Sunken Sailboat Recovery in Pace

For a long while the 27 ft Cal 27 had listed at her mooring, her boom missing and the mast corroded at the step. Then it rained hard for two days, the cockpit drains clogged, and she went down until the gunwales sat level with the water.

The obstacle was the rig. A corroded mast on a flooded hull should not be allowed to swing, so the crew first lashed it to the deck with straps. After that, a pair of lift bags went under the turn of the bilge and the cabin was dewatered at a patient pace.

It took about four hours to float her. This sunken boat recovery ended at the ramp, where she was loaded and trucked toward Milton to our yard. The step was cracked through, and the hull was blistered, so she was dismantled and recycled rather than repaired. Winches and keel went out as salvage, and the tow was only a few hundred feet.