Reprinted from Where to in the Lakes Region of NH
If you are interested in boating as a pleasure, means
to go where the fish are or just a means of transportation,
come to New Hampshire's Lakes Region. Ever since the
Indian and his birch bark canoe explored the shining
waters there has been a steady increase in the number
and variety of water craft.
The New Hampshire Public Service Commission in the early
20th century commenced a program of navagational aids.
Buoys now mark channels in all the larger bodies of water, and flashing
buoys are seldom out of sight at night. The Commission
governs and controls lake traffic, and is supported by
modest license fee for all motor craft.
Motorboating on the lakes has a long and colorful history,
starting with small steam launches and horse boats, (propelled
by a horse on a treadmill), and developing through the naptha launch
stage to modern outboards, pleasure boats, fast runabouts
and cabin cruisers. The cabin cruiser on inland waters
was once a cause for scorn on the part of the salt water
man, but there is an ever increasing number of families
who come to Winnipesaukee and live on their boats. One
group in particular is the Winter Harbor Yacht Club,
who feature group cruises, rendezvousing at some predetermined
anchorage perhaps twenty miles from their home base,
staying over night and having dinner the next day at
some lake shore inn.
However, it doesn't take a chrome-plated cruiser burining
umpty-gallons of gas an hour to have real enjoyment on
the lakes. Anyone with a model 1903 Water Weasel outboard hung on the transom
of twelve foot Rears and Sawbuck skiff is in for all
the fun of exploring hundreds of islands, sandy beaches
and isolated coves. You can go back to the canoe of the
Indian (we've found through sad experience how easy it
is to put your foot through birch bark, so we recommend
a standard wood and canvas one or perhaps one of the
new tangled aluminum jobs) to go gliding along as silently
as Hiawatha.
Sailing has progressed by leaps and bounds in popularity
in the last few years. It is safe to say that there are
over three hundred sailboats on Lakes Ossipee, Winnisquam,
Winnipesaukee, P'augus, Newfound, Squam, Wentworth, Great
East, Mirror, Crescent, Merrymeeting, and Rust Pond.
Class boats range from Snipes, Comets, Winnipesaukee
One Designs (built by the Winnipesaukee Yacht Club in
1938) sixteen-foot and eighteen foot Winn-abouts, Lightning
and Stars, to thirty-foot auxiliary cutters.
The Winnipesaukee Yacht Club, which sponsors sailing
races every Sunday in the summer, was founded as a sailing
club in 1937. A clubhouse was started in 1938, finished
in 1939 at Varney Point in Gilford, and in 1943 a new
site was purchased at Dockham Shore, for a more elaborate
clubhouse and lockers for members. While the highly competitive
Sunday races appeal to the younger sailors, many of the
married couples have found the overnight cruises fun.
Anywhere from eight to twenty boats will start out Saturday
afternoon, and the crews will spend Saturday night ashore,
camping out, or, if their boats have sleeping accommodations,
they stay on board for the night. Sunday sees a continuation
to some destination, where short races may be held, and
then return Sunday night. Of course there are the purists,
who refuse to carry an outboard motor in case the wind
goes down, but they can usually be persuaded to be taken
in tow by someone who has a "stink-pot."
Fastest lake sport is iceboating in the winter. My,
you say, that must be awfully dangerous! Well, people
have iceboated for we-don't-know-how-many-years and we have yet to hear of a really
serious accident. The Abenaki Outing Club of Wolfeboro
sponsors its iceboating division, and sailing speeds
of sixty to eighty miles per hour are not uncommon. (As
a matter of fact there is a dispute on as to whether
the existing iceboat speed record is 130 or 136 miles
per hour.) This, of course, is the sailing iceboat and
not any mechanically driven affair. The newer boats are
built with airplane type fuselages and protected cockpits,
so the crew is really quite comfortable when equipped
with helmet, goggles and windproof clothing. Verily,
this sport is "Wings on Ice."
