Thread: New to the Lake
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Old 06-29-2006, 09:59 AM   #5
Dave R
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Welcome Scott,

We boat out of Alton Bay with our 11 and 9 year old daughters all the time. You already have the best setup, IMHO (I have the same), for navigation so that's a huge advantage. We prefer Braun Bay and Farrar Point (just west of Mile Island in Center Harbor) for sand bar stuff. Braun Bay fills quickly on weekends and we won't even bother with trying to find a spot there if it's crowded. When we get there early it can be fun for a few hours on a weekend day, but we leave once there's no longer room to toss a frisbee around. Weekdays there can be awesome. Farrar Point never seems to really fill up and I never see more than one row of boats there. The bottom is less pristine than Braun Bay but it's still nice. It's quite close to the public docks and restroom in Center Harbor too.

To echo JRC, do procure a stern anchor before you even try to go to any of the sandbars, everyone else will have one and expect you to as well. We use a 2 kilogram Bruce style anchor on a 50' 3/8" rope and (vinyl covered) 3/16" chain rode off the stern and it works etxremely well without taking up much space in the boat. It never fails to set on the first attempt and is easy to kedge if you don't want to get wet.

If you like to just drift and swim in deep water, it always seems a bit warmer in Moultonboro Bay. Moultonboro Bay is also the most interesting place to explore, in my opinion, as well. A trip to Green's Basin or Lee's Mills is fun for the sake of the trip, not really the destination. There are scads of narrow passages, rocky coves and such to explore. It's entirely unlike most of the rest of the lake. To echo what WINNOCTURN stated, it is challenging to navigate up there if you are not used to it. Some of the most open stretches of water in the bay are littered with boulders just below the surface. "The Graveyard" comes to mind... Do know exactly where you are and what's ahead at all times up there and you'll be fine.
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