Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodsy
Brk...
I think your baiting OD, but in case your not...
Its pretty simple!
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You're right, I was kinda baiting him.
I saw the first post in this thread and shrugged. Then he was keeping the thread alive with this the-sky-is-falling theme so I decided to nudge it a bit.
The Poker Run stuff amuses me deeply. It's NOT a race, but if there is a speed limit in place turnout will somehow be affected. And the BEST Poker Runs apparently have lots of high performance boats running a speed that appears to be quite a fair bit above what most people would call "cruising speed" (see photo above). But, it's not a race.
Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against the Poker Runs, they're fun, and I don't blame them for keeping distance from the speed-competitive aspect of it all.
For the record (and you already know this if you read my posts from last year) in my opinion the speed limit bill is a solution looking for a problem. I'm not stating this to re-open an argument, the outcome of all this has already been settled. I just want to make it clear where I stand on the issue.
In my own opinion Winnipesaukee is NOT what I would call a "boaters" lake. There are way too many rules and regulations that prevent it from being utilized optimally for what I deem to be "boating", not to mention that relatively speaking it's pretty small. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but the way I grew up a 4 boat raft was "a good start" and a 5 hour cruise would take you a relatively short distance from where you began in proportion to how far you could go.
Part of the problems in the lake come from the fact that a lot of people (again based only on my own opinions and observations) who would otherwise never consider "boating" feel a false sense of safety and security on this relatively small inland lake. I see behavior every day I'm on the lake in the summer that just astounds me. There is a high concentration of arrogance and stupidity across vessels and operators of all sizes and shapes. I would argue that at least 1/2 of the watercraft on the lake are not operated by "boaters", but by "people who happen to own a boat". More captains should experience being out in the middle of a body of water where you cannot see land in any direction and the seas are running 4'-5' and you're attempting to determine your location and progress based on reckoning skills and charts and calipers. Crossing The Broads (unless you're in a kayak perhaps) is not an accomplishment that earns you a spot at the big boys' table.
All of this leads to an ever growing list of things you can't do and places you can't go, etc. At the same time, left to their own devices many people seem incapable of conducting themselves properly, so what can you do...
Sorry if I got off a rant, boating is something akin to tradition to me and I get a little irritated when I see people trampling upon the sport. This is of course a long way from the theme of the Poker Runs that started this thread.