Boaters heed warnings

Photo: Alanna Kelly

Boats were few and far between on Okanagan Lake over the long weekend.

It seems boaters heeded warnings issued by the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre to stay off Okanagan Lake.

Despite temperatures nudging towards 30C over the long weekend, there was a noticeable absence of boats on the big lake.

And, those that were on the lake were, for the most part, respectful of lakefront property precariously close to flooding.

RCMP said they were prepared to ticket boat operators who drove their vessels too fast, too close to shore.

Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey says police in West Kelowna received a few reports of boaters allegedly producing excessive wake in and around the Kelowna and West Kelowna area.

"The boaters in each case were either not located or ticketed as a result of insufficient information available to locate the vessels or their alleged actions were not believed to meet the threshold to be considered unsafe, or careless in nature," said O'Donaghey.

Officials with the EOC say boating is still not recommended on Central Okanagan lakes as water levels continue to rise.

There's also a vast amount of floating and submerged debris and docks.

Those who do venture onto lakes are asked to keep speeds down to avoid causing a wake that could be detrimental to lakefront properties.