Originally Posted by Huntingwhale
Ah houseboating. Everyone should do it at least once in their lifetime. But be prepared to see some messed up things and your friendships will be pushed to the limits with those you go with. Some tips that I learned:
-If you are the person who pays for the deposit, registration, etc, be prepared to lose a lot of money. It's easy to take into account on how to split the costs prior to leaving, but you have to pay for gas when you return the boat. That is at least a couple hundred dollars, and by then most people won't pay you back. Basically, don't be the guy to book it all unless you are prepared to lose money.
-We went during slow season (beginning of May) and while it wasn't as warm, we got an incredible deal, free upgrade (7 of us upgraded to the 15 man boat), and the Schuswap Lake wasn't too busy. We had beaches by ourselves most nights.
-Get a fishing license if you plan on fishing at all. They came around and checked us every single day. Luckily we all had one, but you don't want to get busted without one.
-I brought my turntables, speakers, and managed to hook it up all in the boats sound system. It was a travelling rave boat the while time and everyone around us was extremely jealous.
-Make sure you know how to tie the boat down at night (Watch the video!). Apparently, while I was passed out in a drunken ecstacy-fueled sleep, the boat was actually on the beach sideways at one points at 5am while 4 drunk friends tried to straighten it out. I didn't wake up at all, but I heard all about it the next day. It was a complete nightmare apparently.
-There is a step ladder on the end of the boat. Make sure it's latched on! I was wearing all my clothes, sunglasses, watch ,etc, and leaned on the ladder thinking it would support me. I fell into the water at the boat was moving and could have easily been sliced into a thousands pieces. Lost my sunglasses and my wallet and phone were soaked.
-We found it best to have only 1 captain (driver), as he was able to learn how to drive the boat properly. If we would have had a new driver everyday who had to learn how to use the thing, we would have been screwed.
-As someone said already, have one person cook for everyone on scheduled shifts. Made life easier for one person to cook, the others clean, and others get to relax.
Houseboating was easily one of the funnest times I've ever had. I found it best to go during slow season. We got a free upgrade, paid half of what we would have paid, and it wasn't crowded. I can't imagine the chaos that would happen if the whole damn lake would have been packed. Great times though.
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