HB162 scuttled by full Senate....

[Skip]

....the full Senate voted this morning to kill HB162 15 to 9.

Many more details will obviously unfold in the upcoming hours & days....

Skip

[Seaplane Pilot]

Originally Posted by Skip

....the full Senate voted this morning to kill HB162 15 to 9.

Many more details will obviously unfold in the upcoming hours & days....

Skip

Thank God. Now we can focus on Ice Out.

[Cal]

Ok............

[BroadHopper]

All this publicity gave Lake Winnipesaukee a bad rap. I don't think everyone realize the seriousness of this issue. I hear talks about this as far away as Colorado.
This is not the time to celabrate or throw up our hands in disrepair. But rather learn some lessons and hopefully everyone will be respectful and courteous on the lake from here on. This will go along way to building up the true perspective of our great lake. It is for the enjoyment of all people.
Amen.

[Steve]

Just caught this on WMUR. Nice.

[Island Lover]

Well we all fought the good fight and the Senate made its choice.

I hope the process has increased awareness of the lakes problems.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by Island Lover

Well we all fought the good fight and the Senate made its choice.

I hope the process has increased awareness of the lakes problems.

Excellent observation & attitude.....I agree with you 110%!

Hopefully everyone can unwind quickly over this issue and move on to all the positive things that make the Lakes Region the great place that it is!

Skip

[GWC...]

Less negative energy and more positive energy would be nice.

I'd even vote for that...

[SBC]

I'm glad that's over with. Let us now hope that HB 1463 gets the same treatment. The only part that has anything remotely close to considertion is the ban on Nav type lights on shore but the NH Traffic dept will have to do some big changes to those traffic lights. I hate it when I'm coming into Meredith Bay and think that boat is zig-zagging not to mentions the reverse traveling port sided ones. OOPs, that was the traffic on the street!

[SIKSUKR]

Ok,that house bill sure did stir up a hornets nest for quite a while.Now lets work on the real issue of safety on the lake and that's stopping the capt boneheads who don't have a clue about the 150 safe passage law.I wonder if we could work with the marine patrol to report offenders tag numbers and have them recorded so these boats could be issued if not citations,then at least be made aware they are not operating in compliance with NH inland navigational rules.The MP,just like your local police,need more eyes out there.I for one have said all along that the one big problem I have on Winni is the violaters of the safe passage.I truely beleive most of the offenders don't even know they are doing anything wrong.Twice last year and twice the year before I had encounters with family boats who when I motioned for them to move away from me,waved back like I was saying hi.I must admit that I wasn't familiar with the 150ft rule until 6 years ago when I was riding my pwc at a friends place in Gilford,and he let me know pretty quick what I was doing wrong.That stuck in my head ever since.So let's celebrate quietly and work to improve where the problems REALLY lie.

[Quilt Lady]

Now that the dust is settling, does anyone know if the Marine Patrol can do anything if you happen to catch a . . . ah, moron on videotape? We sit on our deck and watch the idiots misbehave. Just wondered if it would be worthwhile to tape some of their antics.

I'm hoping that all the attention the speed limit bill has generated will help enlighten people to the "rules of the road". Hopefully, the responsible owners of certain boats will take their misbehaving companions aside and tell them to shape up.

[SIKSUKR]

Here's an article from WMUR's website http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/8061559/detail.html

[ITD]

Good news, I agree we should all try to put the negativity behind us. We shouldn't forget about some of the issues raised however. Boat responsibly and use common sense. Most of the issues would disappear if everyone was just courteous. No one has mentioned noise in this thread yet, the Be Loud portion of GFBL should just disappear. The lake is surrounded by thousands of homes and used by thousands more boats that don't need to listen to loud boats AT ANY TIME. The issues with the camp children should be addressed, extended swim lines maybe? We need a mechanism where a group of people dedicated to the lake study, vet and perfect these bills before they are handed over to these legislators. Hopefully some good will come out of this.

[Skip]

Quilt Lady raises an interesting point....

Yes, you can videotape miscreants on public waters from your own boat, property or other venue. You can also submit that tape to the MPs. But you will have to sign a formal complaint as the witness to the event and to confirm the validity of the tape. You will need to be able to positively identify those person(s) you are signing the complaint against.

And quite frankly, given how shorthanded we all seem to agree that particular agency is, you must expect that the tape should contain a grievous violation for them to expend the hours necessary to track down and identify operators, verify tape authenticity, draw up and then have complaint & warrants served, conduct interviews/investigations etc.

You can't just turn over a tape (or make a phone call) on something you witnessed and then believe that the MPs can issue a summons or arrest based on third hand information.

One thing I have noted is that the simple highly visible presence of a camcorder or a camera does get people's attention and in many cases causes them to cease their deviant ways (or at least move them out of camera range).

