FloridaWinter Haven, Polk County
Winter Haven, FL: 27 ft Catalina 27 Off the Bottom in One Morning
The keel of the 27 ft Catalina 27 had dug into the lake bottom when it went down on its mooring. The standing rigging was seized and the sails had rotted in the bag, and the boat sat settled by the stern with the bow pointing up. It needed a careful hand.
Depth was the obstacle. The water over the stern was deeper than at the bow, so the hull sat at an angle that made normal slings useless. We put the first lift bag on the stern, the second amidships, and used a small siphon to hold the trim. Then we tilted the hull level and let the keel pull itself free of the mud.
It took about five hours on site. After a tow along the shore to a ramp, the Catalina rode past Auburndale to a repair yard. The hull itself was solid, so it was a straight salvage, and the yard replaced the sails and rigging. Sunken boat recovery on a mooring is mostly trim control.
Case summary
Illustrative example — a representative sunken boat recovery in Polk County, not a record of a specific customer job. Photos are illustrative too.
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Crews cover Polk County: Auburndale, Bartow, Davenport, and Fuller Heights. Once a hull settles on the bottom anywhere here, we have a crew picked inside seven days: photos and the depth first, then a plan, then lift bags and a tow booked once the ramp or dock is clear. The lift, the tow, and the load-out generally fit in one working day.