Glad to see everyone had a peaceful Labor Day weekend. I was appalled by what I witnessed this weekend on the water.
No less than seven near misses (two hits), and when I say near misses I mean misses by less than 10 feet.
The highlights:
Boats going 40+ with passengers sitting on the swim platform drinking beer.
Children on boats without PFD.
PWC operators without PFD.
3 women sunbathing on a motor hatch while the boat was on plain. (Sorry no picture).
A cruiser swamped a fishing boat exiting a no-wake zone at less than 15 feet.
A bowrider pulling two tubes with 3 kids in each tube and only the operator in the boat.
Jon Boat fishing in a channel hit by Cigarette boat (impact at no wake, no injury)
2 boats in a NWZ channel less than 10 feet apart doing 35+ with a Marine patrol officer 25 feet away. The officer was checking for milfoil stickers on docked boats and completely ignored the channel race going on behind him. This is what happens when Marine Patrol are instructed to enforce trivial laws that merely increase revenue for the state instead of laws that actually save lives.
These events all happened in Maine. People have referred to Winnipesakee as the “wild wild west”. This is simply not true, check the facts NH is one of the safest states for boating. Better than checking the facts, simply go to another state and watch. Not only is the Marine Patrol far superior to Maine, the boaters are as well. If the events listed above happened on Winni, they would have certainly been stopped by the MP but also I believe many Winni boaters would voice their concerns and explain to these Capt Bonehead Extremes what they were doing wrong. Yes some of the explanations would just be a half peace sign.
I think we should all chip in and send Elchase, APS, Turtleboy and Sunset to Maine for a weekend. Maybe when they came back their fears and concerns would be put into perspective.
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