Go back to my origional post and you will see that this was quickly (and I thought) quietly corrected. I was reading the post to my wife and realized the mistake and said, "oh boy, give me the lap top, they'll go nuts over this one". However, if you check the phone book, you probably will find that Blizzard and Hazzard are both equally uncommon surnames. Truly no offense was intended by this mistake.
As far as your rude and prickley comment about putting my head in my shell or go troll elsewhere, I put forth my inference from earlier that it is sad that one of your most visible spokespersons tacitly became one of ours last weekend. Yes, the last shred of credibility of the GFBL/no limits crowd vaporized with this accident. Very sad

I fully understand your agenda. However this is not the time or the place to push that agenda. You are doing your cause more harm than good in my opinion. Give it a rest for now.

Please refer to Winnipesaukee's post on the speed limit thread from earlier this am

in fact, here it is

As the U.S. Constitution says, the press (i.e. truth telling) is absolutely necessary in order to have a free state. When we allow the press to take steps away from truth-telling, it affects us all.

Where in the Constitution does it say anything remotely close that? The First Amendment guarantees the press freedom to publish information (whether truthful or not--it doesn't specify, nor does it need to) without the government interfering with it or censoring it in any way.

This forum is a form of the press and its users have the freedom of expression on it--although the Webmaster has a right to censor, but is very good about keeping it a medium for the free exchange of information.

The 1A was created to protect both the popular views of the majority AND the unpopular views of the minority. Anyone here is free to discuss the speed limit debate with regard to the recent accident and that discussion should be respected. There is already a thread of everyone sending their condolences to the families involved.

Given that, it is both healthy and beneficial to the Winnipesaukee community for there to be a thread about this. There was no "grieving-period wait" to discuss the politics of 9/11. We continue to discuss the politics of the conflict in Iraq, and do not "wait" a period of time every time a soldier dies. Yes, we all feel terrible about the accident and wish the families the best. But there is more to discuss.

And I have the right to MY opinion. At this time people are in shock, angry, frustrated or emotional. You are not going to change any minds in this environment. You can only push both sides farther apart.

In this life there is a time to speak up, and a time to shut up, this is the latter.

I am still not ready to jump to conclusions and you are free to believe what you want.

Wow.. ive never heard anyone sensationalize anything so much.. Your what I would call the quitisential finger pointer "See, SEE what can happen" when not only do you have no facts to base your rediculous rantings on you show absolutly no empathy for the families who have actually lost a family member.

" Well maybe if she saw the no wake sign or "the island" she would have slown down", and by the way the headway speed law is 300 feet from shore not 150. nice try tho

300' only if you are on a 2 person ski craft.

Operator condition improves, investigation ongoing...
 

According to this article in today's on-line edition of the Union Leader, Blizzard's condition has been upgraded. Additionally, the Marine Patrol continues to investigate a number of possibilities surrounding the collision.

Thank you.

We'll have facts at some point and I'm sure it will be discussed fully then. For now, everything is pure speculation and nothing more.

Wow, great post. Some corrections are needed though...

There are no "no wake" signs near Diamond Island. The closest is at Smith's Point, more than a mile away and not at all relevant,

"Slown"? Not a word I'm familiar with.

Excerpts from NH law:

270-D:1 Definitions

VI. "Headway speed'' means 6 miles per hour or the slowest speed that a boat can be operated and maintain steerage way.


270-D:2 General Rules for Vessels Operating on Water

VI. (a) To provide full visibility and control and to prevent their wake from being thrown into or causing excessive rocking to other boats, barges, water skiers, aquaplanes or other boats, rafts or floats, all vessels shall maintain headway speed when within 150 feet from:
(1) Rafts, floats, swimmers.
(2) Permitted swimming areas.
(3) Shore.
(4) Docks.
(5) Mooring fields.
(6) Other vessels.

There are circumstances where this particular law does not apply, but not being able to see an island at night is not one of them.

Simply put: If this one simple law had been obeyed, this accident (and nearly every other tragic accident on the lake, including the one that killed Mr. Hartman) would not have happened.

