[Evenstar]

Originally Posted by VtSteve

I don't doubt that there are some hairy times out there in a kayak. "Because of the high speed". Scantly a paragraph without that term. I'd have to admit, I would definitely pay more attention to large fast boats if in a kayak than I would a smaller boat doing 25. But regardless of speed issues, in canoes and whatever the paddle boat, I Never ventured out where I would be in direct contact with powerboats in their element, NEVER. Your friends may be indirectly smart by not paddling there, I wouldn't have done it thirty years ago, let alone now. And no, speed isn't my first thought.

Unless you really hug the shoreline or just remain in really small coves, it is impossible to paddle on any lakes without being where you are not in direct contact with powerboats. I can safely kayak on large bays in the ocean (where I have yet to have a close encounter with a high speed powerboat), yet you’re telling me that it is not smart for me to paddle my sea kayak on a NH lake, unless I stay off the main part of the lake. And that’s just something that I should accept?

Originally Posted by Woodsy

Evenstar...
Now that any boats traveling straight at you are LIMITED to 45MPH, starting next year, can we expect to see you & all of your paddling friends out on Winni? After all... it's SAFER now that there will be a speed limit!
Woodsy

I can’t speak for my paddling friends, but I’ll be on Winni this year, so I’m certainly planning on paddling there once the speed limit goes into effect. I know you don’t believe this, but a speed limit will indeed make the lake safer. It is a fact that, with all else being equal, slower is safer.

Originally Posted by joanna616

As they said in Jaws "I think You're gonna need a bigger Boat".
Seriously - canoes and kayaks do not belong in the middle of Broads. On a windy day with good chop - even at 30mph they may not be seen - unless of course they are wearing orange and carring a sign that says "Speed Bump"?

My sea kayak is 16 feet long – and it’s made especially for large bodies of water. There are over 253 islands in Winni – and there’s only about 2 square miles of the entire lake where it is possible to be more than a mile from a shore. The Broads is not the vast open area of water, miles from any shore - that people on this forum often portray it to be.
My kayak and I are very visible. In good weather I can spot other kayaks up to a mile away – even in the chop (what goes down between the waves also spends half the time on the top of the waves). So if you can’t see a kayak in good weather at 30 mph, you have a real vision problem, and shouldn’t even be operating a powerboat.

Originally Posted by codeman671

The problem, again Evenstar, is that at 60-70 feet the safe passage law has been broken. At 50mph according to even the new law to be passed is not overly fast, certainly not a "big fast boat". My pontoon will do 48mph, does that make it a "big fast boat"? At 50mph MP would not even bother to turn the lights on unless there was something else triggering the response, such as being 60-70 feet away. The law that would protect you in this case is the safe passage law, not the proposed speed limit.

I wrote “at least 50 mph,” in my opinion they were probably going faster than that – and fast enough for the MP to stop them for speeding before they even violated my 150 foot zone. The 150 foot rule would be broken a lot less if people slow down. If you’re going slower, you have more time to see and to avoid other boats – even when they are kayaks. Some of the boats that I had close calls with were actually big fast boats – I call a 28-footer a big boat, when it’s on a lake.

Originally Posted by 4Fun

Evenstar, you have some good counterpoints to my post but what I think the others are trying to bring out is the person in the kayak should be REQUIRED to bear half the risk of being out there. Your arguments and many others are that since kayakers are slow and hard to see, the other users of the lake should accommodate. I don’t really see much give on that side.

I have a bright red 16 foot kayak with a white lower hull – my best friend’s kayak is bright yellow – we were red and orange PFDs and my paddle blades are bright orange (which are actually the most visible part – because they are moving up and down and are the highest), and my spray jacket is bright orange. We have done everything possible to make ourselves visible – so how much “give” do you want from us?

Fortunately Winni has plenty of rocks and some very nice protected areas. I would think if I was an avid kayaker why not just stay on the "wrong" side of the marker where the boats don’t go? If you have to cross an area that has lots of traffic just be conscious and make yourself noticeable.

We are very noticeable – yet some boaters still can’t seem to see us. There are 253 islands on Winni. Most of the time when I kayak on Winni is spent paddling along or between islands. Most of my close encounters have not happened out in the Broards, but on the back side of islands, where boaters are zipping between the island and the main shore – never considering that there might be small boats between the two. I’ve also had close calls less than 200 feet from the main shore. This is very simple – some people are going faster than they should be – and many of them are not smart enough or considerate enough to slow down, without enacting a speed limit.
Squam has a 40mph speed limit. I have never had a powerboat unintentionally (because they didn’t notice me) violate my 150 foot zone on Squam. And I have paddled there a lot – even on very busy weekends. It’s very clear to me that when boats have to slow down, I’m much safer out there.

Sorry for the long post, but I make one short little post and get a bunch of instant replies. It's not easy being so popular.