Hope this helped answer your question....

Skip

[DRH]

Originally Posted by Skip

One thing I have noted is that the simple highly visible presence of a camcorder or a camera does get people's attention and in many cases causes them to cease their deviant ways (or at least move them out of camera range).

Skip

Interesting, Skip ... as I was reading your last post about "deviant ways" I happened to look out our window and see two snowmobilers skimming over open water. They did it first near the "Castle" on the southern side of Sleepers Island, and then a second time as they were entering Minge Cove. The open water at the mouth of Minge Cove is the very spot where a sled went into the drink on March 5.

[Quilt Lady]

that's exactly what I wanted to know. I knew you'd have the answer for me!

[WT-RXT]

I'm glad the NH Senate realized a speed limit would be extremely difficult to enforce as well as not the answer to reckless boating. There are enough existing laws that need to be enforced.

Hopefully, this controversy has raised awareness for everyone to be sensitive of other lake users and residents and act accordingly.

Fast is fun, but there is a time and a place!

[JK47]

Great news!

[Airwaves]

Island Lover wrote:
Well we all fought the good fight and the Senate made its choice.

I hope the process has increased awareness of the lakes problems.

Here Here!

Now, how about we all focus on ideas of ways to give the NH Marine Patrol the resources that I think most of us believe they currently lack.

[Rayhunt]

Just put a MP boat manned or unmanned at all the busy spots ... It always amazes me at the shenanigans that take place right in front of the MP docks.
But when theres one floating around , everyones on there best behavior

[fatlazyless]

Oh no.............it got deep sixed by 15-9 and the repub-dem breakdown is 16-8, so only one Repub Senator, Carl Johnson, voted in favor of HB 162. But, what does he know about Lake Winnipesaukee? He's only been living on the lake since 1957. Well, with the next election in November, if the repub-dem senator count makes any dramatic change, then you can just guess what will be back. Ark, it's back, just like that friendly white shark from the 1976 movie Jaws....da da da da da da.

In the mean time between now and whenever, a good pyschiatrist is way too expensive so it's off to the Centre Harbor state liquor store for a bottle of Jenkins Tequila, the good stuff, and made in New Hampshire, somewhere too.

Bottoms up & down the hatch!

[GWC...]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Oh no.............it got deep sixed....da da da da da da.

In the mean time between now and whenever, a good pyschiatrist is way too expensive so it's off to the Centre Harbor state liquor store for a bottle of Jenkins Tequila, the good stuff, and made in New Hampshire, somewhere too.

Bottoms up & down the hatch!

Surprised you did not venture to your wine cellar for a vintage bottle of Gallo Ripple.

[Cal]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Oh no.............it got deep sixed by 15-9 and the repub-dem breakdown is 16-8, so only one Repub Senator, Carl Johnson, voted in favor of HB 162. But, what does he know about Lake Winnipesaukee? He's only been living on the lake since 1957. Well, with the next election in November, if the repub-dem senator count makes any dramatic change, then you can just guess what will be back. Ark, it's back, just like that friendly white shark from the 1976 movie Jaws....da da da da da da.

In the mean time between now and whenever, a good pyschiatrist is way too expensive so it's off to the Centre Harbor state liquor store for a bottle of Jenkins Tequila, the good stuff, and made in New Hampshire, somewhere too.

Bottoms up & down the hatch!

Now , now , now , lets not have any BWI young man. At your blistering pace of 38 mph you could do a lot of damage

[Airwaves]

How can we all address the issues addressed by the debate? The debate, In My Humble Opinion (IMHO) was very very good.

What it did was bring out the opinions of all sides of the speed limit issue, and what I think happened is that we exposed problems on the lake that have not been addressed until now.

The underlying problem (IMHO) is the limited ability of the New Hampshire Marine Patrol to enforce law.

So give me this one....how do we improve NHMP?

[Audiofn]

Simple as I see it. Get more funding for the MP's. With a larger presence on the water they can effect more change.

Also I know that Boat US often times funds boater safty drives. This drive could come in the form of signs at launch ramps that let people know of things like the 150 foot rule and such. I know not all do but when ever I go out on a new lake I ask people about local knowledge stuff.

Jon

[Rinkerfam]

I'm glad to see that nobody has stooped to posting about who won or who lost today. There is still much work to be done to make New Hampshires waterways (particularly its larger lakes) safer. I'm just thankful that the Senate realized that the State already has laws in place to protect the boating public. Education and enforcement of these existing laws will go a long way to make the overall boating experience in New Hampshire more enjoyable. We all (no matter what type of vessel we operate) shoulder the responsibility of conducting ourselves in a "reasonable and prudent" manner. I truly believe that education is a more powerful tool than increased regulation. I also believe that if the boating public and the Marine Patrol work together things will steadily improve.