Laconia Daily Sun Letter

[Skipper of the Sea Que]

Do the Math's post #62 in this thread appeared in the Laconia Daily Sun today, Tuesday September 29, 2009. Thanks DtM. Here's a copy/paste.

From Laconia Daily Sun page 5, Laconia Daily Sun Tuesday September 29, 2009

Face it people, boat speed is not the enemy & never has been

To the editor,
Throughout my adult life I have
had all kinds of boats, big, small, fast,
slow, etc. I literally grew up “summering”
on Lake Winnipesaukee; I am the
third generation of my family to do
so, and have watched it change quite
a bit over my 40 years, changes that
reflect not only improvements to the
lake and it’s surrounding areas but
some, admittedly, I don’t fully agree
with. For example, I miss Anderson’s
Bakery in Center Harbor, they had
the best donuts! And as a kid, walking
to Robbins General Store for candy
or an ice cream out of the cooler. And
most of all, EVERYONE waved at
each other — what ever happened to
the “original” wave when passing
your fellow boater? Anyway, I digress.
I honestly think the “most fun” boat
I/ we had growing up was a 13-foot
Whaler with a 40 hp 2S Merc on it. We
bought it new from Browns, and once
dialed-in correctly would run 42-44-
mph on it’s best day, in perfect conditions.
At WOT that boat felt like it was
going 80-mph — you were 12-inches
off the water and it was a blast! I
scared a lot of friends that
weren’t “boat people” in that thing
— great boat! Now, fast-forward —
jumping up to a 42-foot
Outerlimits with 1,700 hp, at 100-
mph — it feels like you are sitting in
an easy-chair with a big fan blowing
wind in your face. It’s all relative to
the size and conditions at the time
you are out. At 65-mph, that same
boat feels like it’s “loafing” along, the
engines are running smooth and easy
and you barely feel the waves you are
crossing, it is a very comfortable and
controlled ride.
As another WInnipesaukee Forum
member has mentioned numerous
times in previous posts, these boats are
DESIGNED to perform VERY well and
very controlled at the speeds that they
achieve. Imagine doing 65-mph in a
13-foot Whaler — as much as I would
love to try it, given an open body of
water with no boat traffic and flat and
calm conditions, I would never dream of
doing it on Winni, ever!
It’s funny how most speed Limit
proponents seem to forget something
very important — and I have said
this over and over — guns don’t kill
people, people kill people! We always
read about “Captain Bonehead” on the
forum — note, no one ever refers to
the boat itself, it is always the operator!
“This guy on a jet ski cut in front
of me yesterday, what a jerk” or “I
had this guy in a bowrider, with nine
people on board nail it coming out of
the channel, he was only 25-feet from
me”. Now, in any case of negligence or
“operator” error has it been the boats
fault that what happened, happened!?
Did “the boat” decide to go against
the operator and turn itself in front of
you, cutting you off and breaking the
150-foot rule!? Did “the boat” decide
to slow to a speed that let up a huge
wake and crash your boat against
your dock — damaging both — while
the operator yelled at it telling it not
to? To quote Forrest Gump: “stupid is
as stupid does”, and if you look at the
last (and ONLY)
two significant accidents to occur on
the lake over the previous 10+ years,
extenuating circumstances not withstanding,
both point to operator error,
period! (And at least one so far was
proven to have taken place UNDER
30-mph!).
Call it what you will, bad judgment,
driver impaired, weather conditions,
etc., at the end of the day, it is the
operator that is responsible, always.
I know plenty of people on this lake
who own boats that will run fast, very
fast, and not a SINGLE one of them
has been involved in an incident of
any kind that would be construed as
negative. I have seen over the period
that the speed limit has become an
issue, an exponential number of
“family boats”, cruisers and waverunners
involved in the most unbelievably
dumb, careless and unsafe incidents!
The speed limite has had nothing to
do with any perceived changes in the
way the lake was this summer, chalk
it up to the economy and sheer coincidence.
Incidentally, I still saw more
than my fair share of “captain boneheads”
on the lake this summer and
I was up less than all prior summers,
oh, and NONE were driving a performance
boat! None involved going
really fast either, it was mostly the
150-foot rule and the right of way
rule that were the culprit, and tubing/
skiing in the most foolish locations -
traffic-laden, etc., and just not paying
general attention.
Face it people, speed is not the
enemy here, and it never has been,
but some people like to think that
the performance boat crowd is — that
our “Golden Pond” has become a playground
for all they despise. Gone are
the birch-bark canoes, replaced with
loud and “unsafe” speed boats. How
about gone are the responsible owner/
operators ACTING responsibly! You
are responsible for your own actions;
man-up and act like you are!
There is plenty of water for all to
enjoy, but we need to be responsible
for your actions, on and off the water! I
can assure you, I can promise you and
prove to you that a 20-foot bowrider
at 50-mph can be far more dangerous
than a 38-foot performance boat at
the same speed.
Sure, there are times that I wish this
lake was the lake I knew when I was
a kid, less populated and developed,
but at the same time, I love the lake
today! My 4 1/2-year-old son also loves
the lake, being out on the boat, visiting
friends and playing in the water.
You know, “he-said, she-said, he-did,
she-did” is getting old and moving us
no where fast! Let’s figure it out and
make it work people, so future generations
to come can enjoy it all too.
name redacted
Acton, Mass.

