Weirs channel on the 4th

[BroadHopper]

I really find a lot of enjoyment off the lake by watching all the commotions at the public launch ramps. Great place to people watch and see a lot of chaos without having to be or get involved. There are occasions my trusty little Dakota will tow a big a$$ tow vehicle from the lake!

Not bad for free entertainment! Beats the whacko comedy shows on TV!

[Par Four]

I can't seem to find the picture I was looking for that showed the insane conjestion in the Weirs channel from a 4th of July of years past (an image taken from a boat in the south end of the channel looking north), but I did come across this picture that a friend had sent to me from years past, also showing 4th of July activity on the lake...

I'm sure we've all been out there on days like this one... they're great days to find a cove or a sandbar and toss out the anchor and watch & enjoy.

[Broken Glass]

When I went out fishing on Tuesday morning at 05:30 I knew that the channel was going to be a mess when the traffic picked up. The current was almost 3 MPH under the bridge. The boaters and jet-skiers that tried to make it through the channel with their throttles on the idle stops were not even making headway. It's my opinion that the knee jerk reactions from MP when a boat goes by in a no wake zone at 3-4 MPH while putting up a very small wake, has operators reluctant to add throttle when needed. Boaters are so afraid to touch their throttles in the channel that when more throttle is necessary to maintain steerage, kayos prevails. On a dead calm day, with no current, an idle is safe and appropriate in a no wake zone. When it is windy, and there is a 3 MPH current in a narrow channel, safe headway should be the rule of the day.

Happy Fourth of July!!
Dan

[BroadHopper]

I strongly suggested in the past that Headway speed signs should be posted in channels so that people won't feel guilty going with or against a current.

No wake should only be posted in No Wake areas where there is no currents.

This is kind of a no brainer idea but the NH legislature seem to show no brains

[HellRaZoR004]

The flow of water through the channel this weekend was moving. Increasing the throttle was the only way to make headway, and I'll also add that in doing so it did create a wake....no other alternative.

[Resident 2B]

Originally Posted by HellRaZoR004

The flow of water through the channel this weekend was moving. Increasing the throttle was the only way to make headway, and I'll also add that in doing so it did create a wake....no other alternative.

Amen!! Maintaining control has to be the top priority.

R2B

[suge]

Originally Posted by Par Four

I can't seem to find the picture I was looking for that showed the insane conjestion in the Weirs channel from a 4th of July of years past (an image taken from a boat in the south end of the channel looking north), but I did come across this picture that a friend had sent to me from years past, also showing 4th of July activity on the lake...

I'm sure we've all been out there on days like this one... they're great days to find a cove or a sandbar and toss out the anchor and watch & enjoy.

Attachment 8059

Here is one from the previous weekend on Sat 6/29

[pjard]

I bet 3 out of every 4 boats are going through, just to go throug and "be seen". C'mon, we're all guilty!

[Rich]

I tried to stay clear of the channel from the 3rd to the end of the weekend, but Sunday evening (the 7th) I had to come though the channel at about 4:30 PM heading into Paugus bay.

I knew it would be crazy, and I was right! It looked busier than the photo above! I tried to leave extra space in front of me in case I had to react to something. Of course, everyone kept cutting in front of me. Oh a special thanks to the para-sailing boat that tried to pass me on the right as we were entering the channel while going by Weirs beach. There wasn't enough room, but he appeared to want to pass me. Normally I would have just slowed and let him by, but I knew the current wouldn't allow for this.

As we're going under the bridge, the pontoon boat that was 2 boats in front of me seemed to decide at the last minute that he would stop for fuel at Thurstons. He seemed to stop and try to come back to Thurstons so that he was heading into the current as he pulled into their dock (or the current just took him further than he expected). As others have said, the current was particularly strong as the dam was probably fully open trying to control the high lake level (checking the data chart for the dam, I see the dam flow was about 1789 CFS at this time). With large number of boats in the channel, and the current as strong as it was, this was not the time to try to stop for gas at this particular time.

Then the pontoon boat started skidding sideways due to the current.

All the other boats stopped and tried to wait for him. Then everyone started to skid sideways. There was a police boat there too, he just turned on his blue lights (thanks, that helped a lot!).

