In Penticton, you know it's full-on summer when the channel is clogged with floaties. It wasn't quite clogged today, but spurred on by an unadvertised one-day "soft opening" of floatie rental business Coyote Cruises and a 30-degree afternoon, it was getting there.
Coyote is currently in the midst of a critical process with the City of Penticton. If they can score a lengthy lease on the property that has for so long housed their rental building at the start of the channel, they'll be plunking some serious bucks, and serious upgrades, into the entire experience - from one end to the other.
But in the meantime, they haven't been sitting around twiddling their collective thumbs. There's a new partnership in charge at Coyote Cruises - formed by the Penticton Indian Band's K'ul Group, the owners of LocoLanding Adventure Park, and Derek George of Boston Pizza - and they're not playing the wait and see game.
The rental buildings are already painted. Gone is the questionable yellow scheme of earlier years in favour of a striated rock effect courtesy of noted local artist and painter Johann Wessels. It's a huge - and much needed - enhancement. As are the revamped washrooms.
And today Coyote showed off some of its other enhancements, the most immediately obvious of which was a brand new fleet of floaties.
"We have all brand new commercial-grade floaties this year," said Diana Stirling of LocoLanding, who was very much hands-on today, along with Derek George.
"We have singles, doubles, quads, whatever anybody would like. They have back rests, drink cup holders, they don't get as hot as the old ones did."
They're colourful too, especially compared with the all-black roster of yesteryear. And they certainly seems durable, though we didn't put them through a torture test.
"The main reason we got doubles and quads is so that people don't tie their inflatables together. On the channel, tying tubes is a safety risk. But now, if you're a couple, we've got a double. Two couples, we've got a quad."
But the floatie getting the most love today, and rightfully so, was the "Party Island" - a beast of a boat with enough space to seat a billion people. Okay, a billion is a little strong, but there was a group of 11 taking it out just as we arrived. And they all had plenty of room to move.
Stirling also sang the praises of the new Coyote Cruises bus service. "Our buses are running on a schedule this year. They pick up at the mid and end points, depending on where you want to get out. And they're on a 20-minute schedule."
Meanwhile over at the renewed concession, we saw stuff like ice cream, slushies (including a giant "yard stick" variant), and a burger-hot dog mashup designed as a tribute to long-time channel crooner Relvis.
And by the July long weekend, there'll be food, in the form of burgers and fries, at the Skaha Lake exit point too.
Stirling was psyched. "The whole place has been painted. Our signage is new. Our branding is new. We're making it a more efficient business so customers aren't waiting so long."
"And now you don't have to bring your own inflatable anymore. We have a bunch of sizes, and they're all super comfortable."
It's one-day test run complete, Coyote Cruises will close again until its official 2019 opening next Saturday, June 22.
