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Originally Posted by Woodsy
Evenstar...
What most people seem to forget when discussing speed on the water is VISIBILITY. In most instances on Lake Winnipesaukee visibility is 360 degrees and measured in MILES! Not hundreds of feet. ... A boat traveling at 45 MPH is covering 66 FPS. A boat traveling at 70MPH is covering 103 FPS. Its only traveling 37 FPS faster than a boat traveling 45 MPH. When you can see objects 1+ miles away, there is plenty of time to correct your course to avoid a collision.
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But visibility IS an issue when high speed boaters don’t see smaller boats. Several on this forum have admitted that they have trouble spotting kayaks on the lake. I’ve had some powerboats come closer than they should have, because they obviously didn’t see me sooner. This has only happened with fast moving powerboats. So apparently there is a connection between the speed of the boat and the operator’s ability to see smaller vessels. That’s one of my main concerns.
The 150 foot rule does me no good at all when a vessel is traveling fast and the operator doesn’t see me. That ADDITIONAL 37 FPS could very well be the difference between my kayak being hit or not.
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Your other point, as to the 222 boating accidents on Lake Winnipesaukee over a 4 year period needs some clarification. Given the amount of people who are using the Lake, 222 accidents over a 4 year period is pretty low.
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First of all, there were a lot more than 222 boating accidents on Winn during that time period.
Those are just the 222 accidents that were recorded. If there’s less than $2000 damage, and injuries that don’t require more than first aid treatment, the accident isn’t part of the USCG accident statistics.
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222 for a single lake in a 4 year period is still a great deal of accidents! According to the USCG 2004 Boating Statistics, during the
5 year period (2000-2004) the entire state of Massachusetts had 266 boating accidents, the entire state of
Maine had 286 accidents, and the entire state of
Vermont had 28 accidents.
The other thing is that I am entitled to my opinion – even when it is different than yours. My statement was, “I don’t consider Winni to be a very safe place.” If you’re in a large powerboat, you might consider Winni to be safe – but try to see it from my perspective – my kayak is only 23 inches wide and I’m actually sitting below the waterline. Since I’m much more vulnerable than you are, isn’t it likely that I might also feel less safe?
I think that the main reason that there aren’t more collisions on Winni is that there are relatively few paddlers on the lake (for a lake this size). And most of the paddlers stay in the coves or hug the shore - because they’re afraid of being run over by powerboats.