[Yosemite Sam]

If you want past publications of the Laconia Daily Sun, all you have to do is change the date of the address that you put in the address bar of you browser. Some people who post on forums will type in a different name for the address and then hyperlink it to the correct URL.
Example; http://www.laconiadailysun.com/Lacon...2009/9/29L.pdf will take you to the 2009/9/29 issue of the paper. If you change the date in the address to 2008/9/29L it will take you to the 2008 issue. Example: http://www.laconiadailysun.com/Lacon...2008/9/29L.pdf

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by Yosemite Sam

If you want past publications of the Laconia Daily Sun, all you have to do is change the date of the address that you put in the address bar of you browser. Some people who post on forums will type in a different name for the address and then hyperlink it to the correct URL.
Example; http://www.laconiadailysun.com/Lacon...2009/9/29L.pdf will take you to the 2009/9/29 issue of the paper. If you change the date in the address to 2008/9/29L it will take you to the 2008 issue. Example: http://www.laconiadailysun.com/Lacon...2008/9/29L.pdf

Do we have the pleasure of welcoming a representative of the LDS? If so, I love the fact that the online version reads in PDF scroll mode. It makes it seem like the real thing.

[Yosemite Sam]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

Do we have the pleasure of welcoming a representative of the LDS? If so, I love the fact that the online version reads in PDF scroll mode. It makes it seem like the real thing.

Nope, not affiliated with any Newspaper.

You can do the same thing to the Conway Daily Sun.
Example: http://www.laconiadailysun.com/pdf/2009/9/29.pdf

Now change the date to 2009/9/28. Example: http://www.laconiadailysun.com/pdf/2009/9/28.pdf

Notice that the address is almost like the LDS.

You can right click on any address and then click on properties to get the exact URL. Then you can copy that address to your browser address bar and go to that website.

If someone types in something other than the exact URL, you can right click the name and go to properties to copy the address.

[Yosemite Sam]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

Do we have the pleasure of welcoming a representative of the LDS? If so, I love the fact that the online version reads in PDF scroll mode. It makes it seem like the real thing.

Actually the scrolling function can be setup to work with any Adobe file by changing how the default layout is setup.

To change the default layout in Adobe Reader, open Adobe Reader and go to the tool bar and do the following:

1. Choose Edit > Preferences.
2. Under Categories, select Page Display.
3. Open the Page Layout menu and choose either Automatic, Single Page, Single Page Continuous, Two-Up, or Two-Up Continuous. (I prefer Single Page Continuous)
4. Click OK after you have selected your page Layout.

