Vocational Tour - Eildon Houseboat Industry
This week was our vocational tour of the Eildon Houseboat Industry, joined by members of Alexandra and Mansfield Rotary Clubs, where we were able to see the full extent of the houseboat industry, with boat builders creating magnificent watercraft with very high end specifications!
Our tour guide/host, Mike Dalmau (President of the Lake Eildon Houseboat Industry Association), led our group through the boat building sheds where we saw boats built from design to completion, then on to Eildon Boat Club, where we were able to tour a 3 story luxury boat, our tour culminated
with a meal at Jerusalem Creek Marina.
Mike shared his knowledge of the industry with passion and enthusiasm, having been part of the industry journey which has seen Eildon prosper and grow. The building industry has been established in the original workshop sheds used by Utah during the construction of Lake Eildon and the dam wall precinct. The original shed, still in use, was a former shed from the Volkswagon manufacturing site in Germany which was transported out.
Lake Eildon, governed by Goulburn Murray Water, is the only inland waterway in Victo ria to allow houseboating, there is a restriction of 720 licences available for houseboats on the lake.
It is a requirement that each boat has a complete maintenance overhaul, in dry dock, every 5 years.
As with many industries, the boat building industry is finding it a challenge to attract apprentices to the rural area to fill job vacancies. Unfortunately distance and lack of suitable housing accommodation is hampering the job market. Overall 2,500 jobs have been created by recreation on Lake Eildon,
This week was our vocational tour of the Eildon Houseboat Industry, joined by members of Alexandra and Mansfield Rotary Clubs, where we were able to see the full extent of the houseboat industry, with boat builders creating magnificent watercraft with very high end specifications!
Our tour guide/host, Mike Dalmau (President of the Lake Eildon Houseboat Industry Association), led our group through the boat building sheds where we saw boats built from design to completion, then on to Eildon Boat Club, where we were able to tour a 3 story luxury boat, our tour culminated
with a meal at Jerusalem Creek Marina.Mike shared his knowledge of the industry with passion and enthusiasm, having been part of the industry journey which has seen Eildon prosper and grow. The building industry has been established in the original workshop sheds used by Utah during the construction of Lake Eildon and the dam wall precinct. The original shed, still in use, was a former shed from the Volkswagon manufacturing site in Germany which was transported out.
Lake Eildon, governed by Goulburn Murray Water, is the only inland waterway in Victo ria to allow houseboating, there is a restriction of 720 licences available for houseboats on the lake.
It is a requirement that each boat has a complete maintenance overhaul, in dry dock, every 5 years.
As with many industries, the boat building industry is finding it a challenge to attract apprentices to the rural area to fill job vacancies. Unfortunately distance and lack of suitable housing accommodation is hampering the job market. Overall 2,500 jobs have been created by recreation on Lake Eildon,
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| Mike Dalmau and Darryl. | Our Yea Rotarians making themselves very comfortable on the top deck! |
Thank you, Penny and Glenn, for organising such an interesting vocational tour and meal, and a very big should out to Glenn for driving the bus, particularly with the return journey being such a challenge due to the torrential rain we drove through! Thanks Denise, for assisting with the pickup and drop off of the bus.