Was it a Quiet Memorial Day Weekend?

[Just Sold]

I felt that the Memorial Day weekend was pretty quiet. I know the rain surely kept things quiet but I think it was much more so than in recent years.
I saw very few boats when I was out for a short 2 hours on Saturday and my wife and I were out for about 5 hours on Sunday. On Sunday in Alton Bay there were plenty of open docks at the town docks and that supprised me. Our Sunday cruising was from Gilford to Winter Harbor and to Alton Bay we encountered a few but not a lot of boats. The most we saw was around 3:30PM Sunday heading back to Gilford from Alton Bay.

What are your thoughts/observations.

[polarisman14]

The crappy weather really keeps a lot of people away. We were out Sunday morning through afternoon and it was totally dead from 10 to noon. Besides night time I'd never seen it that calm, never mind on a holiday weekend. We were one of 5 or 6 boats we could see in any direction for a while. Once it cleared up, within an hour it was very busy near Governor's Island and over toward Weirs, and we had to wait at Meredith Bay for a few minutes to find parking. It was nice, but I'm sure plenty of businesses were disappointed.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by polarisman14

The crappy weather really keeps a lot of people away. We were out Sunday morning through afternoon and it was totally dead from 10 to noon. Besides night time I'd never seen it that calm, never mind on a holiday weekend. We were one of 5 or 6 boats we could see in any direction for a while. Once it cleared up, within an hour it was very busy near Governor's Island and over toward Weirs, and we had to wait at Meredith Bay for a few minutes to find parking. It was nice, but I'm sure plenty of businesses were disappointed.

Must of been busy for people trying to get their boats in the water. Meredith Marina and Heaths Hardware sold out of boat registration stickers. I heard other marinas ran out too.

[BroadHopper]

I almost thought it was a middle of the week on the lake.

No problem docking at the public docks.

[Phantom]

I loved it -- didn't stop us from putting 12.6 (but who's keeping track) engine hours on our new 26' Crownline !!


.

[Happy Gourmand]

There seemed to be plenty of boat traffic in the Meredith Bay/Weirs/Governor's Island washing machine area. Outside of that did seem much calmer though.

[Misha888]

Plenty of boat traffic coming in and out of Fay's all weekend and their yard was full with no apparent parking.

At any time we were seeing 5-6 boats towards the broads.

[Closetzguy]

I picked up my first boat on Saturday and thought it would be a lot busier this weekend! Got about 3 hours in between Sat and Sun and felt alone out there! I'm sure it will be a different story in a few weeks!

Heads up….new boater in 20 mile bay!

[MeredithMan]

....pretty much all of the motels from Meredith to Weirs to Laconia all had the "vacancy" sign out. Zero traffic heading back to CT mid day on Monday. Maybe the forecast kept everyone away...??

Good thing the crowds were sparse, because the ladies directing traffic in Meredith still managed to back everyone up from Hannaford on one end to Harts on the other end. I know they have a thankless job, but I really think create more of a bottleneck than they prevent.

[Misha888]

Being that I live here year round . . . maybe it was slight shell shock for me. This morning was quite quiet and serene.

[jkjoshuatree]

No wait at any restaurants. No problem finding a parking spot anywhere all weekend. No traffic heading to Boston midday on Monday.

Very, very quiet.

[jetlag100]

Originally Posted by MeredithMan

....pretty much all of the motels from Meredith to Weirs to Laconia all had the "vacancy" sign out. Zero traffic heading back to CT mid day on Monday. Maybe the forecast kept everyone away...??

Good thing the crowds were sparse, because the ladies directing traffic in Meredith still managed to back everyone up from Hannaford on one end to Harts on the other end. I know they have a thankless job, but I really think create more of a bottleneck than they prevent.

I totally agree...just because there's people waiting to cross the street, doesn't mean you stop traffic every second, either. Coming down the hill (25) into town I just knew there's was someone directing traffic..

[LIforrelaxin]

I think the weather had a lot to do with how quiet the lake was this weekend. And yes it was indeed very quiet. I was in Center Harbor in the afternoon, on Sunday, and didn't have to wait very long to tie up. And could have tied up sooner but I didn't feel like threading my way into a forward spot.

Also I left Monday about 3:30 and drove right through Meredith... with only a minor delay at the light.

The last piece of proof, was that on 93 late afternoon, their was really no traffic back up in Concord. Traffic slowed a bit, but never stopped.

