Lakeway Houseboat rentals investing in a 'shore' thing, two additions to their fleet

HALIFAX -

Lakeway Houseboat Vacations in Mactaquac, N.B. is adding to their fleet in order to meet the demand of New Brunswickers stay-cationing this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Larry Jewett began the business after buying a used houseboat of his own, and seeing the potential.

“I got started by looking to purchase a cottage and I ran across a houseboat, so back in our farming days we had a shop so we fixed it up,” Jewett said.

The business is now in it’s 11th year at Mactaquac Marine - the marina which Jewett leases from the province in Mactaquac Provincial Park.

“I had a used houseboat and loved it, and kind of became addicted and I guess when we saw that the waterway was ideal for houseboats, that’s what put it all together," he said. 

The houseboat rental business is the only one of its kind in Atlantic Canada.

“It’s basically a cottage in the water, they have everything, household appliances, hot tub on the top deck, slide down the back. Basically, they’re like a cottage,” Jewett said.

But unlike some cottages, houseboats offer the extreme privacy and isolation from other people which many have craved during the pandemic and that has been good for business for Jewett.

“We hadn’t built one in three years and we knew there was some demand there for it. The pandemic has really made it take off, so we put together to build another boat, a couple boats actually is what the plan is,” he said. 

Lakeway Houseboat Vacations will be adding their seventh houseboat to the fleet this year and are planning to have their eighth in the water for next summer.

“We start from scratch and weld our own pontoons, and we do all the aluminium welding from the ground up, it’s about an eight month process,” Jewett said.

The popular summer experience had already been largely booked up for this season according to Jewett.