Illegal Rafting Enforcement, Operation Dry Water

[XCR-700]

Originally Posted by Susie Cougar

Some people spend a lot of money on privacy and that’s all they want.

Then I think Winnipesaukee was always the wrong place. Other lakes were always much quieter.

My parents went through several lakes in the area before making Winnipesaukee their destination in the late 1950's. And the reason NewFound Lake, Squam Lake, Wentworth and others didnt meet their expectations, not enough going on.

They wanted access to marinas for gas on long all day boating trips (our boats of the 60's and 70's always had those 6 gallon orange/red portable tanks) they wanted destinations (Meredith, Weirs, Wolfboro, Alton) and they wanted to see people on the water having fun. We loved the water ski events, boat races, fireworks by boat (I even remember boating to more than one town to see 2 shows on the same night)

Weekends started with the first spark of the engine and the cloud of smoke and the trip to the marina to fill up the tanks. Then grap the kids, old folks and off to a destination. Some days it would about water sking and the knee boards of the day, or maybe fishing. Water sking would often involve several people behind the boat, something against the law today. Or maybe a boat race up and down Alton Bay, again, unthinkable today.

Winnipesaukee, well at least the south end from Meredith to Wolfboro to Alton, was never a quiet and private place in my lifetime. It was a place to have fun boating and using the lake, but you also always met friendly and respectful people.

You didnt need Sea Tow or any such thing, someone always stopped and if you needed a tow you were taken home, no drama, no wait, and no one ever charged you. It was a pay it forward thing. Just make sure they got home, and be thankful it wasnt you. You actually met nice folks that way!

Wish I could go back in time, it was better for sure, but not quiet or private.

Well thats my memories of Winnipesaukee from my diaper wearing days in 1963 forward.

[8gv]

Originally Posted by XCR-700

That's a good grip right there!

[tis]

People did day trips in the 60s and 70s but not the anchoring in groups to party.

[XCR-700]

Originally Posted by tis

People did day trips in the 60s and 70s but not the anchoring in groups to party.

As best I recall we anchored, but certainly not as much as people do today, and we never held on the water group events and parties, so you are 100% correct about that, and maybe thats where we intersect, in that it is my observation thats where some of the worst (to me) behavior rears its head. When groups of people meet up and party, they seem to get extra rowdy and rude and loud.

While I can imagine few waterfront homeowners want to see large groups right in front of their homes, it must only add insult to injury to have a loud - drunk - rowdy - rude group playing competing battle of the bands on their million watt stadium speaker equipped boats and leaving trash and bedlam behind until even they have had enough.

Someone in this thread mentioned manners and for me thats the biggest problem. If even large numbers of people are modest, respectful, pleasant, polite, and maybe even a little bit humble, I think a lot of the problems would moderate. Not all, but many.

In the end, this is evolution and change and most of us dont like fast and significant change and thats exactly what we are seeing.

I would happily turn the clock back to 1970, but thats not happening so how do we improve the current situation?

Its hard to teach manners and the concept of respect and humility to adults that are already very self-absorbed and me first-centric people.

Signed; cranky old guy,,, ;-)

[XCR-700]

Originally Posted by 8gv

That's a good grip right there!

I suspect with my cloth 1963 model diaper, I would have gone right to the bottom if not for that grip.

I look at that boat and think it would make a good dinghy for most of the boats you see on Winnipesaukee today.

And yet our family didnt get its first boat over 20' until the 1990's

Amazing how different the world is. Back then 30 - 35 MPH was an average good top speed and we didnt have a boat that would break 50MPH until I bought a Glastron Carlson CVX 20 about 20/25 years ago. Today, almost every boat sold goes 50 MPH and too many are driven by people who have never owned a boat before. Even today, if you pulled an average speed off my GPS, it would probably still read 30 MPH ;-)