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Originally Posted by codeman671
Overnight anchoring could prove to be more dangerous than speeding boats if not handled properly. All it would take would be one moron to anchor in an area they shouldn't without lights and they will get flattened. We have all seen what can happen to a basically stationary vessel that is hit by a boat doing 25+/-mph... 
Designated anchoring areas that are WELL marked and lit would be key. I see much more potential danger in this proposition than the current situation on the lake with no speed limit. Let's face it, you can't leave your lights on all night long without killing your battery unless you set up a bank of batteries that will handle the lights for an entire night. And you don't want to leave your boat running all night long for fear of CO poisoning. |
We anchor overnight in other states quite a bit. The anchor light draws very little current and is no big deal to leave on for hours on end. The law states that you must have an anchor light on when anchoring at night. That said, I doubt safety was ever the impetus for prohibiting overnight anchoring on NH lakes though. I am sure it was due to shore property owner complaints of excessive noise and other irresponsible actions of the folks anchored.
For proper anchoring, one needs a 7 to 1 scope (length of rode vs. vertical distance from bitter end to anchor) so there's an obvious need to anchor in fairly shallow water or you'd need hundreds of feet of anchor rode. I carry 265 feet, which is only enough for 37 feet of water. If you did happen to have hundreds of feet of anchor rode and could anchor in deep water, you really would not want to be able to swing in the arc hundreds of feet of deployed rode would allow. One must also consider the expected wind and waves. A shallow, portected, sandy bottomed cove is perfect for anchoring. The broads, not so good...