Proposed legislation that would impose speed limits for boats on Lake Winnipesaukee has begun to have a polarizing effect in the lakes region. The bill would set a speed limit of 45 miles per hour during the day and 25 miles per hour at night. The proposal has sparked a debate over who has the right to enjoy the lake, and at whose expense.
NHPR?s Garrett Young has more
Weldon Bosworth only uses his power boat to get from Gilford to his house on Mark Island about a mile from the shore.
Once there, he prefers the peace and quiet of paddling his canoe around the island. We met up at the loading dock of Fay?s boat yard. Bosworth used to be a windsurfer, but says he can?t do it much anymore.
WB: ?When you dump on a windsurfer basically the only thing above the water is your head. And if you want to get terrified sometime, try looking at a boat coming at you at 50 or 60 miles an hour with only your head showing, knowing doggone well they?re not going to see you.? (:24)
Bosworth says motorboats have their place, but not at the expense of people who enjoy the lake at a slower pace ? Whether that?s with a sailboat, a kayak or just a boat with a modest sized motor.
He?s part of a group that wants to put the brakes on the lake?s high speeds.
They say a daytime speed limit of 45 would not infringe on anyone?s ability to enjoy the lake.
But Lake Winnipesaukee is the state?s largest lake, with the longest stretches of wide open water.
Power boaters say if there?s any place to go fast safely, it?s there. The lure of Winnipesaukee has spurred a mini-industry of power boat dealers.
Irwin Marine is one of those dealers. They sell 10 to 15 boats each weekend from their showroom on the lake in Laconia.
They are one of a number of marinas that oppose the speed limit.
General Manager Bruce Wright took me out into Paugus Bay on one of their most popular models.
[Motor on]
We?re on a brand new 27-foot Sea Ray with a 375 horsepower engine.
It?s a Tuesday afternoon, and far off you can just make out a couple of other boats in the nearly 2 miles of open water.
He brings us up to about 55, the boat?s top speed. Wright says under these conditions it?s perfectly safe to go fast.
BW: ?So if someone decided they want to run down the bay at 60 miles per hour, that?s great, let them do it. I don?t think it?s bothering anyone? (:07)
Wright and other opponents of the speed limit say there?s already a law on the books to fix the real problem.
The issue, they say, is boaters going too fast too close to other boats.
The solution, they say, is better enforcement of what is known as the safe passage law.
Under that law, boats can't travel above headway speed, or 6 miles per hour, when they are within 150 feet of anyone or anything else.
Teach people to abide by those rules, and problems on the lake will decrease, speed limit opponents say.
Tom Davis is one boater who likes to go fast, but he knows the rules, too.
Davis came off his boat Tuesday afternoon at the town docks in Meredith. He says he was going nearly 80 running down Meredith Bay.
But he says he only does it when it?s safe.
TD: ?There's nobody here, though. I mean there's nobody on the lake. But it's Tuesday afternoon. You wouldn't be able to do that on a Saturday." (:08)
Whether speed is a problem in the lake can be difficult to quantify.
Marine patrol records show that since 2000 there have been three to four accidents a year in which speed was a factor. But speed limit advocates say that misses a large part of what?s going on.
Bosworth, part of the pro-speed limit group, argues that it?s impossible to measure the number of people who have been scared off the lake by fast boats.
WB: "Even if you don't have a collision, you have hundreds of examples of people being scared. You don't have statistics for that. There's no statistics that say, well, 50 percent of people stayed off the lake this weekend because they were scared to go out on it. And that's really what it's about." (:18)
He says that the biggest power boats belong offshore in the ocean.
Put this way, the issue comes down to whether the concerns of people in slower boats should limit the enjoyment of the power boaters.
Lobbyist Jim Bianco represents the powerboat dealers. He says one particular group can?t impose it?s will on the lake.
JB: "It seems to be there's a group of people who want to sort of control the use of the lakes and they have their vision of how the lake should be used, and that's great if you own the lake, but the lake is owned by the state of NH for everyone, and everybody has to use the lake responsibly. You can't just single out one group and say that they shouldn't be able to use their boats or they should take them "offshore." (:28)
People on both sides accuse the other of representing a vocal minority.
Hal Lyon has been fishing the lake for six decades. He supports a speed limit. Lyon says that it?s really just a small number of boats who spoil the weekends. It may be as few as five percent.
HL: ?That 5 percent shouldn?t take away our freedom to enjoy the lake. We are a live free and die state, and we have the right to live free and enjoy this lake ? without dying.? (:14)
Lyon says he bases his figure on the number of high powered boats registered in the state.
But any boat enthusiast will tell you that it?s not only the big power boats that are capable of exceeding 45 miles per hour.
Most new recreational boats can easily go 50.
Bianco says the reality is that there are more fast boats and people need to recognize that.
He says Lake Winnipesaukee is just not as quiet as it used to be.
JB: ?If I had a canoe, I guess I probably wouldn?t want to go on Winnipesaukee; I?d probably go somewhere else. Or I?d probably go on Winnipesaukee during the week.? (:11)
A committee of legislators is trying to sort out the complicated ? and often emotional ? issues over the next several weeks.
Three public hearings will occur in the lakes region before the legislation moves forward.
The first hearing is on the 29th of June in Meredith.
For NHPR News, I?m GY
Lake Winnipesauke is for everyone. No debate or discussion. Keep it the way it is or go somewhere else.CJD