Raising a 27 ft Cal 27 in Aventura, FL

Only the cabin roof of the 27 ft Cal 27 showed above the water at a lake dock, the boom missing and the mast corroded through at the step. Nobody could say how long she had been down. The dock owner just wanted the water clear again.

The trouble was the mast. Corroded at the base, it could have folded the moment we shifted weight, so the diver cut it loose and lowered it away from the hull before anything else. Then we pumped her out in stages while the bow came up, keeping the cabin roof level so the hull would not roll on the way up. Mud and old cushions came out by the bucket.

The whole sunken boat removal took about four hours. The hull was soft past fixing, so the tow ran to our yard near Homestead for dismantling and recycling. The salvage here was mostly aluminum and a few good fittings, and the dock was clear by afternoon.