Raising a 28 ft Carver 28 in Wellington, FL

In its slip for most of a year, the 28 ft Carver 28 let its windows leak until the interior gave up. One heavy rain finished it. By the time the owner walked down, the deck was awash with the bow slightly up, and the boats on either side had doubled their lines.

The obstacle was the marina office. They wanted it gone before the weekend, but the slip was boxed in by intact boats and a fuel dock sat just off the stern. Sunken boat removal in a crowded marina is mostly about not touching the neighbors. We sealed the cabin openings from a skiff, laid sorbent boom around the hull, and set two lift bags under the gunwales. It came up slow and clean, then a short tow took it to the ramp.

We were on site about five hours. The hull was sound, so it went by trailer to a repair yard past Boynton Beach to have the interior rebuilt. That makes it a salvage job, not scrap.