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Originally Posted by Mee-n-Mac
...Everyone is going to have their own definition of too loud so I'll ask whether illegal exhaust systems are the major problem or whether the dB limits stated above are too high ?
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It's both. The whole concept of "Loud Boats" needs a review by NH legislators.
It can be argued forever what constitutes a legal noise limit.
Proponents will state measurable dB limits, and detractors will forever pose arguments that "their" noise fully complies (when it may
not on any particular weekend, depending on their mechanical skills); or the rest of us "need to get used to it", or "move to a quiet lake". (As though some of us had
not, years before).
Isn't it true that 99.99% of Winnipesaukee outboards will pass the noise limits? (And most
stock inboards). So why can't offshores? -- and why are they being "attacked"? Ten years ago, offshores used to be a novelty on Winnipesaukee. Not any longer.
There is a measurable component present in the noise of offshores that hasn't been looked at -- Consider "presence", rather than just noise.
Most days, nearly all the offshores -- and other noisy boats -- can be heard in passing without being seen! How can their "presence" be easily detected when they are on the opposite side of an island or peninsula?
Boaters who silently take in hours of sun off Rattlesnake Island (or sailors stuck in a calm there) can easily hear an offshore who is out of sight, registering just a minor increase in noise when it appears out from behind an island, many miles away. It is "presence".
"Presence" can also be felt through a wood dock. It's like the noisy vibrations at a rock concert. It's felt in the lungs or feet, rather than the ears. It's also sensed in the "sympathetic vibrations" of large glass or wood surfaces.
For some, like children, it's exilarating. For most adults, it's "just noise".
In still others, it evokes an anxiety, a flight response, or -- unable to flee -- perhaps a "fear" response to a boat that should be on the ocean.
(Don't
some of us worry -- out there?).