Quote:
Originally Posted by Striper295
Great feedback, thank you!
I have to ask what was the scenario around Welcome Island so I'm ready for it. Are the rocks you hit marked?
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Yes. My issue was with being too quick looking at the buoys near the island, but I also think this is an issue that could be easily mistaken by others and I have sent a request to the Marine Patrol to ask them about it.
Basically you have to watch out as the 'No Wake' buoys and the "Warning Danger' buoys look very similar. They are both the white cylindrical buoys with orange lettering and markings. The ONLY difference is the shape in the middle of the buoys (see picture below taken from the New Hampshire Boaters Guide -
http://www.boat-ed.com/assets/pdf/ha...ook_entire.pdf). Circles show the 'No Wake' zones and the diamond shapes show the 'Danger' zones. But when they are facing sideways and you are motoring along and can't see it all clearly I thought it was a 'No Wake' zone since it was close to the house and the shore line. By the time I got close enough to figure out it was a 'Danger' buoy it was too late and I was already in the shallow. Depth finder went from 8-6-4-2 very quickly. I trimmed all the way up, speed was down to headway speed and I was trying to maneuver around the rocks I could see but couldn't get around all of them. Another issue was there was another boat in the same area and part of me thought 'ok if they are here I should be able to make it through as well'...which others have said is a big NO NO. Do not trust in other boats and blindly follow them
Hopefully my mistake can help others not make the same one. But I still think these type of buoys could be a little more different, especially the ones marking the shallow /danger areas. How about a nice big red sign that says 'DANGER ROCKS'...oh well, I certainly will not make this mistake twice...