Memorial Weekend Boat Traffic Down???

[OCDACTIVE]

Wow ... we are well past memorial day and whether it be the weather, economy, limits........ Or a combination, I personally am finding the boat traffic way down. I was out on Fri and Sat. both great boating days and there wasn't much going on. I didn't make it over to the Weirs where I figured most traffic would be, being the beginning of Motorcycle week, but everywhere else seemed very slow.

[neckdweller]

My very unscientific sampling over the years says that bike weekend (now two, kind of) is typically slow for boat traffic. If people are going to stay home, they choose one or both of these weekends presumably to avoid the nightmare of all the bikes.

Another factor this year is that schools are getting out later due to the ice storm and snow days. My kids should have been done Friday but they're extended out another week and a half. With that extension comes more baseball games, softball games, lacrosse games, etc. taking up the Saturdays and Sundays.

I expect it to be quite busy up there the week of 6/29 leading up to the July 4th weekend. Having the 3rd on a Friday will give a lot of people an excuse to use some vacation time.

[VtSteve]

We're heading down to Florida the Thursday before July 4th, to avoid the loud boats and the crowds

[Resident 2B]

I spent the majority of the day last Friday on the lake. Started at the Weirs, to Meredith, to Center Harbor, back down to Bear Island, over to the Hole-in-the-Wall, then the Graveyard over to Melvin Village. We then headed south back through the Graveyard, past the Barber's Pole area for a run out on the broads. From there it was past the Witches, back to the Weirs, through the Weirs channel and down around Paugus, then back again to Weirs. I saw maybe ten boats on the water in the 4 hours of poking around.

The weather was very good from 11 AM onward.

Very low traffic for this time of the year, in my opinion.

R2B

[ApS]

Got back at 2-PM from a 4-hour sail*** in The Broads.

Except for "The Mount" silently approaching me from dead astern , while navigating a clockwise route around the lake , I never saw more than 2 other boats at any time.

(Not counting barges).

***Wanted a 3-hour sail, but the wind was very variable.
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ETA, 1.0:
1) It's not typically busy on the lake during a June weekday. The Saturday following, however, there were at least ten boats in sight at one time. (For a 500%-increase in traffic as opposed to a weekday—this was between 10AM-1PM.)

2) Certification is a factor, especially as the wealthiest demographic was the last to require, and attend, certification classes.

3) I expect the National economy to collapse in the long term, but even a short recovery is possible on the lake for the next few years.

ETA, 2.0
June 26th, Friday, update:

Extreme weather is moving in late today but this morning was another sunny June day for boating, and saw about six-to-eight boats at any one time. That's about 400% more boat traffic than on the 16th, a comparable weekday for sunny boating. Because it's a Friday, more boats (than the usual weekday) could be expected.

ETA, 3.0
July 7th, Monday, update:

Saturday and Sunday were too hectic for my accustomed style of boating, but by Noon on Monday, I counted 16 boats within view (at any one time) on my usual stretch of The Broads. (800% increase over June 16th).


ETA, 4.0
July 12th, Sunday, ongoing update:

At Noon, I counted 28 sailboats and a fewer number of powerboats (12 ?) on my usual stretch of The Broads. Is that a 2000% increase over the 16th? :huh:

Good wind, sun, and puffy clouds, again, BTW.

ETA 5.0
July 29, Thursday, ongoing update:

By Noon I'd seen four sailboats (and, at most, 13 powerboats) at one time in the same location.

Only problem was Cap'n B who, with a boatfull, came within 50' of my boat off Ayer's Point marker—then waved!

Nearly calm, hazy sun, few clouds.

[VtSteve]

Originally Posted by Acres per Second

Got back at 2-PM from a 4-hour sail*** in The Broads.

Except for "The Mount" silently approaching me from dead astern , while navigating a clockwise route around the lake , I never saw more than 2 other boats at any time.

(Not counting barges).

***Wanted a 3-hour sail, but the wind was very variable.
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.
.

How does that compare to one year ago yesterday? Is it typically busy during a Tuesday afternoon in June? Do you think the certification process has slowed down the influx of out of state boaters? Perhaps the weather's been just a little bit testy of late and people are holding off. Gas prices have risen, and the economy is still bad.

[OCDACTIVE]

Originally Posted by Resident 2B

The weather was very good from 11 AM onward.

Very low traffic for this time of the year, in my opinion.

R2B

I agree.. Even when the weather was good it seems very slow. There are some small congestion points Eagle Island, Ambrose Cove Channel etc. But those always seem to have boats there. Otherwise very slow overall.

Going up this weekend, but due to the weather may not even put the boat in.

Where is summer????

[fatlazyless]

Where is summer? Summer is here today! Today is the day, June 17, that summer arrived, and there are a total of zero boats right now, that I can see or hear from buoy 3. ....times a-wast'n....gotta go be paint'n.........oops...there's one boat....a 14'er tiller handle w/ two on board....!

[This'nThat]

Originally Posted by OCDACTIVE

Wow ... we are well past memorial day and whether it be the weather, economy, limits........ Or a combination, I personally am finding the boat traffic way down. I was out on Fri and Sat. both great boating days and there wasn't much going on. I didn't make it over to the Weirs where I figured most traffic would be, being the beginning of Motorcycle week, but everywhere else seemed very slow.

Same here. The only busy spot on Saturday was at Weirs. Everywhere else -- traffic way down. How much? Don't know -- I don't have those measurements. All I know is from personal experience -- the weekend traffic should have been much heavier than it was.

[ILoveWinnipesaukee]

I wonder if the slow traffic issue has to do with the fact that many area schools at least here in Massachusetts are not even out of school yet. Most I know of have had to extend the school year because of the December ice storm, and most of the people who come up to the lake for vacation have to wait for the kids to get out of school.

Plus with the weather the way it has been, no one has wanted to go boating in 50 degree rainy weather.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by ILoveWinnipesaukee

I wonder if the slow traffic issue has to do with the fact that many area schools at least here in Massachusetts are not even out of school yet. Most I know of have had to extend the school year because of the December ice storm, and most of the people who come up to the lake for vacation have to wait for the kids to get out of school.

Plus with the weather the way it has been, no one has wanted to go boating in 50 degree rainy weather.

It was that way last year IIRC. I noted a lot of boats out and about the very first hot weekend after ice out. Thereafter it's been pretty slow except for last Sat, when I thought there were more boats that I'd have expected given the weather. The real test comes after school's out. July 4 falls on a weekend and that'll be telling.

So it's a combination of bad weather, bad economy, late school year, gas prices ..... and swine flu. This year everything get's blamed on swine flu. Global warming ... baaah .... that's so last year.