I sounded my horn and tried to tell people not to stop, but i didn't help. I'm not sure what was going on behind me, as I was focused on where my boat was headed and what those in front of me (and to the side of me) were doing.

While shifting my twins forward and reverse to try to hold position (it wasn't going well), my port engine quit! Perhaps I was shifting too fast? It had never done this before and I didn't notice it at first until I saw that the boat wasn't following my commands. I furiously tried to start the engine, and wondered why it wouldn't start, until I noticed it was still in gear.

I came much too close to the rocks and thought I was going to lose my props, but I finally started the engine and got the boat in position again after being perpendicular to the channel.

I'm surprised the police boat didn't ask people to keep moving.

I'm sure we gave everyone in the area a good show! I had to change my shorts three times after that!

To anyone that saw this, I'm sure they wondered what happened, I'm not sure what it looked like to someone that wasn't in the middle of it at the time.

[BroadHopper]

Thurston's is a very bad spot. I have seen far too many boaters try to do U turns, run in etc. to get to the gas dock. Worst are the rental boats, they come in and out as they please and I have witness a good number of collisions in my days. I even lost an SS prop and bent my prop shaft because some rental boat pulled out of Thurston, caught the swift current and panic, sending the pontoon boat down the channel sideways into an already packed Channel. The marine patrol was no help as they did a lousy job of directing traffic and instead of assisting the newbie what to do, he was screaming into the bull horn to get out of the channel. You can well aware the chaos, I believe this was a decade ago. A number of boaters caught in the melee did stop at Thurston's to spoke their mind but the management was no where to be found.

Some things never change, until God forbid someone gets hurt.

[Happy Gourmand]

Seems pretty easy to understand how a new boater (read RENTER) could become confused and intimidated trying to maneuver across traffic in a moving current on a busy day.
Thankfully, everybody is at headway speed or below so a collision would probably not cause any serious injury. Worst case, just pull the throttle and you will float downstream with the current. Yup, this can cause a lot of anxious moments but it wouldn't be too difficult to keep the offender away from your boat with a pole at that slow speed. Not that you want to have to.

[Grove84]

My family and I have been boating on the lake for 15 years and while we always know it is going to take 45 minutes to get through the Weirs during the holiday, it is one thing to sit and wait patiently , but to get cut off by PWC due to them not want to wait, just makes it more aggravating. So to end a perfect day on the water, we had a family member breakdown on the lake to be told that Tow US would take 4.5 hours to tow them back. So we headed on over with our Formula to two them back. Well unless I am mistaken a boat towing another boat should have right of way, well got cut off 3 times by other boaters that could not see the bright white two rope or my blasting my horn at them... But, the best part of the day was being on the lake with family and friends, enjoying what we all love, boating and the big lake

[SIKSUKR]

Speaking of towing,it must be real interesting towing a boat through the Weirs channel with a lot of traffic and a fast current pushing you.Might be better to have the disabled boat in front.

[NH_boater]

I bet it is 20:1 or 30:1 good boaters to bad, but the bad ones can really challenge your great day on the lake. It used to bother me much more, like bad road drivers, now I try to accept it, forget it and remain calm. These boneheads are not worth losing my great day on the water with friends and family.

I try just to shake my head, then shake it off. Or so I try...

[ITD]

I'm trying to figure out how you get cut off at the channel. If you are approaching from Eagle Island direction and another boat approaches from Weirs docks, the boat from the Weirs has the right of way. Confused here.....

[Rich]

Originally Posted by ITD

I'm trying to figure out how you get cut off at the channel. If you are approaching from Eagle Island direction and another boat approaches from Weirs docks, the boat from the Weirs has the right of way. Confused here.....

If you were referring to my almost 'incident', I believe that I was already in the channel with barely more than a boats beam and a half clearance on my Starboard side towards the Weirs side of the channel. The para-sailling boat looked like he wanted to overtake me and pass me on the Starboard side, which in my opinion was very unsafe to do at the moment. I held my speed and course and luckily the channel got too narrow before he could pass me.

But it sure looked like he was thinking hard about trying to pass me, or at least ride my stern much too closely through the channel.

