[Dave R]

Some people are naturally good at working with machines; you know the type, they can easily figure out how to operate a backhoe, a snowmobile, a table saw, an arc welder, a wakeboard, a motorcycle, an ATV, a car with a stick-shift, etc. There's something in them that makes these tasks intuitive, easy and fun for them. The smarter ones also tend to try to improve their skills and knowledge, since the basic operation comes easily. If you enjoy docking a boat in the wind, or have a airplane pilot's license, I bet you are one of these folks. There's also people who simply lack these skills. Learing how to control a machine is simply frightening for them. You can try to teach them, and they can get proficient enough to make do, but they never really master things mechanical becuase they expend so much brain power and effort to simply deal with basic operation.

I've taught many people how to ride motorcycles over the years, and there's some folks who simply have no business ever getting on one, no matter how much they practice or how hard they try. They will never be good and they will always be nervous and scared. The smart ones give up because riding is simply dangerous for them. The dumber ones often think they are skilled and ride anyway. Sadly, many of them get injured or die in easily preventable motorcycle accidents.

There's a concept in teaching motorcycle riding called the 90/10 rule. When you first start, 90 percent of your attention is devoted to operating the machine, 10 percent is used for everything else (like not dying). This is why parking lot practice, at the start, is a really good idea. As you become proficient, the roles reverse, so that you can devote 90% of your attention (or more) to everything but operating the machine. Some people never get there.

I keep hearing about how crazy the lake is this year (I have not really noticed a difference, but I boat almost exclusively on weekdays). I also keep hearing how the lake feels so much safer this year that many people that used to be too frightened to use the lake are finally getting out to enjoy it (I'm not really convinced of this either, but...) In my experience, the lake at it's worst crowd-wise, is still a very mellow place to boat compared to ther places I've boated. If boating on Winnipesuakee prior to the speed limit HONESTLY did scare some people, perhaps those same people lack the skills to boat safely. Can't help but wonder if these formerly frightened people are some of the same Captain Boneheads I keep hearing about. Kinda fits, no?

That said, I'm sure there are plenty of skilled people out there who simply don't care about boating safely. I bet they'd be a large percentage of Captain Boneheads as well.