No matter what you are doing, there always seems to be those people who need to take it to the extreme. And so it goes with the boats on Shuswap Lake.
Each year it seems the number of exceedingly noisy, powerful high-speed cigar and wake boats increases. But what has remained unchanged are the regulations governing boating on the lake. There are no rules on the size, horsepower or speed on the lake. The sole exception is a speed limit in place at the Cinnemousun Narrows.
Okanagan Lake has a ban on cigar boats, which can be in excess of 32-feet long with high speed power and the associated noise, often compared to a jet engine.
While residents and tourists are accustomed to the noise produced by speedboats and jet skis, the cigar and wake boats are so ear-splitting it brings up the question whether the owners are more interested in the boat’s “look-at-me” factor than any type of enjoyment of the Shuswap’s natural beauty.
But more than the noise, the high speeds these boats can attain mean they are also a greater safety concern than other types of watercraft. It might well be time for the Shuswap to consider a boat ban as well. Cigar boat owners are the few and they can dampen the enjoyment of the many lake users.