Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear Islander
I cared when I was visiting my son's summer camp on Winni and I asked the director why none of his boats were out on the lake on such a beautiful day.
He explained that there were some days, mostly weekends, when the cowboy atmosphere on the lake was so bad, that he could not justify sending out children in sail boats, kayaks and canoes. He also could not allow water skiing on those days.
He didn't think a speed limit would completely solve the problem. But he did think it might reduce the weekend madness of the lake in the future.
Looks like he was right.
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The "cowboy atmosphere" seems to be a common complaint. I firmly believe that the real problem was simply crowds that spawned large numbers of safe passage violations due to impatience and poor operation.
I think we can all agree that there's a lot fewer boats on the lake than there were 5 years ago. I think that is the number one reason why the lake may feel safer to some people.
I expect to see the crowds and "cowboy atmosphere" return once/if the economy improves. I would not be surprised if it's worse since the MP presence will likely be reduced and/or if the MP will again be tasked with silly work like patrolling no-wake zones, patrolling no-rafting zones, creating "safe passage situations" in "narrow" channels (I really hate it when they do that) and/or measuring speed.
If the economy recovers, the crowds will return and I think the speed limit will affect the cowboy atmosphere on Winnipesuakee the same way it does in MA (not at all).