Life without Winni

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

Honestly after over 30 years on Winnipesaukee, the change has been refreshing and welcomed with open arms. While Winni, has some undeniable charms.... they have also caused her to become a popular destination. It simply isn't the same lake I grew up on. With my family owning on the lake I was allowed some luxuries that kept boating enjoyable, such as the easy of early morning or late evening boat rides in the summer on the weekends before and after the crowds. My biggest joy here in Texas, is not feeling like I have to "Time" my rides to avoid high usage times.......

I do have a goal, in retirement to do some boating on the ocean..... time will tell if I get there or not.....Because I also want to spend time RVing around the country....

Relaxin,

Glad you getting the most out of that Texas lake! Sounds like fun!

While I agree with you that Winni is certainly a busier place now than 30 years ago and yes timing your rides or destinations on "weekends" is certainly prudent... I do know that during the week, Winni is another place entirely. There are many many mornings I have been out fishing or boating someplace for breakfast and have said "I have the entire lake to myself". The difference between 2:00 PM on a Sunday when it's crazy busy and just a few hours later on Monday morning never ceases to amaze me!

Just curious...Do they have a 150' rule or similar on that lake in Texas??

Enjoy your time in Texas!!

Dan

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Relaxin,

Glad you getting the most out of that Texas lake! Sounds like fun!

While I agree with you that Winni is certainly a busier place now than 30 years ago and yes timing your rides or destinations on "weekends" is certainly prudent... I do know that during the week, Winni is another place entirely. There are many many mornings I have been out fishing or boating someplace for breakfast and have said "I have the entire lake to myself". The difference between 2:00 PM on a Sunday when it's crazy busy and just a few hours later on Monday morning never ceases to amaze me!

Just curious...Do they have a 150' rule or similar on that lake in Texas??

Enjoy your time in Texas!!

Dan

Dan,

There are very few local laws here, mostly they go off the Coast Guard... In short no 150' rule.... And with as Many boats as are in Marina's around the lake you would think it is crowded all the time.... But the reality is that Lake Ray Hubbard is right in the DFW metro-plex.... so it is not a "destination" driven..... I will have to get some pictures to share with you all, but many of these people have built up their slips to be able to enjoy time by the water, and take their boats out if they feel like it.... The party is at the Marina's not somewhere out on the lake... Although I have been told there are a few party coves around....

Also, believe me, I understand how different the lake is during the week.... My wife and I spent most of July and August living at the lake this summer after we had our home packed up, for the move. We went out most week days and had lunch somewhere on the lake.....For me it is not just the business of the lake, it is how busy the towns have become.... When I started coming to the lake in 1986 nothing was built up... The only time Traffic built up was on the 4th of July, Labor Day, and Memorial Day weekends.... hell the light at Moultonborough Neck Rd, didn't even exist.....
I digress, at the end of the day the lake is changing we all see it....I don't think it will ever be busy during the week... the question becomes can you live with the busy weekends.....

[map]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

Dan,

There are very few local laws here, mostly they go off the Coast Guard... In short no 150' rule.... And with as Many boats as are in Marina's around the lake you would think it is crowded all the time.... But the reality is that Lake Ray Hubbard is right in the DFW metro-plex.... so it is not a "destination" driven..... I will have to get some pictures to share with you all, but many of these people have built up their slips to be able to enjoy time by the water, and take their boats out if they feel like it.... The party is at the Marina's not somewhere out on the lake... Although I have been told there are a few party coves around....

Also, believe me, I understand how different the lake is during the week.... My wife and I spent most of July and August living at the lake this summer after we had our home packed up, for the move. We went out most week days and had lunch somewhere on the lake.....For me it is not just the business of the lake, it is how busy the towns have become.... When I started coming to the lake in 1986 nothing was built up... The only time Traffic built up was on the 4th of July, Labor Day, and Memorial Day weekends.... hell the light at Moultonborough Neck Rd, didn't even exist.....
I digress, at the end of the day the lake is changing we all see it....I don't think it will ever be busy during the week... the question becomes can you live with the busy weekends.....

We don’t own a boat but my husband fishes off the docks and I live being in the water and we basically stay home on weekends in summer. Easy peasy.

Bike week we leave the state. That’s a vacation week for us.

[LIforrelaxin]

Well this weekend we went and visited on of the Anchor spots, and I thought I would do a little compare. to Braun Bay.......

- In Braun Bay, everyone is closely packed in together, via for the shallow sandy area...
- On Ray Hubbard, while there where groupings of up to five six boats (rafting)... everyone was spread out.....


- In Braun bay the clamor is over the shallow water, and being able to stand and party....
- On Ray Hubbard, they anchor in deeper water, and use lily pads and floats, and aren't worried about having their feet on the bottom of the lake... (not sure you would want to, to be honest)

Lastly at least this area I visited this weekend, there are no homes around, so there is no one to be bothering with noise and activity.... Something sadly isn't so easy on Winnipesaukee..... And by no homes around I mean for a considerable distance.....

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

Well this weekend we went and visited on of the Anchor spots, and I thought I would do a little compare. to Braun Bay.......

- In Braun Bay, everyone is closely packed in together, via for the shallow sandy area...
- On Ray Hubbard, while there where groupings of up to five six boats (rafting)... everyone was spread out.....


- In Braun bay the clamor is over the shallow water, and being able to stand and party....
- On Ray Hubbard, they anchor in deeper water, and use lily pads and floats, and aren't worried about having their feet on the bottom of the lake... (not sure you would want to, to be honest)

Lastly at least this area I visited this weekend, there are no homes around, so there is no one to be bothering with noise and activity.... Something sadly isn't so easy on Winnipesaukee..... And by no homes around I mean for a considerable distance.....

It sounds like you're comparing a sandbar to, well, anywhere else on the Winni?

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

It sounds like you're comparing a sandbar to, well, anywhere else on the Winni?

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

No Sandbar down here..... more trying to compare rafting area usage.... and how it is different..... No one is on top of each other, and trying to get to the shallow water.....

More like I am comparing a sand bar on Winni, to any popular anchor location on Ray Hubbard..... I am finding the difference in boating scene interesting....

Another interesting bit down here, is the popularity of wake surfing.... there seems to be 3 main types of boats down here.... Cruiser's (small minority), pontoons, and wake boats....It is not uncommon to find 5 or more wake boats in a given area all surfing away.....

[LIforrelaxin]

This week the Wife, and I took a trip to east Texas by the Louisiana Border. The country was beautiful, and a bit more like the North East, tall trees, and some terrain (no mountains, but not flat either). On the Journey we found a few bodies of water, this is the first and the one we would be least likely to visit with the boat... Steinhagen Reservior... Like many lakes here it is a flood plain, mud bottom lake, with lots of vegetation growing out of the lake...

[LIforrelaxin]

These pictures are of Toledo Bend Reservior, it is the Texas Louisiana border. It is currently down about 4.5 feet..... It is the biggest of the 3 bodies of water we visited, 3-4 times the size of Winnipesaukee, but with almost no islands.....

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

These pictures are of Toledo Bend Reservior, it is the Texas Louisiana border. It is currently down about 4.5 feet..... It is the biggest of the 3 bodies of water we visited, 3-4 times the size of Winnipesaukee, but with almost no islands.....

Tough docking.

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by Biggd

Tough docking.

Yes that is one of the few fixed post structures I have seen down here docks are all floating down here do to the significant changes the lake levels go through.......

[LIforrelaxin]

I unfortunately didn't get many good pictures of this lake, but it is roughly 3x the size of Winnipesaukee. It has many coves, and is like the one I am mostly likely to bring the boat too.......