Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodsy
I am posting this because for years I have been traversing the Weirs Channel and it can be soo frustrating at times because people are confused about the rules regarding No Wake.... and as you can see above it is definitely room for "interpretation"
NO WAKE does not mean "DEAD SLOW"!! The No Wake Zone rules do not require a boat to not make a ripple! No wake speed by law requires you to maintain steerage! On peak weekends during the summer, especially in the late morning you have 100+ boats an hour of all shapes & sizes trying to get out of Paugus Bay and through the Weirs Channel against a 2-3 knot current... sometimes a much higher current depending on lake level and dam activity. The problem is different boats have different minimum speeds to maintain steerage. If one guy goes dead slow through the channel... it causes chaos behind him. Much like a traffic jam but with the current pushing the boats around...
A 5 MPH limit in the Weirs Channel is a better solution... its not ambiguous, it allows for boats to travel at a speed that ALL boats can maintain steerage both going against and with the current. It should allow for a smoother, easier exit from Paugus Bay.
Woodsy
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While I agree whole heartily with the point of your concern, the results of such a limit would actually cause for a slower exit from the channel leaving paugus bay. Unless I am missing something from current boat speedo setups, they gauge the rate of speed that water passes through a pick-up to determine speed. So going against the current would deduct the speed of the current from your total speed resulting in slower "land" speed. Heading into the bay it would add speed. Not everyone has a Geo spec GPS that is accurate under an inch thus giving a very accurate speed reading, all civilian GPS models are accurate to within the width of an average house (30ft), leaving a lot of variation in actual speed verses speed reading. If you are ever given the opportunity to test your GPS against a radar devise, take it, you will be amazed at how far off the speed actually is against a calibrated gun.
And to SOTD, whatever you need to tell yourself to allow you to sleep at night. But comparing regulation to prevent global economic and environmental disaster to the issues being faced on Lake Winni, come on!