2007 Boat speed limits coming...
 

Thursday, May 10, 2007 Boat speed limits coming
By GEOFF CUNNINGHAM Jr.
[email protected]


The N.H. Marine Patrol is developing plans to notify the public about boating speed limits on certain areas of Lake Winnipesaukee this summer.

Director of Safety Services Dave Barrett said a formal date for starting the pilot speed limit program has yet to be set, as the program continues to move through the administrative rules process. He expects it to be in effect for the heart of the boating season — July — and running into the fall.

The pilot program currently in development would set a 45 mph daytime and 25 mph nighttime speed limit on the Big Lake as a means of getting hard data on whether legislative action on boating speeds is helpful.

In March the House Transportation Committee considering House Bill 847, which would set speed limits on all lakes, voted to retain the bill, holding it over to the next session. Meanwhile, the pilot program, offered as an alternative by then-outgoing Department of Safety Commissioner Richard Flynn, will be implemented on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Initial proposals call for two speed enforcement zones. One would go from Bear Island, southwest of the mainland, to Pine Island; the other would start at Rattlesnake Island and run southeast toward Sleeper Island.

Barrett has said he already has the manpower and radar equipment necessary to conduct the pilot program on Lake Winnipesaukee, but he said the initial challenge will be assuring that boaters have proper notice of what will be a big change on the state's largest lake.

"One of our biggest concerns is providing sufficient notice and we are exploring any number of ways to get the maximum exposure," said Barrett.

The Marine Patrol head said his staff has been meeting to discuss how to post the speed limits both on and off the water so that people are aware that his officers will be monitoring and enforcing the speed limit in certain areas of the lake.

Barrett said one possibility being discussed could see Marine Patrol securing buoys near the target areas to notify people of the speed limits.

"The problem is that you have to watch where you put them because you don't want to create a navigational hazard," said Barrett.

Barrett said the pilot program almost certainly will be publicized in media outlets, but posting signs at public docking areas also needs to be done — a necessity that he said could prove complicated, considering that the speed limit zones are on a large lake.

He said one option might be to post the global position system (GPS) coordinates of the zones, though he admitted that the language on the signs cannot be so detailed that they confuse the reader.

"It could get kind of lengthy. We need to not only use language, but make it simple as we can, and it may be that we just notice that there are two areas that have a speed zone," explained Barrett.

Barrett said his department could head out onto the water early to do some speed "samplings," as he assured that nobody really knows exactly how fast boaters are going until you get radar readings. He noted that a louder boat traveling just under the proposed 45 mph daytime limit might appear to be going 60-70 mph from shore.

"[The question is] what are the hard numbers, and nobody knows, but hopefully we are going to find out," said Barrett.

What happened to "Live Free or Die"?

One day we are going to have to get a permit to leave our own home the way the world is going. It is absolutely sickening.

What kind of Big Brother, Nazi B.S. is this!?!:eek:

He noted that a louder boat traveling just under the proposed 45 mph daytime limit might appear to be going 60-70 mph from shore.

Exactly my reasoning behind pushing for quieter boats.
If we weren't loud I don't think we would be getting half of this attention.
Something to think about.

On Lake Travis there is a nightime speed limit. There is no set speed limit in the daytime.

Most of the deaths (drownings) on Lake Travis occur with the "key off". The combination of too much alcohol and zero respect for the water causes alot of drownings here. :(

So, my question is this - I understand the zone between Sleepers and Rattlesnake Isl., but I don't get the zone between Bear and Pine Isl. That is a no wake zone to begin with, so no one goes above 6mph there anyway... or I am just retarded and I am missing the coordinates of that zone?

We all know the reality.
Noise has nothing to do with speed. The noise just feeds the fire. "It's those loud boats that ruin everything...."
They may not even see you but they sure can hear you.
If your're making noise you must be going too fast.
And when this BS comes up they jump on the bandwagon.
You can't tell me our lives wouldn't be easier if our fun didn't ruin the quiet tranquility of their Golden Ponds.

The only reason they outlaw switchable exhaust is because you're able to make noise again when the cops aren't around.
You see a cop you switch it on.
If they were smart they would allow switchables as long as you were able to meet the noise ord. levels in the open position.
But that would make too much sense.

my first post . . . i am amazed at the list of businesses around the lakes region that are the supporting the speed limit. some of them are marinas on the lake. looks like i will have to find some different restaurants this summers as well. check it out . . .

http://www.winnfabs.com/business_supporters.pdf

Not sure myself.

I would recommend writing letters to every one of them. If it came down to money or a speed limit, those businesses would pick the money everytime. For the restaurants, tell them you don't need them - "we can bring our own food".

People have to get together and speak loud and strong against them. Look what happened to our roads. There were some without speed limits just a decade ago. Now every one of them has a speed limit. In Germany they fight speed limits on the Autobahn just like we fight for our right to bear arms. We need to do the same for the water. I think we really need to get an anti-speed limit organization put together before it's too late. Speed limits are like cancer. They spread, and are darn hard to get rid of once they are there.

Michael

To the best of my knowledge switchables are allowed but you have to pass with them open not closed.

If you ask most of the people around the lake the majority will tell you it is the noise that they do not like. They think that if they put a speed limit on the lake we will all leave or there is no need for the huge motors that create the louder boats.

