One way or the other

[OCDACTIVE]

Oh my!!! EL is back!!! did you get your 1200 hours on the lake this year?

Originally Posted by OCDACTIVE

did you get your 1200 hours on the lake this year?

Good one. And so we again see why supporters shy away from these threads. If you post something that disagrees with the GFBL agenda, you are a troll or you are ridiculed over some unrelated issue.
No, I don't think 1200 hours is likely even though I'll be on the lake right up till ice-over, in one boat or another. Perhaps that makes you jealous. I also have a '60 T-bird in showroom condition in my garage. Want to poke fun at that? Is that relevant? I typically log near to or just over 1000 boating hours on Winni each year, from the first day I put my jon boat in, which is usually well before ice-out, until well into December. I love the lake and spend as much time on it as I can...especially the past two years when the high speed threat and annoyance has been all but eliminated. And I can say with certainly that my boating has never once intimidated or offended anyone else. Can you say the same? Whether fishing, sailing, or cruising to town, my boating does not impact anyone else's, or make any other boaters wish they had stayed home. I can truly say that I share the lake with all. Can you?

By the way, just how loud must one's boat be to gain membership into this "Thunder Cult"? Do you get to wear "Thunder Cult" helmets? Do you have "Thunder Cult" capes like Evil Kneivel? Sounds pretty silly to me, but then, to each his own.

And what ever happened to that "documentary" that you guys filmed a couple of weeks back? Is it still in editing?

[BroadHopper]

Originally Posted by elchase

I also have a '60 T-bird in showroom condition in my garage. Want to poke fun at that?

Sure. My '58 Satelite with a 426 wedge eats Chebbies and Phords for breakfast. Better not let it out of the garage!

[Kracken]

[QUOTE=elchase;105228]Good one. And so we again see why supporters shy away from these threads. If you post something that disagrees with the GFBL agenda, you are a troll or you are ridiculed over some unrelated issue.../QUOTE]


Ok let me make sure I have this right.

Speed limit supporters are afraid of performance boats.

Speed limit supporters are afraid to post on this because they will be ridiculed?

I must have missed those posts. Some people have been ridiculed for making unsubstantiated claims without backing them up with facts or at least a link. Some people (on both sides) had the hammer dropped on them for making outrageous claims but quite often their statements and claims had nothing to do with a speed limit.

I don’t think anyone here really wants to silence the opposition. Most just want to debate topics and at times it’s damn entertaining. If you read the speed limit topics from beginning to end one can’t help but laugh. There are some really funny posts from a lot of people on both sides of the debate. Somebody should copyright or patent these threads and sell them. It’s a good read and a great distraction.

[Turtle Boy]

Originally Posted by elchase

I love the lake and spend as much time on it as I can...especially the past two years when the high speed threat and annoyance has been all but eliminated. And I can say with certainly that my boating has never once intimidated or offended anyone else. Can you say the same? Whether fishing, sailing, or cruising to town, my boating does not impact anyone else's, or make any other boaters wish they had stayed home. I can truly say that I share the lake with all. Can you?

EL...getting people to change their perspective is not always easy, especially in NH. I felt that this short story by Tupelo from last year summarizes some of the difficulties:

A Brief and Irreverent History of Early Motoring and Speed Limits on NH Highways by tupelo

In the early days of motoring in NH, most cars were small, underpowered and unreliable. Speed limits existed nowhere on NH roads and highways. However by the early 1920's , bigger and better cars, like Duesenbergs, were finding their way onto these roads. Some were capable of doing 65 MPH right through downtown Laconia. They were fast and fun. Accidents occasionally happened but they were few and infrequent. One day a fast, new Duesy raced through Center Harbor, just hitting a small boy who fortunately only broke his arm as he rushed to cross the street. His mother however did not consider this to be such an insignificant injury. She spoke out, saying these GFBL cars need to slow down....my son might well have been killed. "Fear monger, fear monger" soon echoed through the ranks of the GFBL cars owners, directed at this vilified mother. Other townfolk soon began discussing speed limits as well. "But we've never had speed limits" cried some of GFBL car owners." We're turning into a nanny state" cried others. Some even called it feel good legislation. Soon more and more people though were clamoring for some limits. A man named Helvey Sanders became interested as well and a grassroots organization was born. He even traveled to N.Y. where speed limits had been established years ago. He came back after talking with law enforcement officials there about how these limits were instituted and enforced. He even sent letters to the editor detailing how they worked. "Foul play" cried many of the GFBL car owners. "You didn't spell out exactly who you spoke with, when you spoke with them, what their snail mail addresses are. You must provide annotated references with all letters to the editor. No wonder newspaper subscriptions are declining. Your newspaper is a rag. Yellow journalism." Some even threatened to drive their cars back and forth in front of Mr. Sanders' house(there were of course no stalking laws at this time). Soon some car dealerships also weighed in claiming their customers were not feeling welcome in the state and were going to move to Vermont. Besides they said, how are you going to measure and enforce speed limits...radar hasn't been invented yet so surely it will not work on land.
The controversy heated up. A poll was taken of NH residents asking if they felt the roads would be safer if there were speed limits. Mothers, fathers, horse and buggy owners, even common pedestrians weighed in. This statewide NH poll showed 85% of the people were in favor of speed limits on the roads. "Wait, foul play" cried the Duesy owners and other GFBL groups. "This poll is invalid because you only should poll car owners. How can a man who only rides a horse have any say". Soon the GFBL's organized a club, though a few people who owned horse and buggies, also Model T's were encouraged to join to give the sense of a fair and balanced club. They even took their own poll that showed 85% of their members thought "reasonable and prudent" would be a better standard. There was still the occasional accident, but forth came the rallying cry "this accident never would have happened if the car hadn't blown its tire while going through town at 70 mph".
There was even the occasional accident attributed to alcohol intoxication. One GFBL crashed into Ye Olde Tamarack Restaurant in broad daylight doing 55 mph but when it was later found that the driver was intoxicated and had misinterpreted the meaning of "Drive-In",the GFBL car owners cried "See, this proves speed limits would never work...drunks would never obey them!"
By now there was interest in the legislature for establishing speed limits. The house in fact passed this new bill, HB 7. "Vote the bums out" was heard from the "no limits" crowd. One person was heard to say "If the old man of the mountain were still standing, he'd be shedding a tear right now". Another man said " It is still standing you idiot". Soon the senate passed HB 7 and then the governor signed as well. While the GFBL car crowd vowed to fight on, after 2 years when it was seen that the whole NH economy did indeed not collapse as had been warned, and people still found great enjoyment using their cars, the "no limits" crowd slowly faded away.