[dpg]

Drove by motels this weekend with signs that their booking rooms for bike week. Thought that was always sold out everywhere? Understand it moved by a week this year.

[BroadHopper]

Tourism is way down in NH since 2008. Our neighboring states have recuperate far better. A decade ago, one would need to spend a couple of years on a list to get a slip. Hostelries were booked a year in advance.

Today, all marinas have slips available and vacancy signs are everywhere! Even when there were no expansions/construction in the last decade!

[tis]

Most business is down since 2008. The economy is just not good except in certain pockets.

[VitaBene]

We went out on the lake a few time. Sunday early afternoon was pretty busy in Wolfeboro. I ended up dropping family off at the ADA dock and floated in the bay waiting for them. There were no fewer that 6 boats waiting to tie up.

We just floated local on Monday, but it was definitely quiet. I think a lot of people packed it up based on the conditions Monday AM.

[laketrout]

It seemed like a slow Memorial day weekend last weekend. It was good for me and my family, easy to get into restaurants and shops not a lot of traffic. Good for me but bad for business I would think.
I do agree 7- 15+ years ago it was tough to get into a Marina, impossible to find rooms in certain towns and the restaurants always seemed crowded even on weekdays and the town docks of Meredith and Wolfeboro even the Naswa always seemed to be packed but not lately no issues getting a spot at a town dock.

[sum-r breeze]

Originally Posted by tis

Most business is down since 2008. The economy is just not good except in certain pockets.

Do you think gas price bumping against $4.00 a gallon and the speed limit on the lake chasing all the go fasts away has any long term consequences? The limit means nothing to me... The Breeze tops out at about 40 MPH but it sure cramps some other people's enjoyment.

The Breeze
Wave 'cuz I'll be wavin' back

[tis]

I think the price of gas has a lot to do with the hurting economy. The departure of many go fast boats because of the speed limit has undoubtedly hurt us here some too. I think most of the people that love the lake and live on the lake probably stayed on the lake and got rid of the fast boat or just drive it slower. I think people without roots that rent for a week or two, or people who put their GF boats in for the weekend or rent a slip for the summer probably don't bother to come here and go elsewhere. I really don't think you see as many fast boats on the lake as you used to.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

I think the weather had a lot to do with how quiet the lake was this weekend. And yes it was indeed very quiet. I was in Center Harbor in the afternoon, on Sunday, and didn't have to wait very long to tie up. And could have tied up sooner but I didn't feel like threading my way into a forward spot.

Also I left Monday about 3:30 and drove right through Meredith... with only a minor delay at the light.

The last piece of proof, was that on 93 late afternoon, their was really no traffic back up in Concord. Traffic slowed a bit, but never stopped.

Not sure how often you drive 93 (North of Manchester) outside of the peak tourist times, but at 2:30 Monday afternoon the highway was moving at 20 MPH coming into Concord. That IS a backup, considering morning and evening rush hours run at higher than the posted speed limit in this area.

Unfortunately, I forgot that Monday afternoon was a holiday weekend and coming down exit 17 to merge onto the highway, I realized my mistake. 15 minutes later I was able to get off at exit 16 to go about my business. The season has begun!

As an aside, the Sunapee area was pretty busy, as busy as busy is for the Sunapee area!

[Machz]

Originally Posted by jmen24

Not sure how often you drive 93 (North of Manchester) outside of the peak tourist times, but at 2:30 Monday afternoon the highway was moving at 20 MPH coming into Concord. That IS a backup, considering morning and evening rush hours run at higher than the posted speed limit in this area.

Unfortunately, I forgot that Monday afternoon was a holiday weekend and coming down exit 17 to merge onto the highway, I realized my mistake. 15 minutes later I was able to get off at exit 16 to go about my business. The season has begun!

As an aside, the Sunapee area was pretty busy, as busy as busy is for the Sunapee area!

Yeah Monday on 93 was busy but I normally just jump off at 18. Squam was quiet all weekend only saw a boat or two at any given time.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by Machz

Yeah Monday on 93 was busy but I normally just jump off at 18. Squam was quiet all weekend only saw a boat or two at any given time.

Right, the thing to remember is that Memorial Day is also a big camping holiday and there were many mixed in the traffic I was in. Did not mean to imply that the lakes themselves were busy, but the highway certainly was.