Jon

I recently bought up at Lake Winni and had intended to do a lot of cruising, but I've recently been coming up to speed (no pun intended) on this whole speed limit issue. What is the plan for dealing with this test this summer? Should we be obeying it to show there is no speed problem, ignoring it to show that it doesn't work, or avoiding those two areas altogether? I really don't understand what is the best tactic here, but I suspect we all have to be thinking along the same lines.
I'm also hearing conflicting stories about the boating police's goal with this. Some have said they intend to make the test prove that a speed limit is a waste of time, while others, like above, seem to be saying that the police are cracking down.

Actually I think it now says...

"Tax Fee and Die"

Bingo.

Their life and outlook are so miserable they try to spread the misery to us all somewhat happy and balanced individuals. Nothing on earth would make them happy save from kissing Karl Marx...

Waste Of Tax Payers Money!!!!!!

I have been obeying the designated speed limit areas and using common sense. I don't want to give them any reason to implimate the speed limit.

Come boating on Lake Champlain.

They bark a little at the noise but don't bite and I have never been hassled about speed as long as I am 200' from shore. (A wise way to boat anyway)

Mind you my slow Cigarette only goes in the mid nineties..

http://www.limestonedev.com/images/boat/000Cig1.jpg

But if it's obeyed, won't they try to say that shows that it works? Isn't it better to just avoid the areas than to go through them slowly and drive up the percentage of boats that are slowing down? My understanding from some of the other sites is that the boat cops are counting on nothing changing, so they will then be able to say the speed limits were useless and they will avoid having to worry about enforcing another law next year. That says we want to put the test to the test (so to speak). But actually, I just want to follow whatever we all decide to do to be sure we are all doing the same thing. If some guys are speeding up and some are slowing down, we'll be cancelling each other out.

We need to organize - and get the fisherman in on it too. It seems like it is only a matter of time before all lakes start doing this.

R or D? If he's a D, that might indicate what the whole senate thinks. If he's an R, it might just be wishful thinking. But then, if the D's are anything in NH like they have been in NJ, you have little to worry about. Lots of talk, but when it comes time to vote they just look to the minority R's and say "What should we do?", so the R's might as well have the majority. It's kind of like when a new boss comes in and doesd't know what he's doing, so he has to ask the guy he stepped over for the job how to do everything and the guy who should have had the job is really running the place anyway.

I also know - in part - this was an exercise in "CAN we enforce a speed limit"? Will the equipment (radar) work, do we have the man power to make it work and will it in fact help alieviate a "problem" (that doesn't exist in the first place)or will it just create a bigger one? Also, it was to stall the issue for further review, yada yada...:rolleyes:

Again - join NHRBA www.nhrba.com, they support the "good guys" and the good fight! :cool:

You could look at it that way. But, I would like to show that performance boaters respect the laws of the lake ,even though this is not a law. If there are no incidents on the lake, no warnings issued, what can they do? It is just a study and a study proposed by our side. Why not respect it?

Yep - this is the best overall tactic. Regardless of whether you drive an 18' bowrider or a 47' OL... just respect the "rules of the road" and the people around you, and it will figure itself out. All we need to do is give the "player-haters" a reason to b!tch some more and eventually they'll get some real consideration.

[QUOTE=Audiofn;2123944]To the best of my knowledge switchables are allowed but you have to pass with them open not closed.

I got told to take my boat off the lake when I was there with switchable exaust a few years back. + a fine..
Just dropped the boat in and was heading to the Naswa where my girlfriend was waiting for me at the dock. She wasn't very happy when she had to drive the truck and trailler back to the launch to get me.
I was on vaca there for a week and they were not going to let me use my boat on the lake. I ended up calling the local marine patrol and plead my case. I ended up having to disconnect the wires on the exhaust to leave in the quite position.

I'll go along if this is the strategy. I'll just stay out of those areas.

Don't you just love these Way Northeast Liberals??

Ray @ Raylar

I got an email forwarded to me from a buddy of mine who is a member of NHRBA. A NH paper is running an opinion poll on the speed limit and he wants everyone to write in and trash the idea. Here's the link:
http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?...61e49#comments

Watch out for the "test" areas. In NJ they have found a way to impliment new laws without raising too much ire from the public. For seatbelts , cell phones and smoking , each year , they tighten the restrictions just "a little" more so nobody minds. Seatbelts are now a primary offense that you can be pulled over for. and cell phones are real close behind. You can now be ticketed for smoking in your car if you have an under 18 yo in the car with you.
I don't even smoke but WTF. Like somebody else said this is like cancer...it spreads. We have to unite NOW:argue:

What happened to the speed limit test? I've been avoiding those two test zones like everyone suggested - Going extra slow when I had to use the Bear channel a couple of times to visit a buddy. But I'm constantly seeing patrol boats out in the open water in other parts of the lake pointing radar guns around this year. What's the deal with that?
For instance, I was out last weekend for an early run before the lake kicked up. Way up ahead, near Round Island (no where near the test areas) I see a boat with a big "MARINE PATROL" on the side and a cop standing in it pointing a radar gun at me. What do they expect me to do? I knew I was way too far away for him to get a reading, so I just slowed down. We waved and smiled to each other as I passed him at about 35. His grin was bigger than mine. What a joke. They might as well have their blue lights flashing. It's pretty clear that they want us to see them and slow down. I guess, in a sense, it works just like when they leave unoccuped cruisers on the sides of the road, as it got me to slow down. I have to admit I have been going a lot slower this summer when I'm on Winnipesaukee, knowing that the radar guns are everywhere. Bu this is getting old. Will we be able to start having fun again next year? When do all these summer cops go back to their real jobs?