This could've been serious!
(I didn't know where else to put this so here goes!)
My wife and I were in Wolfeboro the last week of July on vacation. Monday evening, July 26 we went to Meredith for dinner. We're on our way back to Wolfeboro travelling through The Broads about 1/4 mile from Diamond Island at 9:25pm. The moonlight is shining brightly on the water about 15-20 degrees to the right of my actual heading. My wife and I are scanning ahead when a shadow crosses left to right about 300-400 ft ahead through the moonlight on the water. We both asked the other if they saw the shadow and we both realized at the same time what it was. It was a sailboat, under sail with ABSOLUTELY NO NAVIGATION LIGHTS displayed, I presume heading back to the mainland!! There were
no nav lights visible on the starboard side that we could see and nothing on the mast!! The
ONLY reason we caught a glimpse of it was the fact it passed through the moonlight shining on the water!!
This wasn't an accident this time but it's an accident waiting to happen!! It's one thing if you do something stupid and it only affects yourself but when it has the potential to affect others (ME in this case!), it REALLY ticks me off!! I would've been horrified if I had struck that boat and injured or killed someone but at the same time I also would have been enraged by their carelessness and stupidity that could have caused the collision in the first place!! Then there's the headaches of investigation, possible charges, potential litigation and insurance claims to deal with!!
What kind of IDIOT goes out,
AT NIGHT, without navigation lights when navigation lights are the ONLY way to locate/identify them???? To hell with the speed limit, get these IDIOTS off the water!! So much for tranquility returning to the lake!
Rant over......