An accident is pelotudo called Peteneitor a specific, identifiable, unexpected, unusual and unintended external event which occurs in a particular time and place, without apparent or deliberate cause but with marked effects. It implies a generally negative probabilistic outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence.
No law can prevent an accident!
You and others that continualy talk about this long list of tragic accidents ?
Please list them off for us. I know of the Hartman case (27 mph I believe and the driver was convicted of BUI and served time)
And this one which is still under investigation and looks to clearly be a tragic accident and nothing more !
This perponderence of tragic accidents thats continualy repeated is pure sensationalism and un called for at this time !

Maybe and ISSUE
 

I noticed there were no bow numbers on the hull, unless it was white or bright letters below the rubrail. If that was a dealer HIN, meaing the plaquard that is put in the windshielf when you go test drive a boat by the dealer, Lakeport could be in serious trouble and that is not a good thing for marina. Let's hope this is not taken into conderation.

Sorry to bring this up but there are these type of people out there, not saying the familys of who got hurt are. DO NOT TAKE THIS IN ANY OTHER WAY BUT AS A MERE POINTING OUT WHAT I SAW IN THE PHOTO

Guilty until Proven Innocent????
 

I have been reading some of these posts regarding this terrible accident over the past few days and have resisted writing my own because I was sure that all of this would eventually die down and did not want to add fuel to the fire. Unfortunately there are way to many people with way too much time on their hands (see turtleboy) that have already been able to conclude the cause of this accident was excessive speed and therefore find it acceptable to use this forum as a place to become Judge and Jury and convict someoneone of something that she has not even had a chance to defend herself of.

Yes I opposed the speed limit bill. I also do not have a boat that will go above 30 mph so it does not, and will not affect how I boat on the lake. I am against the bill because I think that the effort and money that has been put into this debate (by both sides) would be much better served being directed towards things like increased Marine Patrol presence on our lakes (all of them not just Winni) and stricter boater education requirements.
People are going to exceed 45 mph and 25mph whether there is a speed limit in force or not, and the Marine patrol does not, and will have the resources to effectively prevent that.
I don't know whether that boat was doing 20 mph or 50 mph that night. The only people that do (or will) are the people who survived the accident and the officials charged with the responsibility of determining the cause.

There will be plenty of time for everyone involved in the speed limit debate to get in their "I told you so's" once all the facts are determined.
This is still the United States, and we are still all "Innocent until proven Guilty"

Until we hear from those parties, I would suggest that we put this discussion on hold and pray for those recovering and for Stephanie and her family.

responsible
 

DaveG
While I certainly agree with the spirit of your post, I believe (as stated earlier), that other than mechanical failure, it really does not matter what the cause is. The captain is responsible for everything that takes place on his/her boat. Everything. And, as has been stated in this forum COUNTLESS times, the first order of reponsibility of the captain, is the safety of his/her passengers. I feel for Erica, as, no matter what, her life had changed forever.
But a girl has died, and there is a reason. I'm sure her family will want answers to all of their questions. And, utimately, I believe the captain will be held responsible for what occured on her boat.

True
 

But until the investigation is completed it does no one any good to speculate on what happened in that boat. Until that time we should offer support to the family and friends of these women. I can't imagine what they must be going through, and don't think we should make it worse by trying to pass blame. Just let the investigators do their job.

Great news Skip, thanks for the update.

Confused
 

I'm sure you told them all of your personal weather observations from that night. Remember, the full moon and clear skies? Seems it was pretty easy to see the outline of the shore and all that?

Thanks BI.Erica Hazzard huh?This clown is way out of line.Just incredibly brutal.I hope you never have to read crap like this about one of your friends.

No wants to see a boat hit anyone.
 

I don't think that the either group would like to see a boat land on anyone. This was an accident, there is a set of circumstances that caused it to happen, and we don't know what those circumstances are. You talk about what could happen, a boat hitting your house and landing in your Grandson's bedroom. At this time you thankfully don't have to deal with a tragedy. You don't think that it is self-serving to use this tragedy to further your agenda? People on this forum know the families, and are in pain. There is a time and a place for debate and this isn't one of them. Let the authorities complete their investigation before yo pass judgment.

You Have Got To Be Kidding!!!!
 

