Quote:
Originally Posted by kawishiwi
...if no one is enforcing it? I've been on the lake most weekends for 4 years. I dont go into the big traffic areas like the Weirs and I am most often out from dawn to maybe noon or 5ish till dark. I have yet to see ANY enforcement of ANY type, period. I am not hiding way up in out of the way places either and I can almost count on one hand how many times I've even seen the M.P. in 4 years.
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From what I've seen on Winnipesaukee lately, wake violations need to be egregious to get any law enforcement attention. That's also what I've noticed elsewhere boating in the northeast for years, so perhaps it's just spreading into Winni from the rest of the region. Winnipesaukee is the only place I've ever boated where people get really upset over wakes that would not raise an eyebrow anywhere else.
In all the other places I've boated, "no wake" essentially means "don't plane" and "don't plow"; except in the case of small boats like a RIB dinghy, they can go as fast as they want to, anywhere without anyone caring... I don't know why dinghy drivers get such relaxed rules, but it's probably because at worst, they don't make much of a wake. Picture yourself cruising along at idle speed in the no wake zone in Meredith or Weirs Beach and having a dinghy pass you at 20 MPH in plain view of marine patrol without any reaction. That's normal outside of Winnipesaukee. Imagine the uproar here if that really happened, some people would lose their minds.
FWIW, I've been boating on Winni for decades and have never been stopped for a no-wake violation (on Winni or anywhere else except Costa Rica where it was unclear that it was a no wake zone, no ticket, just a verbal warning). I just adjust speed for conditions (in other words, don't stand out), and all is good.