Raising a 20 ft Sylvan Mirage 20 in Pebble Creek, FL

The 20 ft Sylvan Mirage 20 pontoon had stained logs at the waterline and furniture that had rotted to the frame. One log took on water through a seam, the deck tipped, and she went down beside a concrete seawall until the deck sat just under the surface.

The obstacle was the logs. A pontoon fills in two or three chambers, and each one has to come up evenly or the deck twists. So the crew put a lift bag under each log, emptied them one at a time, and watched the deck line the whole way.

Three hours later she floated flat. A short tow took her to a ramp, and a trailer carried her toward Brandon to a repair yard. The logs were patchable and the deck was aluminum under the rot, so a shop wanted her. The furniture went in the dumpster, but the frame was a clean salvage, and the sunken boat recovery ended there.