[DRH]

Our first place on the lake in West Alton was on a point that had a magnificent 180+ degree view. We watched the sun rise and set, and we could see 5+ miles across the lake to the mountains east of Wolfeboro. In other words, the view was wonderful.

However ... we were also exposed to both the northwest and easterly wind and waves, plus the significant boat wakes of all the weekend boaters going between Sleepers Island and the mainland.

We had a boat almost destroyed by waves at our dock (secured, we thought, by substantial whips) during a nor'easter in 1996, by 4 - 5' waves crashing over our entire dock. And whenever the wind howled out of the northwest, our dock, boat and shoreline got hammered with large waves.

A motorized boat lift kept our boat safe after that, but dealing with a boat lift does make it a bit inconvenient to go out for a regular evening cruise.

We moved a few years ago to a small cove in pretty much the same area, but we are now protected from the northwest and easterly wind and waves, and the boat wakes coming in from the weekend traffic are considerably dissappated by the time they reach our dock.

So, my message is that there is often a trade-off between having a great view and having a peaceful location. We enjoyed the wonderful view we had living on a point for 19 years, but we are now very happy to be in a small protected cove that doesn't bear the brunt of the wind and waves.