Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantom
I have tried SO hard to stay out of this debate -- I think it is like the third or forth time in the past few years that this same old banter, same old arguments, same old points/counterpoints has been thrown forth & back!
Dave - think your statement through -- if your boat maintains steerage at 3MPH, your heading into a 4MPH current then it would stand to reason that you bring the boat speed up to 7MPH (due to the way speed is measured in boats). The net result is your STILL only moving (land speed) at 3 MPH.
Put a radar gun on the old Donna Jean's pier someday and try it this Fall when the Dam opens!
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You would not need to bring the boat to 7 MPH over water to maintain steerage against a 4 MPH current, you could maintain steerage at 3 MPH over water. That equates to -1 MPH over ground which means you will be moving backwards at your minimum steerage speed. Obviously, the state does not expect you to go backwards and that is precisely why the law cannot possibly mean what you think it does. Anyone that's ever docked on the Piscataqua River knows what I mean. There are times there when you have to throttle up above idle speed to simply stand still. You can do that and gently move the boat sideways to the dock with nothing but steering inputs when facing into the current (assuming the dock is parallel to the current).