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Originally Posted by PROPELLER
Islander, is a kayak a boat under that law? kayaks do not require registration & therefore maybe exempt from that law. Maybe Skip can comment on that. As far as the fishermen, they were not operating their boat within the swimline just casting their line within the swimlines.
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Some points of clarification.....
Yes, a kayak is considered a "boat". You cannot operate a "boat" within a state permitted swimline. I think it was Kamper who stated you could operate a power boat within to "launch and recover". That is not correct, there is no exception. Also Kamper stated to check with the Town on swim lines. Again, that is not correct, swimlines are granted solely at the discretion of the Director of the Division of Safety Services or his designee.
Here are some pertinent regulations:
Saf-C 404.08 Swim Lines.
(a) No person shall operate a boat within any permitted swim line on any public body of water.
(b) No person shall put or place a swim line in the public waters of any public body of water without prior written approval of the director.
A final note on waterfront "rights".
As pointed out by others, these are not absolute rights. The water in Winnipesaukee is controlled solely at the discretion of the State and its authorized agencies (and the Towns abutting the Lake, at the permission of the State).
The Lake is owned by the public. No abutter can refuse use of the Lake adjacent to their property by any other member of the public. As correctly pointed out, a property owner can erect a swimline, boathouse, mooring, dock or swim raft if he meets the criteria designated by the governing Town fathers and gets the appropriate permission to encroach on the Lake from the designated State agency. However, the waters around and underneath any government granted structure is still for public use. Outside of the well discussed restrictions on boating within certain areas, a member of the public has full right to individually occupy any of this State owned and controlled public body of water.....
And now, for my final two cents on this particular thread.....
Its unfortunate that a minority of the public refuses to use any common sense or acceptable standards of decency when utilizing their rights to the Lake, but such is life in a free society such as ours. As many others have pointed out before me...you cannot legislate common sense.
And yes, life is too short to continually dwell on the negative aspects of the Lake when there is so much more good to be enjoyed. Thankfully of the many thousands of individuals who own recreate and live at work at the Lake, and the hundreds of individuals that regularly visit the Lake through Don's kindness, only a handful continually carp about the negative aspects they feel surround this beautiful community.
It appears that the vast majority are ever thankful that they get to enjoy Winnipesaukee in one form or another.
And in my book, that's the way it ought to be....
Skip