[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by bluewater sailor

The first time I saw a navigational buoy on this lake, I was flabbergasted. Those are just pvc pipes with some red or black paint on them. They are not visible from any distance, which misses the entire premise of a buoy. You should be able to see it from a comfortable distance in order to take action.

{snip}

It's hard to take the lake seriously because of its laughable buoyage. Why can't the state spend a few dollars and install some cans and nuns that can actually be seen? I don't think they would detract from the beauty of the waterway. Winnipesaukee is truly a great lake and deserves to be treated with more respect, and the bouyage is a good place to start.

You'll get little argument that something better could be done and IMHO, w/o that much additional cost. I would advise against the normal cans and nuns as the inland needs are perhaps too different and people coming from the ocean would be understandably confused by bouy's that now (on the lake) mean something different (than on the ocean). That said a different shaped top for each red or black tipped marker would be a definite improvement (larger, easier to differentiate as you mentioned). I can't believe this would cost a lot and these could be added/retrofitted to the existing bouys. Perhaps a higher visibility color would also help but sticking with the same colors would allow changes (and costs) to be phased in.