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Course Outline

Boat creating a wake

New Hampshire law states that these dangerous operating practices are illegal.

Unsafe Passage is not maintaining a proper speed or distance while operating a vessel or while towing a person on water skis or any similar device. Specifically, the following operations are illegal:

  • Operating a vessel at greater than headway speed if within 150 feet of:
    • Swimmers
    • Other vessels
    • Rafts or floats
    • Permitted swimming areas
    • Docks or mooring fields
    • The shoreline
  • Operating a vessel at greater than headway speed while passing under a bridge
  • Overtaking another vessel at a distance and speed such that your wake causes danger or damage

Unsafe Wake Crossing is not maintaining contact between a vessel’s hull and the water when crossing a wake. It is illegal for a vessel to become airborne when crossing the wake of another vessel or its own wake.

Speeding is exceeding speed limits or operating at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent, taking into consideration weather and other operating conditions.

  • On Lake Winnipesaukee (located in Belknap and Carroll Counties), the speed limits are:
    • 30 miles per hour maximum between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise
    • 45 miles per hour maximum at all other times
  • On Squam Lakes (located in Belknap, Carroll, and Grafton Counties), the speed limits are:
    • 20 miles per hour maximum between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise
    • 40 miles per hour maximum at all other times
  • For more details on other speed limit restrictions, call the Marine Patrol at 1-877-642-9700.
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