Advice on Hilarys boat pens or the dry dock racking
Submitted by greyheads1 on Mon, 2025-11-24 06:05
Hey Team,
My 4wd recently got T-boned by someone running a red light recently, looks like its a very long wait time for new motor. I'll be sorting loan cars through insurance etc, but was considering taking my boat off trailer and leaving at Hilarys rather than messing with buying a s/hand 3.5t towing motor for the period.
Does anyone have experience and able to offer anything up? I'll be calling through for further details in due course but chasing first hand experiences if possible.
wifecallsmegrumpy
Posts: 158
Date Joined: 09/01/12
They are currently full and
They are currently full and running a waitlist, so you might be waiting awhile.. That's on the DoT side, no idea on the Yacht club side.
davewillo
Posts: 2652
Date Joined: 08/09/16
Not sure of avilabilty but
Not sure of avilabilty but the yacht club will be able to tell you easily enough. They were also talking about having a few parking areas for tenders so that might be an option.
I have a boat in a Hillarys yacht club pen so can provide my comments. I've also had a trailer boat so I know what that is like too. A pen isn't cheap but it is bloody easy! I have come back in at times when the queue for the ramp is literally back to the ocean and it is a great feeling to just cruise by all those boats and jetskis and be done in a couple of minutes. I also tend to use my boat solo from the pen due to the ease of doing that.
The racks are good too and cheaper by a fair bit. Friends keep their boat in one and it works well for them. If you want to go out before the yard opens I think you can put your boat on their jetty overnight. Lifts are pretty easy to arrange and they quote 10 free lifts or something like that but no-one really keeps tabs on that. The advantages besides cost are your boat is not sitting in the water, it's kind of undercover (but not out of the weather fully), and you can flush the engine properly after use. They give the boat a quick high-pressure wash each time it comes out too.
If I was tossing up between the two in your situation I would go for the racks.
PGFC member and lure tragic