House Boating-Bullards Bar

Doing first house boat trip at Bullards in early August. In the process of making a list, and checking it twice. For those of you who have done houseboat trips was wondering what if any were unexpected costs you didn't account for? Any must bring items that you overlooked and didn't get on your list? Thanks for any input.

We house boated every summer for over 10 years. Best memories and vacations ever. Bullard's is one of my favorite lakes, right up there with Powell.

No real unexpected costs. Bring more food, beer, and booze than you think you could ever consume! Find a good cove/beach and STAY there! Keep that as home base and take your boat out for sightseeing, not the houseboat. We always liked to play some beach games in the late afternoon like bocce or horse shoes. Also an easy up for shade on the beach is nice.

Do you have kids? Ice cream at the gas dock/ marina while you're filling up is always a treat.

Hint: Take a mattress off one of the beds, and sleep on the roof, under the stars. Much better than inside in some bunk!

Oh yeah, did I mention plenty of food, booze, and beer?

Basically what ^^^ said about the booze and beer...

As far as food we always seem to buy too much. I now find the only things that get eaten are whatever can be bbq'd... steaks, hot dogs, hamburgers... cut up some onions and peppers for veggie kabobs.. that usually covers lunch and dinner. Nobody wants to be inside cooking or preparing anything for an extended period of time. Breakfast bacon & eggs or cereal.

Bring lots of water... 5 gallon jugs work best. We usually go through 2 of them for a 4 day trip. Cooking, drinking, making juice, whatever.

I always tack on $5 to the trip and make it for boat supplies. There's usually 20 of us, so that's $100 to spend on plastic cups, paper plates, plastic cutlery.. not the most 'green' way to do it but again, its a vacation, nobody wants to clean. Buy more cups than you think - we always run out, but then again we lose a lot to beer pong. That $100 also will cover paper towels (bring lots of these), cleaning supplies, etc. Also we all bring our own food, so I buy the essentials to cover everyone - one big ketchup/relish/mustard, bbq sauce, milk, butter, salt & pepper, etc.

Stock up on ice - it goes fast.

Don't forget firewood/matches/paper if you are allowed bonfires on the beach.

As far as $$... not many 'extras' will come up on the lake - estimate enough for fuel and you should be good. Just make sure there are no irresponsible people on your boat so you won't have things break and come off your damage deposit.

Here.. I cut and pasted this from my facebook group for this year's trip... may be helpful! Oh yeah, a portable ipod stereo is a must... and a couple tiki torches or citronella torches or something if you have mosquitos. And bug spray!

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THINGS YOU NEED TO BRING:

• Sheets/blankets, pillows, towels, toiletries, clothes, swimsuits, food, booze (lots), some money (poker, booze), a cooler with icepacks, CD’s/Ipod, and outdoor deck chairs (not everyone has to bring one, at least one for every two people though). There is a big supermarket & liquor store in Shuswap you can go to before we set sail, and we do stop by anglemont a couple times to get more supplies. Personally I’ll be buying most of my food up there Friday night before we get the boat. It's so much hassle to buy food and have to haul it all the way up there. A plastic cup with a lid is also great to have for your mixed drinks, keeps the refilling time down. Most of you have already come on this trip before, so I don’t really need to tell you everything again.

THINGS YOU DON’T NEED TO BRING:

• Everybody has paid an extra $5 towards boat supplies. Items I will be bringing are: lots of plastic cups, paper plates, plastic forks/knives, salt & pepper, ketchup, mayo, relish, mustard, bbq sauce, bbq tools, milk, butter, a couple 5 gallon jugs of water with dispenser, garbage bags, paper towels (lots! we go through this stuff like crazy), cleaning supplies, etc. If there is anything else you can think of that should be a ‘boat supply’ just let me know and I will add it to the list.

Great ideas here. Bullards is Awesome.

Don't tell anyone, but we always bring a ton of our own gas. 5 Gallon "off-road" style containers. Usually at least 10 of them. We burn through so much gas going back and forth to the marina to refill that it's crazy. Bringing gas with us saves those trips. The only time we go to the marina is to pick up/drop off people.

Bring lots of beer, drinks, snacks. Also, get a giant cooler and fill it completely with ice. You'll go through it fast.

Playstation or video games are fun during daily down time. Lot's of inflatables. It's great to float around for hours. Music is key. I-pod dock or whatever (we always bring powered P/A speakers so you can hear it when you're floating around. People have fun playing DJ with their I-pods.

Have fun. I wish we had a houseboat trip planned this year. It's just not looking like its in the cards.

nice call on the PA speakers... unfortunately the lake we go to is all government parks so they got banned. No idea why.. the lake is huge, there are certain beaches you go to if you want to party till 5am, if not then there are a ton of other spots to beach for the night. No houses anywhere near the party beaches, not even anywhere close to roads of any type. Apparently houses ACROSS the lake were complaining about the noise.. I guess its pretty loud across the water, over 100 houseboats usually beach at this one area. You actually have to sign a waiver that says you will not bring other speakers on the houseboat (we have every year though).

Last year we had a home receiver and a couple of tall tower home theatre speakers setup... had a great party, but the rangers came out in the morning with a $200 fine.. and threatened to kick us off the lake if we kept them hooked up. No big deal with the $200 (the party was well worth it), but when we got back to the dock the houseboat company tried to fine us another $1500... cause we broke their 'waiver' contract.

Thanks for all the tips! I'm looking forward to this trip. Been trying to put one together for years and it always seemed to fall apart last min. Its on this year. Houseboat is booked and paid!

Priorities (in no particular order):

I'll be at Bullard's tomorrow afternoon until Sunday sometime, yea!

we'll be there this weekend too. Looking like it's going to be pretty nice out there.

Cody... chips, beer, pop, oreos, and..... a can of WD40? I don't know what kind of drinking games you play.... geez!

Never been houseboating at Bullards but during our camping trips up there the past couple of years, it always helped to assign a person or family a different meal of their choice to prepare for everyone during the entire trip. Everyone is happy and full at the same time....Be safe and have fun!

Got back from Bullards last night, what a brutal trip! Stepped out of the truck @ 4PM Wednesday at Schoolhouse and everyone got eaten alive by skeeters, constant skeeters everyday! Cloudy and windy 15-20mph through Saturday, no riding at all. High winds never stopped until late Saturday then lighter wind Sunday! Debris was so bad all over that you couldn't do much anyway. Must have seen at least a dozen boats towed in due to damage. Spent more time floating in coves than anything!