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That 'no wake' buoy placement on Winnipesaukee has me scratching my head
I was out on the lake last weekend near Wolfeboro and watched three boats in a row get yelled at by some guy on a dock for throwing too big a wake. But here's the thing, the town put the 'no wake' buoy like 50 feet past the actual shallow zone where it matters. I've been boating here 12 years and that buoy has been in the same spot since I started. Shouldn't someone from the town come move it so people actually know where to slow down? Has anyone else noticed this kind of thing on their local lake?
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emery8792mo ago
Called the town office about this exact issue on a different lake a couple years back. They told me the buoy placement has to be approved by the state and moving it even a few feet takes a permit and a survey. So that buoy sitting 50 feet past the shallow zone is probably just the way it's been since the permit was issued. What worked for me was getting a group of us who boat there regularly to write a letter to the town selectmen with photos of the actual shallow area versus the buoy location. They actually got the state to come out and reassess, moved it three months later. Might be worth rallying your neighbors on the dock who keep yelling at people.
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jamiekim2mo ago
Yeah, that "50 feet past the actual shallow zone" thing is all too common. I dealt with the same crap on Sebago a few years back. We had a buoy sitting right at the edge of a deep channel instead of the actual shallow bar where you need to slow down, and people kept getting yelled at by waterfront owners. The trick is to take a GPS photo of the shallow area and the buoy, then go to your town's harbor master or parks department directly. Also, check if your lake has a volunteer patrol group - the one on Sebago helped push the state to move ours after we showed them the difference on a depth map. Just don't expect it to happen fast, ours took about two months.
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mark_cooper2mo ago
jamiekim made a good point about taking GPS photos and going to the harbor master. Sounds like half the battle is just getting the right people to look at the actual depth map. A couple of us could probably split the gas money for a trip to the town office with that evidence in hand.
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