THE END

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Last edited by tupelo; 06-29-2008 at 07:39 AM

[OCDACTIVE]

[QUOTE=elchase;105228]Good one. And so we again see why supporters shy away from these threads. If you post something that disagrees with the GFBL agenda, you are a troll or you are ridiculed over some unrelated issue.

By the way, just how loud must one's boat be to gain membership into this "Thunder Cult"? Do you get to wear "Thunder Cult" helmets? Do you have "Thunder Cult" capes like Evil Kneivel? Sounds pretty silly to me, but then, to each his own.

[QUOTE]

EL I was just razzing you a little.. Don't take it to heart...

Thunder Cult has nothing to due with noise. Would have been happy to explain if you were to have asked, but I appreciate the sarcasm.

The type of boat I own is an Active Thunder. Not a production boat. Only built to order.

When we go places: poker runs, gatherings etc. there are usually not too many of us and we all tend to get together. Over the years we have become good friends and another manufactorer jokingly one day said: Wow do those guys go everywhere together? they are like a cult... And thats how Active Thunder Cult Member was started.

Just ask if you would like to know.. No need to speculate.

[VtSteve]

Originally Posted by elchase

And so we again see why supporters shy away from these threads. If you post something that disagrees with the GFBL agenda, you are a troll or you are ridiculed over some unrelated issue.

Really?

I love the lake and spend as much time on it as I can...especially the past two years when the high speed threat and annoyance has been all but eliminated. And I can say with certainly that my boating has never once intimidated or offended anyone else. Can you say the same? Whether fishing, sailing, or cruising to town, my boating does not impact anyone else's, or make any other boaters wish they had stayed home. I can truly say that I share the lake with all. Can you?

Absolutely. Yes I can.

By the way, just how loud must one's boat be to gain membership into this "Thunder Cult"? Do you get to wear "Thunder Cult" helmets? Do you have "Thunder Cult" capes like Evil Kneivel? Sounds pretty silly to me, but then, to each his own.

Ridicule El?

You've simply reduced your arguments down to a single denominator. You have no facts, restate the same notions that many disagree with regarding safety this year, then you label anyone disagreeing with you a GFBL supporter. And routinely denigrate them and others on the lake.

All this time you are on the lake countless hours, and never witness the boneheads that others do. You seem to have the time on the lake, why not go to the NWZ at Bear Island and see what's going on over there. Today would be good since it's still a holiday weekend officially.

If you are right El, then absolutely nothing needs to be done again on the lake, it's all just fine now.

[OCDACTIVE]

Originally Posted by VtSteve

You've simply reduced your arguments down to a single denominator. You have no facts, restate the same notions that many disagree with regarding safety this year, then you label anyone disagreeing with you a GFBL supporter. And routinely denigrate them and others on the lake.

Unfortunately this is very common with the other sides argument. If you look at Sunsets Posts at no point are they focused at anyone in particular but are based on opinon and he rationalizes his thoughts to make his points. He does a very good job at staying on topic and isn't here just to cause trouble. I applaud him for his methods. I may not agree with what he says but he is here to discuss in an objective and healthy manner. Cheers!

There are others that have an agenda and this poll does not help them in anyway. They only appear or troll when things are not going their way in hopes to hijack the thread or better yet get it shut down by getting people off track and bickering.

I implore people to stay on topic and discuss the poll as it was set up for.

If noise and exhaust is your issue I know there is a thread set up for that.

If the merits of the speed limit are what you would like to discuss there is a thread for that as well, as is a compromise thread, how fast your boat goes, Safety issues, etc.

Don't let trolls drag down particular threads and make them become un-useful, best to ignore and stay on track.

Carry on..

[VitaBene]

It really has been a fabulous weekend for slow cruising so we will be back at it in Moultonborough Bay over to Lee's Mills this afternoon, so if you see us come by and say hi!

OCD, if you want to go slow, you can always hook up with us!

[OCDACTIVE]

Originally Posted by VitaBene

It really has been a fabulous weekend for slow cruising so we will be back at it in Moultonborough Bay over to Lee's Mills this afternoon, so if you see us come by and say hi!

OCD, if you want to go slow, you can always hook up with us!

VERY NICE PIC!!! I may take you up on that someday.. I am actually working all day today.. Saving up for the engine, paint job and some really cool upgrades... (Stay tuned for details)

Really appreciate the offer though..

You will be going right by my house. Will tell my parents to wave.

Just for the record. I LOVE going slow. I have a pontoon boat and a fishing boat (both of which can not go over 45 mph)

I just don't like being told that by exceeding that will put people in danger etc etc... I don't need to go down the list of reasons for they have been beaten to death.

Happy boating.. Enjoy!