Lake Eildon Far From Sunk
The Sunday Age
Sunday December 1, 2002
Houseboat operators are doing it tough in the drought.
Alan Valle, of Peppin Point House Boats at Lake Eildon, said his fleet of 10 rental boats would usually be fully booked for Christmas by now.
This year, perceptions about the impact of the prolonged drought have culled his holiday takings to a whisper of last year's tally. And those holiday-makers who once booked for weeks on end are now taking keys for just a few days.
Rumour has it that one operator haemorrhaged $35,000 in bookings in two days after some recent negative publicity.
"People are still ringing, but we can't tell them how much water is going to be here at any point in time," Mr Valle said.
"They're saying we're not going to book a houseboat if we can't go - we're going to go to Queensland instead."
All this Mr Valle can cope with. What he and fellow houseboat rental operators find harder to swallow is that the downturn has happened despite Lake Eildon still having plenty of water.
Unquestionably, after six consecutive seasons of extremely dry weather, the lake's water supplies are markedly down. Some parts of the lake, particularly around Bonnie Doon at the northern tip, are completely empty.
And, Mr Valle said, stores in other places have dipped to just 20 per cent of capacity.
But rental outfits and agents eagerly point out that, at its heart, Lake Eildon is still 49 metres deep and offers 35 kilometres of ``recreational" water.
"We're not interested in the volume of water - we want to know how much there is to play on," said Peter Horman, of the area's largest rental outfit, Lake Eildon House Boats.
Further north, on the Murray River, Echuca agents are also sick of the negative publicity. But, Craig Sholl, of Magic Murray Houseboats, said business had not suffered. If anything, he claims to have picked up interest from renters who usually booked at Lake Eildon.
"The water is four feet (1.2 metres) above our normal level for this time of year because they're sending it all down to South Australia," Mr Sholl said. ``And we're above a lock at Echuca, so we're pretty spoilt here."
Lake Eildon, which is skirted by several major roads, including the Maroondah and Goulburn Valley highways, has pulled bumper holiday crowds since the 1950s when its banks were raised to their current level (at capacity it is 79 metres deep).
There are about 740 houseboats registered at Lake Eildon, 40 of these in the rental pool.
The lake's water levels have previously been lower than the current 20 per cent - Mr Valle says it was just 13.9 per cent in early 2000. But this year is the first in decades that it has been so low at Christmas.
Despite the effect on demand, prices have remained fairly steady for rentals and sales of houseboats.
Mr Horman said his peak rental prices were consistent at $500 a week for a basic boat, climbing to $5445 for his best offering.
Mr Valle said his average weekly rental was still firm at $2890.
Boat sales are also holding their own, said local agent Tony Keddell, of Eildon Boat Sales.
He said the pace of sales has dropped back, but the difference between now and more buoyant years was marginal.
"With the hire boats, it's certainly quieter than it has been, but for private boats, it's still quite buoyant," Mr Keddell said.
Sale prices vary widely, depending on a boat's fit-out, from $20,000 at the cheapest end to a top price of $600,000.
Running costs add at least a further $5000 annually. This takes care of most marina and permit fees and insurance on cheaper boats.
Mr Keddell says prices for houseboats have risen an average of 30 per cent in the past four years, largely in line with rises in the price of building materials.
Buyers are generally Melbourne-based professionals, with a smattering from regional areas such as Geelong and Shepparton. Mr Keddell says younger buyers are starting to show an interest.
"You get people who have grown up with their parents having houseboats and they end up coming back here with their own families," he said.
© 2002 The Sunday Age
