A LUXURY houseboat tailored for the disabled community will hit the water in Mildura for the first time next year.
Construction is well underway on the $2.1 million vessel, which will be the sister boat to the All Seasons Iconic Luxury houseboat, unveiled in January 2022.
The new six-bedroom, seven-bathroom floating accommodation was funded through $1.6 million of private investment, and $500,000 from the Victorian Government’s Regional Tourism Investment Fund.
All Seasons’ operations manager Lucy Bromley said the experience will elevate people’s ideas of houseboating, and accessible options.
“It’s just going to be an unreal experience for pretty much everyone, that’s what we’re hoping,” Ms Bromley said.
“It will have a beautiful upstairs and downstairs and an upstairs sky lounge, an RTI stereo system … and it will feature a beautiful glass lift.
“The suspense is building and we’re very excited for it.”
The top deck of the houseboat is being worked on in a cavernous shed at Baldwin Boats, while the frame of the lower level was erected earlier this year, and the inner machinery had been fitted out.
All Seasons Houseboat staff said they consulted with various disability agencies in Mildura, and adjusted the boat’s furnishings and layout accordingly.
Mod cons include wider hallways, added ramps, larger accessible amenities and lower, rounded benchtops compared to the Iconic vessel.
The floorplan has also been adapted to feature a larger sun deck area on the upper level and a smaller dining table.
The new boat will have less obstructive side windows than its counterpart, providing a more complete panoramic view.
Instead of each section having four panes separated by vertical dividers, larger single window panes will be fitted into each section of the vessel.
“It’s the first time that we’re using these windows in a commercial setting,” Ms Bromley said.
“Once the windows come in, it will give this new sense of design and it would just be spectacular.”
All Seasons’ co-owner Sean Bromley noted the amount of effort Mildura Council and Wentworth Shire had put in to improve moorings at the Mildura Marina, Ornamental Lakes, Coomealla, Gol Gol and Wentworth.
He said houseboating experiences should be available to all, and this vessel will become the first luxury two-storey houseboat experience which anyone can use.
“Accessibility is becoming so much better now, the development here is making it a much better place to houseboat,” Mr Bromley said.
“It’s time for Mildura, really … ten years ago Mannum was that houseboat capital. We’d like to think we could take that.”
All Seasons Houseboats plan on announcing a naming competition for the luxury accessibility-focused vessel in January, and will take bookings closer to its expected March to April launch date.
The pricing structure for the new houseboat will be similar to the Iconic Luxury houseboat.
