EAST CHARLESTON, Vt. (AP) – A rite of summer has come to the shores of Echo Lake, where those who like the speed and excitement of personal watercraft have squared off against those who come to the lake for peace and quiet.

“There’s nothing like it on a hot summer day,” said Carol Piper, a personal watercraft owner who says Echo Lake is one of her favorite places to use the machine.

Mike Vinton, a retired state trooper and state legislator who heads the Echo Lake Association, said he’s used to motorboats and water-skiers. But he said some personal watercraft users abuse what many regular lake users are looking for.

“Solitude is our most treasured aspect,” Vinton said.

Vinton’s association is leading an effort to ban personal watercraft, which include brands like Jet Ski, from the mile-long lake not far from the Canadian border.

A ban took effect this year on Lake Willoughby and authorities caught their first violators last week.

Tuesday night, nearly 50 people turned out for a public hearing in Newport to make their pitches for and against the Echo Lake ban before the state Water Resources Panel, which will take written comments until September.

The debate over the machines has spread from lake to lake around the state. On Lake Willoughby, vacationer and kayak enthusiast Tim Hargy said he was glad for the ban.

“I guess my take on Jet Skis is people who ride them are into the power and speed,” he said. “You might as well have a chain saw while you’re camping out. It’s like a dirt bike without a muffler.”

On Seymour Lake, Elaine Holden was taking her Kawasaki for a ride near her cottage. The machine was quieter than some of the boats on the lake, and did not appear to bother some newborn ducks swimming nearby.

The 64-year-old woman can dock the vessel and haul it up on a hoist by herself.

Watching from the shore, Holden’s neighbor Mary Brainard of Derby, who recently bought her own personal watercraft, said, “I hope we can continue to enjoy it.”