These changes will become effective the next time you open an Adobe file.

[VtSteve]

Originally Posted by Weekend Pundit

I think the real reason 'peace and harmony' have appeared has little to do with the speed limit. Boat traffic in general is down. Ask anyone at the marinas, the gas docks, and the boat ramps, or ask the Marine Patrol. For the second season in a row boat traffic is down. This year there have been a large number of unrented slips, something I've never seen before. Quite a few of my friends ended up trailering their boats rather than renting slips. They didn't go out onto the lake nearly as often as they have in the past.

You bet WP, most of us agree 100% with that. Hopefully, next year will provide a much better boating season.

[onlywinni]

I wish Mr. Weeks and his cronies would just admit, their real agenda is to:

Eliminate Performance Boats from Winnipesaukee

If they truly cared about Safety a Safe Passage Law is all that is needed. If a performance boat or any vessel is traveling at an unsafe speed for the conditions then the MP have the ability to cite someone.

In any event I have news for Mr. Weeks and his cronies...

Performance Boats and their captains are not going anywhere...this is our lake too


In case people forget..performance boats have been a part of Winni since the early days...

http://www.vintageraceboatshop.com/R...story-1926.htm

[OCDACTIVE]

Originally Posted by onlywinni

I wish Mr. Weeks and his cronies would just admit, their real agenda is to:

Eliminate Performance Boats from Winnipesaukee

If they truly cared about Safety a Safe Passage Law is all that is needed. If a performance boat or any vessel is traveling at an unsafe speed for the conditions then the MP have the ability to cite someone.

In any event I have news for Mr. Weeks and his cronies...

Performance Boats and their captains are not going anywhere...this is our lake too


In case people forget..performance boats have been a part of Winni since the early days...

http://www.vintageraceboatshop.com/R...story-1926.htm

I couldn't agree more.

It is clear and has even been stated by some SL supporters that they do not have an actual problem with speed but with other issues such as noise.

They are using this as a front to move their agenda. It is only matter of time before they start on limits on Horsepower, then "size" of the boat all together. This way to target not only performance boats but cruisers as well.

A shame to say the least.

[Wolfeboro_Baja]

Originally Posted by onlywinni

Performance Boats and their captains are not going anywhere...this is our lake too

True, I'm not going anywhere; as far as I'm concerned, this lake is still the best place to go boating, speed limits or no speed limits. I'll apologize now to anyone who is disturbed by the noise of my boat but remember, my Baja is legal.

Of course, if they're just disturbed, that's they're problem!

Sam, I agree; the first paragraph is all that's needed for the Marine Patrol. I wonder, if the MP could speak their mind publicly, what their position would be?

[VtSteve]

if anyone's read through the buildup of this issue from way back in 2002. You would think that with all the media articles written since then, that the Littlefield accident would have left some fresh memories for people. Perhaps not, since the vast majority of facts from that case are never spoken about, yet it continues to be the fuel for the fire even now.

Facts that are not spoken of.

1) Littlefield was seen by many witnesses at The Meredith Town Docks
He was seen dancing around, by himself, eyes closed.

2) Littlefield was seen at the docks in his boat, fumbling around before leaving.

3) Several witnesses testified at trial that Littlefield had slurred his speech, and was visibly impaired.

4) There were even questions about the victim's stern light, something he had sought to replace according to a marina employee.

5) Littlefield was not convicted of BUI, since he was AWOL for about 48 hours, rendering a blood test useless.

6) The bar that Littlefield was drunk dancing in, and left from, that fateful night, has a direct link to That organization that promotes the SL passage.

7) Littlefield's insurance company disallowed the claims, because "The company said its coverage is barred, however, because it excludes criminal acts. The policy excludes coverage for "any loss, damage or liability willfully, intentionally or criminally caused or incurred by an insured person.''"