I was too hyper-focused on the boats in front of me to notice what happened to the boats behind or approaching me on the port side.

If anyone else on the forum saw this incident, I shure would love to hear how it looked from someone that didn't have their shorts wet and their heart in their throat as mine were at the time! Feel free to PM me if you don't want to share the details here.

[NHskier]

We rent a slip at Thurston's with a prime view of the channel and happened to be working on our boat when this occurred. From our angle it was very difficult to figure out what the heck was going on between your cruiser, the parasail boat, whatever the MP was trying to accomplish, and random others. And of course all that while the current was running like crazy.

That was only one of the crazy incidents during the latter part of the afternoon! In another case, a disabled boat was being towed up from Paugus by another pleasure craft. As they got near the gas dock the towing boat dumped the tow line and headed off, leaving the disabled boat essentially adrift off the end of the gas dock!!! (At the very least, it was no longer in the worst of the current.) One of the attendants actually jumped in the water, grabbed the tow rope, and pulled the boat into the service area. It's my understanding she got a rather generous tip.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by NHskier

We rent a slip at Thurston's with a prime view of the channel and happened to be working on our boat when this occurred. From our angle it was very difficult to figure out what the heck was going on between your cruiser, the parasail boat, whatever the MP was trying to accomplish, and random others. And of course all that while the current was running like crazy.

That was only one of the crazy incidents during the latter part of the afternoon! In another case, a disabled boat was being towed up from Paugus by another pleasure craft. As they got near the gas dock the towing boat dumped the tow line and headed off, leaving the disabled boat essentially adrift off the end of the gas dock!!! (At the very least, it was no longer in the worst of the current.) One of the attendants actually jumped in the water, grabbed the tow rope, and pulled the boat into the service area. It's my understanding she got a rather generous tip.

Thanks for the feedback.

Wow jumping in the water with all those spinning props and strong current. I can't say I would have done the same thing.

[BroadHopper]

In the past I have witnessed beach goers swimming or wading in the channel along the Endicott Rock shore. I have also witness PWC boarding along the wall as well. With the swift current and slippery rocks and a busy day, I can imagine a horrible scene.

[NHskier]

Originally Posted by Rich

Thanks for the feedback.

Wow jumping in the water with all those spinning props and strong current. I can't say I would have done the same thing.

She was inside the marina area at that point and was well away from any traffic, so was in no danger from any props. That area is also sheltered from the current by the gas dock itself so she wasn't really fighting it. With the way it was running that day I very much doubt anyone could have pulled a boat against it.

[jrc]

That channel doesn't have a lot of room for error especially when you have holiday crowds, a big boat and a strong current. Since everyone makes errors, everyone was lucky to get out unscathed when someone made an error in his path.

Some people might need a refresher on boating rules of the road. There are no rules granting right of way or special privileges to boats towing. Obviously it would be courteous to give way to someone in need.

Assuming both boats are under power, there is no rule to give way to a boat on you starboard unless you are crossing. Two boats heading towards the channel are not crossing, so crossing rules don't apply. The boat in front should stand-on, the boat in back would be overtaking and that's a give-way position.

Of course, the Phantom Gourmand has the best attitude and rules.

[hig]

Originally Posted by NH_boater

I bet it is 20:1 or 30:1 good boaters to bad, but the bad ones can really challenge your great day on the lake.

I don't think so, at least not that weekend. I was not out on the boat a lot, but most of the boats that crossed my path were oblivious to or at least had total disregard for the right of way rules.

And this was around Rattlesnake, not at the weirs.

[Happy Gourmand]

Talking to a lot of other boaters and by personal experience, that weekend was particularly ugly. Boats all over the place going in every which direction, churning the area of the Weirs and other places into virtual washing machines.
I'm never in a real hurry to get anywhere by boat, so if you cut me out it's no big deal even if I have to pull back on my throttle to let you pass in front of me. I won't get upset, I won't piss and moan and I won't rant about it in a way that will affect my attitude.
Some time ago, in this forum, I outlined the rules I follow when in the boat that apply to at least 95% of any situations that come up.

1. I never have the right of way
2. In the case of an exception, see rule #1
3. Enjoy all the "Precious Moments" that boating affords me. ( That's the name of my boat )