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Originally Posted by PROPELLER
If you didn't already know, Squam already has a speed limit. I think its 40mph. That speeding boat you mentioned may not have exceeded that limit as I am sure a boat going 35 mph may seem fast to someone sitting in a kayak.
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When I wrote "speeding boat", I just meant a boat that was going faster than it should have been at that distance from us. I didn't realize that Squam has a 40mph speed limit, and this particular boat was likely under that limit. My point was
"enforcement of current boating regulations seems to be the bigger issue here." That powerboat operator saw us just fine. He passed with 40 feet of us and laughed as his wake swamped us.
The NH law (Boating And Water Safety On New Hampshire Public Waters Section 270-D:2; 270-D:2 General Rules for Vessels Operating on Water) states:
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.
Besides being too close to us, he was also too close to the shore (an island).
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Originally Posted by PROPELLER
Its become an issue on Winni because the proponents & supporters of the speed limit say that the high performance boats are taking over the lake, scare people & are too fast for the lake. These high performance boats probably do not use the other lakes like they do Winni so that could be why Winni is singled out.
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Thanks for explaining that to me. I understand it much better now.
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Originally Posted by PROPELLER
As a powerboater I agree that kayaks are difficult to see sometimes, especially when there is a good size chop & some are blue & blend in with the color of the water. It would be very helpful if kayaks had a flag like kids bikes started using a few years back.
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My current kayak is white and light blue (my next one will be yellow or red if possible), but I wear a bright red PDF. My friend's kayak is red and yellow, and we stay fairly close together. Personally I can spot other kayaks at least a mile away (when visibility is good), no matter what color they are, or how choppy the water is. But I'm at their level and I'm not going fast. To me, speed becomes an issue if you are going too fast to see smaller boats (like kayaks) in time to give them the proper clearance.