I picked up the Laconia Daily Sun today and found this letter.
Almost none of us want to see return to chaos on the Big Lake
To the editor,
Once we got past the bad weather of
June, it was a wonderful summer for
boating and other activities on Lake
Winnipesaukee. Surely the safest and
most enjoyable in many years. Nobody
can sincerely argue otherwise.
While one could usually count as
many boats on the lake, if not more,
it felt much less crowded and safer
because civility fi nally reigned. It’s
amazing how big a lake can seem when
fi lled with boats operating at reasonable
speeds. Sailing vessels once again
became a common sight. Families in
smaller craft going for evening ice
creams in their runabouts were back.
Kids were being taken water skiing
again. Campers were canoeing again in
numbers we have not seen for years.
Lake Winnipesaukee was once
again a place that all could share and
enjoy. 45 miles per hour in the daytime
and 25 miles per hour in the nighttime
proved plenty fast enough for all
safe and reasonable boating. AND WE
FINALLY HAD A SUMMER WITHOUT
A HIGH-SPEED TRAGEDY.
No boaters were run over this year,
no boats crashed up onto islands, no
speeding boats lost control and fl ipped
over. But then, isn’t that what most of
us expected?
The Marine Patrol deserves a heartfelt
thank you for their efforts to make
the lake a more enjoyable place for all
once again. They heard the concerns
of the boating masses and responded
professionally and effectively. And
their efforts really paid off.
Our biggest thanks should go to those
who formed WinnFABS and made this
happen. Using their own funds, this
group of local citizens fought on our
behalf for several years to fi nally get
this law in place against an organized
political machine funded by those who
profi ted from crowding our lake with
over-sized over-fast boats, and who
wrongly predicted that our economy
would be destroyed by a law that was
not needed because “nobody goes that
fast anyway” and would just be ignored
(Note the contradiction in this statement
is not mine).
Unfortunately, this most-effective
law is only temporary and will soon
expire, and we face the possibility of
returning to the “get out of my way”
boating environment that brought us
here unless we can convince our Legislature
to make it permanent during
the upcoming session. WinnFABS
must and will again lead our efforts
to make this happen. After writing
this letter, I will make a donation to
them to do my small part. But this
time around promises to be the most
expensive, and it is critical that they
get as much support as possible. Aside
from visiting www.gencourt.state.
nh.us/house/members/wml.aspx to
fi nd your legislators’ e-mail addresses
and writing to them to let them know
of your support for a permanent 45
MPH daytime and 25 MPH nighttime
speed limit on Lake Winnipesaukee,
I urge all to go to www.winnfabs.
com and make a small contribution
to WinnFABS’ upcoming campaign.
Almost none of us want to see a return
to the chaos that things had been.
Lake Winnipesaukee is our lake. It is
the gem of NH and the engine of our
economy. Let’s keep it the way it was
this summer.
XXXXXXXXX
-end-
(I redacted the name and town of origin of the writer, with that exception I have copied and pasted in its entirety)
Have we had a high speed tragedy every year??