Raising a 20 ft Sylvan Mirage 20 in Eustis, FL

Before we got there, the 20 ft Sylvan Mirage 20 had already told its story in pontoons stained at the waterline and furniture rotted to the frame. Only the top of the console showed above the lake, and the dock lines still held tight.

The old wooden dock was too soft to stand on, so we staged everything from the skiff. Two crew ran trash pumps from the skiff while a diver sealed a cracked tube with a plug. Each tube took a turn. The raise itself went quietly. The real work was keeping the rotted furniture and carpet from clogging the intakes.

The whole thing ran about two hours. This kind of sunken boat removal comes down to what is in the water with the boat. The deck frame was rotted through and the tubes were corroded, so she went through Lady Lake to our yard on a trailer for dismantling and recycling. Only the aluminum was worth salvage. A small tow brought her off the dock.