand the crew has to take ultimate responsibility for the safety of the passengers and on the other, people have to decide if it's worth losing the money or dealing with the weather. As i said, I'm too cheap to lose the money...........if we went down I would've grabbed the prime rib and held on for dear life..........
