[Dick]

The last legislative session (2007) Representative C. Ahlgren sponsored HB 290 -- what he thought was a good compromise bill whereby the boat speed limit would be 65 mph if 1,000 feet or more from shore, other boats, etc.. , but if you were 150 to 999 feet from anything the speed limit would be 45 mph. This bill got killed.

Here is a compromise idea for a bill that I think makes a lot of sense and would get support from nearly everyone: let's have a boat speed restriction of 6 mph on all NH lakes if the boat is less than 150 feet from: shore, other boats, rafts, docks, . . . anything.

If the watercraft is > 150 feet from anything, we will rely on the U.S. Coast Guideline guideline that has served us (and most other states) very well over these many years, i.e., reasonable & prudent operation according to the prevailing conditions.

The Marine Patrol would not incur any additional costs to enforce the above proposal because radar and specialized training would not be needed. The MP has the power now to issue citations to boaters who are operating their watercraft in a careless or reckless manner in the professional judgement of the MP officer. And this all holds up in court.

Oooops . . . wait . . . isn't this the way it's been for many years? As a result there have been zero (as in none, nada, zip, 0) boat-to-boat collisions that involved a speed over 30 mph for the past 2 years at least.

Do emotional "I'm afraid" stories trump the facts?

Look . . . Winnipesaukee is BIG, exciting, and can be very intimidating -- even with no boats out on the lake -- as when there is a stiff wind out of the West. Winni is definitely not a small tranquil pond, but we have at least 900 other small lakes/ponds in the state that are.