Over on my personal blog, where I have posted some stuff on tubing in Kamloops, got the following comment from Mike. Conflicts and concerns arise every summer but, with this heat wave, I guess we should all be extra careful to be responsible and courteous to others:
I am a Kamloops resident and taxpayer and have recently noticed a growing problem with the Valleyview public boat launch. I own a jet-ski and go boating with my family and have never been more frustrated with the constant growth of floaters using the boat launch and boat launch parking as their starting point to get on the river. Parking that is supposed to be used for boaters is now used by the "floaters" and they congest the launch area and park all along the way to the river, whether they are just listening to music, blowing up rafts, or waiting for friends, they are blocking the way for boaters to get on the river. Not only that, but the garbage and liquor bottles/cans are being thrown all over the boat launch area and I (among others) have been finding glass all the way down the concrete launch. This is not only a hazard to people; these pieces of glass can damage trailers and trucks that are hauling boats, jet skis, kayaks etc. On more than one occasion, I have seen floaters at the bottom of the boat launch sitting in the water, leaving no room whatsoever for boaters to launch their crafts in the water; this is very frustrating and makes for a poor start to anyone's day. On Sunday when we went to launch, a crew of floaters decided to launch their tubes and then hold onto a gentleman's boat who was trying to load it with his son. The man actually had to get angry in order to get the people to let go of his boat as the engine and boat was on and the prop was in motion. As many boaters that I have talked to, this seems to be the worst year yet. Something needs to be done about the floaters taking up parking at the Valleyview boat launch, as well as them using the boat launch as a personal tube launching area. I have noticed that bylaw is ticketing some cars that are at the boat launch, but they can only do that so much during the day/weekend. I think that if there is going to be this many tubers on the water they should have a parking lot designated just for floaters and make a separate launch for them. This will alleviate both danger for the floater and the people who own and want to launch their boats in the river. I have become a very frustrated user of the Valleyview boat launch and I'm sure that I am not the only one. Hopefully this letter will gain attention to a fast growing problem, to the point where something can be done to come to a conclusion for both parties.
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