Great Title
VTSteve,
My opinion is this is the best title for a thread where those of us looking to address safety issues on the lake through the enforcement of existing "permanent" laws and through improved boater education.
"Opposition Thread" sounds too negative and does not really convey what we are all about. The only thing I am opposed to is people with connections and monetary means getting laws passed that restrict the actions of others with little or no real improvement to safe boating on the lake.
Last Saturday, August 1st, was a very busy day on the lake. The weather was finally great and many folks got to get out on the water for a great day of boating. I was lucky enough to be out there for 5 hours. I did not see one boat exceeding the 45 MPH speed limit, most were traveling 25 to 30 MPH. However, I saw many, many unsafe maneuvers due to the violation of two rules. The first was the Stand-On/Give-Way Vessel rule and the second was the 150 foot rule. If these rules were understood and if the NHMP had more boats on patrol enforcing these rules, rules that have been on the books for years, the unsafe operations that I saw on August 1st would be significantly reduced, making the lake a safer place to be.
We can talk about this on this thread for months. However, I believe we need to do much more. We need to get organized because the people that are imposing new limits are better organized than those of us that are interested in making real improvements to boating safety.
I also believe that we can find a way to allow unlimited speed in portions of the lake, such as the Broads, even if there was a speed limit in other more congested areas. However, that is only one man's opinion. The real focus has to be on boating safety.
Great thread!
R2B
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