This past long weekend Events & Adventures Vancouver members spend four days on a houseboat docking from the Houseboat Capital of Canada—Sicamous, British Columbia. The houseboat rental company we chose was Twin Anchors Houseboats where we booked two houseboats, one that accommodated 15 people and one that held 22. We spent four days slowly making our way along Shuswap Lake, overnighting on beaches in the evening, enjoying some beautiful hikes, a waterfall, and of course a whole lot of swimming.
The first afternoon was a rush. The weather was perfect and apparently the hottest it’s been over this weekend since 1999 (typically it rains or snows for our May long weekend). Being on the water was amazing as we were surrounded by mountains covered with evergreen trees. The first evening was spent getting to know each other while lounging on deck in the warm summer sun. We fired up the kickoff barbecue and got settled as we made our way to our first destination, Marble Point Beach. We also had a theme party the first night with both boats competing for the title of best costume. Our boat had a nautical theme while the other boat’s theme was Gilligan’s Island.
The next day of this long weekend we cruised around the lake to find us sitting mid-lake surrounded by 20 other houseboats.
Each one of them brought their own energy to the lake. One boat was dressed as the band KISS, while another boat had an actual band that was playing a mini-concert for everyone on the lake. The water is pretty cold this time of year, with water temperatures only at 10 degrees Celsius, but that didn’t stop us from taking a dip, sliding down the big slide that went off the back of our boat, and using floaties with a drink in the hand.
We had a big Mexican fiesta the second night with the winners of the costume party winning margaritas with dinner. We docked at Nielsen Beach, also known as the “party beach”, and followed suit by partying the rest of the night away. The third day we made our way to Albas Falls, a five-tier falls accessible by a three kilometer trail. It was a beautiful day and a great timee to get moving around and off the boat.
The best thing about being on the houseboat was really getting to know each other and becoming more like a family rather than some strangers cooped up on a boat. We find that the weekend trips away really bring all the members of Events & Adventures Vancouver together! We can’t wait to see what our Labour Day weekend will bring!