You didn't see the numbers because - THERE WAS NO BOW REMAINING!!!

I continue to read these posts - many while shaking my head, some get my attention enough to call someone else over to read the post to make sure I am not misreading or misunderstanding.....SURELY you are kidding about the bow numbers?????

Unbelievable!!

Insurance
 

The facts surrounding this tragedy will come with time. However, the accident serves as an unfortunate reminder that we all should have adequate insurance on our boats and also anyone with significant assets should have an umbrella policy. If a lady with as much boating experience as Ms. Blizzard can get into this type of accident it can happen to most anyone.

I have never mentioned any "long list of tragic accidents". I do know there has been more than the two you mention though. There are many dumb and shockingly benign accidents in the lake's past that would have been avoided by simply following the 150' law too. That's not sensational, it's simply common sense.

Sorry, I did misread your post and thought it read that a speed limit would have eliminated this accident. I see that you were referring to the 150 rule and agree 100%. First thing that popped into my mind when I read about the accident was that they were off course.

Safe Speed
 

With all the comments about "safe speed" I came accross this on boat-ed.com which sounds almost exactly like what I learned in a USCG boating course I took many years ago.

Safe Speed

A safe speed is a speed less than the maximum at which the operator can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and stop within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions.

In establishing a safe operating speed, the operator must take into account visibility; traffic density; ability to maneuver the vessel (stopping distance and turning ability); background light at night; proximity of navigational hazards; draft of the vessel; limitations of radar equipment; and the state of wind, sea, and current.

sorry if u dont like how i spell words, this forum isnt about writing formal essays so if it bugs you 2 damn bad. but u know exactly what it means. and you totally reached my point when i said if she saw a no wake sign. i know this island is terribly marked which also makes it hard to see it at night in the "rain" yes we all know she was moving faster than headway speed and breaking that law. im sure if she saw the island she would have tried to obey the headway speed law. so until you can prove how fast she was going stop talking about it

no bow numbers
 

there were no bow numbers on the boat. there was a dealer plate on the boat.
AMekler

When you are trying to make a convincing argument, good spelling and grammar help make your argument seem more credible. Your spelling and grammar are an excellent match for your argument.

Meredith woman recalled as having 'love of life'
 

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...320/-1/CITNEWS


Lets keep things in perspective

holy cow!!!
 

My wife and I often look to this forum for information. last night while she was on line I asked her to see what the winni site had to say about this recent incident. her response from the other room was simply "oh my god".

Shame all over you!!!- not all, (and you know who you are).
After looking through some of these posts, Me thinks a good portion of the boating crowd ought get their own know-it-all website and let the winni site do what it does best-
be a source one can go to to find out valuable information. :yawn:

I agree...
 

I have to say, I agree with Woodswalk - this should really stop. This thread has gotten WAY out of hand... :(
I also agree that this site is where to go for a source of valuable info about the Lakes Region, but every day when I log in lately, this thread is always there on top as having the newest post, and it's just back and forth arguing - no new info (such as updated conditions of those injured).
My condolences go out to the families involved, and prayers for recovery to the 2 women that were injured.

That was a great tribute to her, sounded like a great woman.

Yes she really did..
So sad for her parents and siblings. May god grant them serenity and peace in this time of need.

Where was that reported???
 

I dont recall reading anything about this being a dealer boat from Channel.

Not that it matters - if she had the dealer plate - there is still no issue. My point was - post on not seeing bow numbers was pretty obvious considering there was no bow left.

Bow numbers
 

I was on the island after the event sunday morning and noticed a dealer plate near the passenger side windshield. I'll check my pictures.
AMekler

This was not a dealer boat from Channel...???

It was from Lakeport Landing, the family dealership. It is listed on their site for sale.

no bow numbers
 

see the photo attachement

The picture depicts just in front of the windshield area, not the front/side of the bow where a number would be found. ???

If there was a dealer plate it would most likely be placed on the dash however could be tossed anywhere with that hit.

fyi
 

No that it matters, but boats do not need to show bow/registration numbers if they have USCG documentation. That said, most lake boats probably do not apply for documentation but you never know


it's a totally moot point.