Eau Claire Lakes Topics: Open Letter to Don

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	Name:	The Loner -
	Subject:	Open Letter to Don
	Date:	3/12/2006 11:21:01 AM

Don, I received an email from you. I tried to respond, but my response was returned because of an "invalid return address." But I thought you want want everyone to know what was said, so I am posting my response here.

Sorry, Don, I feel that this bill is the opposite: it is intended to HELP the "poor" people, those who cannot afford to buy the large boats that are needed to enjoy the waters of Lake Martin. No longer will a middle-class family be forced to spend a minimum of $25,000 for a second-hand behemoth (and that $25,000 figure is a dream; the usual prices for a used cruiser are often much, much more) just so they can enjoy Lake Martin along with the more fortunate. If this bill is passed, the waters of Lake Martin will once again be safe for johnboats and small fishing boats, and enjoyable for boats the 17-to-19 footers that, not too many years ago, were considered "big."

As for your attempt to portray these boats as gentle giants that "cruise slowly, create little wakes, and cause no trouble for anybody..." Get real. Perhaps you never leave the confines of Anchor Bay; you should. You see, not everyone is blessed to have a large NO WAKES buoy in front of their lakehouse. Because of that buoy that sits at the mouth of Anchor Bay, you apparently see boats that cruise at idle speed. But out in the lake, that's not the case. Out in the lake, where the rest of us are trying to enjoy ourselves, these boats open it up... to about 1/4 throttle, which (as you should know) creates a huge wake, much bigger than if they were to actually run at cruising speed. (I'm sure many of them would like to go faster, but they probably don't feel comfortable doing so, since the lake is too small and too crowded for boats such as theirs. Small wonder, since such boats are meant for bodies of water much larger than Lake Martin.)

I fully understand your opposition to this bill, since you make a living renting slips to these boats, and selling the gas that fills their large tanks. I won't begrudge you for trying to make a living, though I do wish that more people who live on the lake would spend more time counting their blessings, and less time counting their money. But for you to portray this bill as something to hurt the poor people? Sorry, you are just wrong, and since I know you are not stupid, I have to believe that your misrepresentation is on purpose. That is just plain deceitful, and it sickens me.