Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear Islander
First, you are assuming a speed limit is only about safety. I support the speed limit but safety is not my first concern. Children's camps on the lake have had to curtail their boating at times do to the confusion and congestion on the lake. Talk to any camp director about the situation on the lake and will get a totally different take on the problem. The New Hampshire Camp Directors Association supports HB847. That is good enough for me.
Winnipesaukee is one of the few lakes in the area that do not already have restrictions. As time passes more and more high performance boats will be forced to the fewer and fewer lakes that allow unrestricted speed. I do not want this lake to be "the destination" for high performance boats.
The growing tendency toward bigger, faster and more horsepower is increasing pollution on the lake. The water quality, particularly in our bays, is dropping. We need to move toward less horsepower, less wake, less speed, less pollution. Winnipesaukee is a community drinking water supply.
Tourism has been negatively effected. Local businesses complain that the situation on the lake is keeping away families. Kayakers and other small boaters complain they have been forced off the lake by congestion and high speed. Several large marinas on the lake support speed limits as well. They make their living by selling and servicing boats, when they tell you there is a problem it's time to listen.
As to safety, and your question. You admit there is a problem in certain places at certain times. It would be difficult to have a speed limit that was only on weekends or in some parts of the lake. However I would support a reasonable compromise along those lines.
There was a lot of talk about an exception for the broads, but the opposition took a "no limits" attitude so a compromise solution was not possible.
|
my biggest disagreement is when your trying to argue that businesses around the area are hurting because of performance boats, the only type i can think of that may be hurting are those who focus sales on kayaks and paddle boats... what your missing is the majority of businesses that benefit from performance boats, remember these people are the people with money and they come up from all over and spend it here. and when i say performance boaters I'm talking about boats capable of going over 45 mph. i myself have a 20 foot 1979 slicraft than can hit 50 mph. so there are PLENTY of boats on the lake that will be affected by this and not in a good way
another disagreement i have is when you say several large marinas are in favor of this bill. I do know a couple that possibly are but the majority of their business is cabin cruisers that just plow through the water and wont be affected by this. i have worked at a marina for 5 years we store over 400 boats and i can tell you right now maybe 10-15 of them cant do over 45 mph I have talked to many customers about this bill and more than half tell me they will take their business elsewhere if this bill passes, big loss in revenue for the state.
when you talk about the camp directors yes you are talking about safety because that is "what your telling me" they're reason to stay off the lake
my last concern is about pollution. these "performance" boats don't run wide open all day long, in fact well less than half the time. gas is so expensive now most people cant afford to. i was at the gas dock for 3 years and i can tell you right now cabin cruisers go through way more gas than "performance" boats
If there haven't been any speed linked accidents during the day on the lake why is there a threat posed? are they speeding too close to you, is the 150 foot rule not far enough?