Alan and Yvonne have recently purchased a berth at Hidden Harbour Marina. They are renting it out and with the intention of using it themselves in the future. We grabbed 5 minutes with Alan recently to learn more about what drove them to invest in a boat berth.

What are your plans for your berth at Hidden Harbour Marina?
The plan is to lease out the berth for the next 2-3 years until we are closer to retirement. Then we intend to purchase our own yacht and use the berth ourselves. The added plus is being able to lease out the berth as an investment in the meantime. We weren’t sure when all the marina berths would all sell out so we purchased now to make sure we got the right berth in the right location.

Where do you currently live?
We live in Edithvale. It’s a pretty neat drive down to Martha Cove. The Frankston bypass is just brilliant. Nice and easy to get to and only takes half an hour or so.

Were you familiar with Safety Beach and the Mornington Peninsula?
I sailed as a child in the area, grew up in Mt Eliza so I was really familiar with the area.

How did you first find out about Hidden Harbour Marina?
Through word of mouth – my wife found out about it at a family event in Mount Martha.

What made you explore the idea?

We have a dream to sail around Tassie when we retire in a few years time. We currently have a trailer sailor and really want to get a keelboat for our Tassie trip. We found out about Hidden Harbour berths and thought we should invest now rather than risk missing out, as we know there are only a limited amount of berths available.

How did you research?
Just went down to the sales office. We looked at the maps and what berth would suit us. We looked at other marinas and talked to a few friends about what to look for.
What questions did you have during the sales process – what was important to you before making the decision?
I didn’t know anything to begin with so I asked a few friends. One of their tips was to choose a berth that meant that when we pull in the jetty is on the left. Yachts in reverse often tend to the left.

I also checked into the rules & regulations, the body corporate rules. Facilities were also important. Parking is free and really convenient. It will be fantastic when the rest of the shops and other facilities are there too.

We pulled up in our trailer sailor before we made the purchase just to check it out; a couple of the owners came and introduced themselves (and checked out what we were doing!) They were really friendly – we sailors tend to stick together!

The only other thing I looked at was where to get the boat maintained and slipped every year. I figure we’ll need to sail up to Sandringham.

Did you look at other options – were you at another marina?
Yes we looked into marinas further up the bay. Of course they only offer long-term leases. Ultimately you can pay a similar cost but at the end of it you don’t have anything.

At the other marinas you also have to pay Club membership in addition, plus parking is a nightmare.

We’ve had our trailer sailor at Patterson lakes but you have to have your mast down to get under the bridge, it’s actually really tricky to navigate out of the small entrance, basically a creek. And it obviously isn’t an option for a keelboat.

What was it that made you really want to make the decision to buy?
Own your marina berth – you can find that anywhere. We wanted our money to be invested.

It’s a good location,  we don’t know when they’ll all sell out. This way we’ll have it ready for retirement.

We wanted to be on Port Philip Bay. It’s a great, protected harbour that you can sail right out of. It’s really easy to get to and park the car.

What would you say to others considering buying a berth at Hidden Harbour?

Go do it – buy yourselves a piece of land underwater! It is such a good spot and really easy to get to.

Berths are up for sale now – get it and have some choice before they are all sold.

Best tip for sailing in the area?
We really enjoyed a trip we did at Easter around the bay. We started in Mount Martha, sailed across to Queenscliff in around 4 hours. Stayed overnight and stopped in at Blairgowrie and then back again.

Have you got any questions you would like to ask our boat berth owners? Feel free to leave them on our Facebook page.