Sunday, August 9, 2026

The Boat Lift

On the opposite side of the inner harbour from the sailing school is Richardson's Marine, a place where you can get your boat repaired and lifted out of the water for storage, and lifted back into the water in the spring.  I've always been intrigued with this big piece of machinery.

The other day, after checking out the sailboats, I turned to head home and realized they were bringing out a boat to be lifted back into the water.  Watch how it's done!

Here comes the sailboat, held aloft in the big boat lift.  I always cut off the top of the mast 'cause I'm aiming at the sailboat itself!

They have to make a careful three-point turn to drive out on the docks where they will lover the boat.

If you compare pictures you can se that they've now lowered the boat into the water.

And now they've lowered the straps further and the sailboat can start moving forward.

Then they lift the straps up out of the water until the next lift is needed.

One of the staff hops into the small sailboat, starts the motor and moves the boat to a dock where it will await the owner.  Task complete!

9 comments:

  1. That's quite a delicate business with no room for error. Great to watch though.

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  2. So many interesting things to see at the harbour.

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  3. How cool. I didn't know they could lower a boat into the water like that.

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  4. It's interesting to see boats either being put into the water or taken out. The harbor here in Bayfield has two of those boat lifts, and they are busiest in the months of May and September..

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  5. Quite the procedure - when I worked in Northern Saskatchewan at an air charter service, we moved float planes on a trailer from the hanger to the water. I bet this piece of equipment would make that job even easier.

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  6. It's quite a procedure!
    Very good series of photographs to show it . . . thank you.

    All the best Jan

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  7. Love the photos of "splashing" a boat after it has been out of the water for awhile, for work or for storage. That's the term we use, "splashing" a boat, putting it back in the water. I had each of my two boats hauled, then worked on, then "splashed" ... every year. It always felt so good to have the boat back in the water, back where it felt like it belonged. My last boat was a wood 1939 40-foot Matthews, built on Lake Erie, but it had been brought to the west coast and that's where she was when I bought her. She did NOT like being out of the water! Splash that boat! :-)

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