The 28th of November was a big day for the DARE and her crew. At 10 am Captain Jose "Papo" Garcia navigated the
harbor around sunken boats and through a small opening to get to the boat lift that would pull the
83.5', 90-ton vessel out of the water into the boatyard.
Crewmembers and boatyard employees slowly moved the boat into position over-top the slings and with
one guy in the water began to tighten the slings around the bottom of the DARE. The man stayed in the
water as the lift began to pull the DARE out of the water and a few adjustments were made using hand
signals to make sure she came out of the water straight and level. The tires strained under the
weight of the boat but there were no glitches in the process and the DARE was lifted easily out
of the water.
It's an amazing sight to see such a large vessel out of the water and even more amazing is the
condition of the bottom of the boat. The DARE hasn't been out of the water in approximately three
and a half years, but due to the diligence of Captain Papo and his crew, the bottom of the DARE is
in far better shape that was originally anticipated. Papo's crew cleaned the bottom of the boat
every three months and because of this saved a lot of time and money in the boat yard - something
everyone is happy to hear!
The crew of the Magruder was at the boatyard to support the DARE crew and watch the boat as it was
pulled out of the water. The Magruder crew sympathized with the DARE crew since they were in port
just last winter completing a long list of required maintenance on their own ship. Captain Andy
said to fellow Captain Papo with a laugh as he headed out of the boatyard, "Well have fun in the
dry docks this winter, we're going to go out and find some treasure!"
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View all of the "Dare Lift" photos at the MelFisher.com
Photo Gallery.
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