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Originally Posted by Evenstar
Dave:
Some of the boats that we were very concerned about were traveling well in excess of 45mph, including one that came within 50 or 60 feet of us, as we were heading out of Center Harbor – at least we know that the operator saw us, because he was staring at us and grinning. When we crossed large stretches of open water (between islands), we often saw boats that were going faster than 45, some never got very close, some got closer than we liked, and some slowed way down as soon as they got anywhere near us.
A couple of the jet skis in Center Harbor were going pretty fast, but maybe not over 45 – mostly they were annoying, because they kept circling us – trying to get a better look as they showed off (we weren’t impressed). That was my partially own fault – it was a very hot day and I wearing a bikini.
It is impossible to tell exactly how fast someone is going on the water, but I spend so much time on Squam, where the 40mph speed limit gives me a pretty good idea of what that speed looks like, that it’s pretty easy to tell if a boat is going way faster than that.
My point about Governor’s Island was in response to the comment that the lake was a “ghost town” during the week. We didn’t encounter any boats traveling at high speed until we were well away from that traffic.
Squam has a lot of powerboats on it on weekends – it can be a real pain at times just to get to the river connecting Squam with Little Squam. In my opinion the 40 mph speed limit is what makes Squam feel safe to paddle, not the number of powerboats. Crossing large stretches of open water is not nearly as intimidating when powerboats are approaching you at slower speeds.
I live near a 10 mile lake and that can be a scary place to paddle on some weekends, not because there are so many boats (because the lake is not crowded), but because so many of the operators seem to think that their boats only have two speeds – stop and go (at full throttle).
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Your post above makes a few great points that bolster the fact that a speed limit is not necessary. If a boat is traveling 50-60 feet from you at running speed, close enough that you can pick out a grin on the idiot drivers face then they have already broken an important, existing law, the 150' limit. If the driver never breaches the 150' rule you will never get hit. Period.
The people on the PWC had the right to circle around at speed as long as they are not breaching the rule as well. It may be annoying but unless they were within 150' of each other or you they were not breaking the law. No speed issue here.
I do have to beg to differ about estimating speed on water, it is no as easy as one would think. How do you truly know that those boats on Squam are doing 40mph just because there is a speed limit? The difference between 45mph and 55mph on water of an object that is a good distance away cannot be pinpointed by just looking at it...Unless that kayak of yours has a radar gun built in I would not make guesses, because without one they are just guesses.
I will say however that bikinis look better at distances closer than 150' and at slower speeds, so maybe some pictures would help the arguement.
Maybe a lake-wide dress code?