Quote:
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Originally Posted by Belmont Resident
"...I'd like to think I've obeyed the law, but..." AND "What you say could be valid if the problems on the lake were reserved to the large go fast boaters..." >>SNIP<<
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Depends on what you consider "the problems".
Every year for the last three years, there has been at least one major crash involving
GFBL boats. (
Go
Fast
Be
Loud.
A 38-foot Lightning lost control, caught his own swim-platform, and flipped. It tore off his swim platform and tossed six thrill-seekers into Winnipesaukee. Later, another
GFBL did the same thing.
Caught his swim platform? What boats on the lake can even attempt
that?
That "Fountain in the trees?". That boat had 2 hours on it, and was bought with the insurance proceeds from his first boat -- which he also destroyed.
In
only those 3 years, about 20 Winnipesaukee boaters have gotten thrown out, badly shaken up, or sued -- and one was crushed to death -- all due to
GFBL Big Boats.
GFBL boaters just say, "nobody drowned". Of the 110,000 other boats sharing New Hampshire's waters
none get these kinds of headlines.
And it's going to happen again.
There should be demonstrable skills-testing at their highest speed.
But that won't happen.
A sliding scale of
enhanced fees,
enhanced written-testing for boats over 24 feet, and
enhanced numbers -- all of which can use existing New Hampshire infrastructure -- will help turn this weekend madness around.
I've reviewed all 58 of
BoaterEd's forum pages, and all of
BoatUS forum pages. The bottom line among America's
most active year-around boaters? One word:
Enforcement.
Not written tests,
not licenses,
not twin-50s,
not speed limits,
not counter-clockwise circulation,
not Internet-testing,
not skills-testing:
Enforcement.
What is the Marine Patrol's litany?
"We don't have the funds".
Well, enhance the existing penny-ante fee-schedule for the amount of lake that a boat actively uses (
Lx
Wx
HP, or acres/second), "Learn" the GFBL Big Boaters some sense through aggressively-written tests, and enlarge the numbers.
It was here a minute ago...
Where's my #%€¥şleeping wand?!?!?