Island Houseboats Inc.

It was my friend and my choice to use “Island House Boats” for a mid August get away with a few of our friends. The weekend started with a burp, arriving at the marina everything seemed like it was going to go to plan. However, before we were able to set sail the battery in our house boat failed. The excitement that was boiling up simmered down at a rapid rate. Jeff ended up pulling through and installed a new battery. The day was ours, or so we thought.

Then the weekend started off with a bang: good weather, awesome views in the north end of the lake and a quiet lake on a Friday afternoon. We were planning on heading back to the marina to pick up two more members of our crew later on in the evening. But for now, the vibes were good. Later on in the day however, as we were headed back to the marina our vessel broke down in a very windy part of the narrows where there is unfortunately little to absolutely no cell service. My friend who I planned the trip with ends up getting a hold of Jeff after a few failed attempts because of the vessels location and in under 20 minutes, Jeff arrives in a smaller boat to tow us back to the marina.

Two and a half hours later, we end up at the marina with our friends from the mainland waiting anxiously for our arrival. The situation was not ideal, but the shared opinion on the boat was that this was only a blip. Prior to getting towed back to the marina, the information we were given was that Jeff was going to check out our vessel back at the marina and if there wasn’t a fix to be seen, a mechanic would see us in the morning.

The party went on through the night and we were excited to get back on the water the next day. The mechanic was set to arrive early in the AM and besides the day that we had just had we were going to be cruising on the water all day the next day with our buddies. It is sad to say however that this was not the case. In Jeff’s attempt to get a mechanic to the marina he was told that the mechanic had broken down on the way to fix the boat. The tension in the boat immediately shifted as we decided where the rest of the weekend was going to take us. Were we going home, camping at one of the fully reserved spots on the lake, or staying on a vessel stuck in the marina?

We ended up brokering a deal with Jeff of Island House Boats to get a full refund for the weekend, and because we had a few guys come from the mainland with no where to stay that night, we were able to stay on the broken vessel overnight. The mood lifted quite a bit after that, and even though it broke our hearts that we would not be cruising the lake in the boat we were happy the boys were together.

In conclusion, Jeff dealt with the situation in a way that benefited both parties. We were able to stay at the well equipped marina for two nights, still live life on a “party barge” and enjoy telling the passers by that “our boat broke down.” All in all, it’s a story to tell the kids about.

Highly recommend !!
Jeff took it upon himself to extend their season so I could surprise my wife with our Houseboating wedding anniversary on Lake Cowichan. Thanks again Jeff.
We’ll definitely be back !!

Quite an expensive trip, be aware that there are lots of hidden expenses- like paying for your own gas and sewage. Those are extremely necessary to a boating trip so we were surprised at those not being included. Also the boat was very old and a bit grubby. Fantastic experience but not good value for money.

Can't recommend these guys enough! We had an unbelievable time on the Harvest Moon. Jeff was so accommodating, even ferrying some of the people from our group back out to the boat when we needed to make a stop in town. Super responsive and reliable all the way throughout the booking process as well as our time out on the water.

Had a wonderful time on houseboat. Beautiful weather. Houseboat met all our needs. Any glitches were taken care of by Jeff who was very accommodating and helpful. Would definitely repeat the experience.