#ThrowbackThursday: Float Cabin Tour - Welcome Aboard

In 2001, Wayne and I discovered our float cabin on Powell Lake in Coastal BC.  In the beginning, we could only be here on school holidays since we were both educators. Retired we can be in our off-the-grid cabin home about 75% of the year in all seasons.

Logging Camp Photo: Powell River Museum

During the heydey of logging along the BC coast, floating cabins and shops were common. They were used for remote camps to provide homes and work platforms up rugged inlets and on large lakes. Today, float cabins are used on fish farms and for off the grid living.

Float Cabin Photo: Powell River Museum

On Powell Lake, the original float cabins were simple homes, economical getaways for mill workers, or logging camps dating back to the early 1900s.

Currently, there are about 250 float cabins on Powell Lake. They're spread along the 480 kilometres (300 miles) of shoreline. That makes most locations private.

Why did we choose this lifestyle?

• It's unique.
• Float cabins are a part of coastal history.
• We wanted a place to retire that was different from our city life.
• It's remote and uncrowded.
• We are surrounded by nature.
• We get to enjoy the seasons.
• We are off the grid.
• We can live a simple, tiny home lifestyle.
• We like boating to our water access only home.
• Town is only 25 minutes away for resupply.
• There's a distributed community for support and friendship.
• It was love at first sight.

Several years ago I created short video tours of our float cabin home. Here's the first in the series called "Welcome Aboard."

Since this video was made, we no longer have a stairway up the cliff and the shed on shore has been removed to comply with British Columbia water lease rules.

If you would like more information about float cabin living, here are some quick links:

Float Cabin Living
Float Cabin Construction
Cabin Accessories

Also check out Wayne's book Up the Lake. It's free for Kindle in most countries and most online booksellers. See the next post for more information.

Have you ever discovered a place that has captured your imagination and heart? Tell us your story. - Margy