Sunken Pontoon Recovery in Goulds

On her mooring, the 20 ft Sylvan Mirage 20 had pontoons stained at the waterline and furniture rotted to mush. One pontoon had a hairline crack, and slowly she took water until the gunwales sat level with the surface.

Getting at the damage was the hard part. The crack was below the waterline and the furniture blocked the deck, so the crew pulled the seats out by hand before touching the lift. A diver patched the crack with a foam plug, we brought pumps alongside, and the pontoons rose evenly. No part of the deck dragged or tilted.

We were done in about three hours. The tubes were too thin to hold a weld, so she went on a tow toward Homestead to our yard for dismantling and recycling. This sunken boat removal ended with clean aluminum going to the scrap bin, which is the salvage on a boat like this. The mooring ball was reset for the next owner.