Mark Pastir: Wakeboard boats should be restricted to center of larger lakes

To The Daily Sun,

An open letter to ALL of our state representatives:

I live in a Lake Winnipesaukee access community on Winter Harbor in Wolfeboro. Over the past few years, the boats at our dock have been pounded and damaged by the huge waves created by wakeboard boats. Just this week our community raft, newly reinforced last year, was ripped loose by HUGE wakeboard boat waves and was washed into docked boats. My grand-kids are sad because they cannot use the raft until it is re-anchored and reinforced. I fear the loon nesting stations are being swamped by waves.

I am a member of the Loon Preservation Committee. Are we not trying to preserve and enhance our majestic loon population? Wakeboard boats fill their "ballast" tank, so that they can plow more water and make bigger waves. They can also take in water, with blue-green algae/bacteria, milfoil, etc.. They can also empty their tanks at will, in different areas, which could be an environmental problem. Their waves are ocean-like!

I spoke to a Marine Police officer who said that when he issued a safety warning to a wakeboard boat driver he thought the waves might swamp his Marine Patrol boat. He felt that the Marine Police need enforceable laws regarding wakeboard boats. The damage to our lakes and lakeshore property is ongoing and, as a former instructor of Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Environmental Science, I firmly believe that thoughtful measures need to be taken NOW.

I suggest that wakeboarding not be allowed in Winter Harbor, or any other narrow areas of Lake Winnipesaukee or other N.H. lakes. I suggest that wakeboarding only take place in The Broads of Lake Winnipesaukee and in the center or in the largest expanse of water on other N.H. lakes. This will reduce damage to property and improve the quality of life for shore residents and wildlife.

Thank you for your consideration of this ongoing multifaceted destructive situation. Please let me know when and what you all plan to do to rectify the problem. Thank you all for your efforts on our behalf.

Mark Pastir

Wolfeboro