Quote:
Originally Posted by chipj29
If there is a problem with loud boats, wouldn't a noise law be more prudent than a speed limit? It goes directly to the cause of the problem.
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Lets not go back to the SL debate. However yes your question would be correct that if there is a noise issue that it should be addressed by noise statutes.
I believe the statute is 93 dcb. (hopefully someone knows it off hand) Most above water exhaust boats have either internal or clamp on external mufflers that keep it below the decible rating. If a boat has no mufflers at all and straight through hull exhaust it is very very apparent.
A boat within the legal noise limits can seem too loud depending on the situation. If you are in a smaller cove, no wind, no other ambient noises, the echo can make a boat seem louder then it actually is. This goes not only for above water exhaust but jet skies, planes, cars, snowmobiles, motorcycles etc. It is all relative. I am not sure if this was the case in the initial post for I wasn't there, however I have heard the boat and it did not seem outside the legal decible ratings.
The main arguement that I have researched extensively is the claim that one can install captains call (switchable exhaust) so that they can switch on the "loud" exhaust at anytime. This is not exactly true.
First let me say that any type of switchable exhaust is illegal in NH. I do not agree with that but we can discuss that another time. Captains call is designed to be used at low rpms. (under 2000 rpms). It keeps the boat much quieter while at idle. This is normally used for when warming up the boat at the dock, in a channel, or inside a congested bay at idle. There have been claims that a performance boat with HP engines can simply switch it on "at speed" to mute the engine, when they see a MP. This is NOT the case. Anything over 2000 rpms and you can do severe damage if not blow your engine due to the back pressure. There is not a type of switchable exhaust for "Performance Engines" that can be turned on at speed without potential catastrophic damage to the engine(s).
There used to be a type, not sure if it is still available, called "silent choice". What this did was redirect the exhaust to "thru hub" or under the water. This could only be used on NON HP engines, because again HP engines needs much less back pressure to run correctly.
There have been many claims about this in the debate on the "law that we will not discuss" and I just wanted to explain the differences and get the facts out concerning that. I am not suggesting we get into that discussion again.
Now as for "my opinion". I have mufflers on my boat that work great. Since the supercharger has been removed the boat is extremely quiet and I have not lost too much performance out of it. (about 5 mph). I can remove the mufflers when I am not on the lake and put on straight tips without too much effort. My opinion is that switchable exhaust should be allowed. I would be more then happy to turn it on when in a channel, or at the dock while warming up the engine. This way I am not upsetting anyone who doesn't like the sound of the above water exhaust. However we are not allowed to have them.
That is something I think both sides of this debate could work on together. It simply would benefit everyone.