Hub Staff

The Port Elgin harbour is looking a lot emptier after the Port Elgin Yatch Club's boat lift on Saturday, October 17.

Although temperatures were cool, it was a bright and dry day. The crane had come from Canadian Crane Rentals in Wigham to lift the boats out of the water, one by one, in a streamline operation.

Port Elgin Yatch Club Membership Secretary, Marcia Hesse along with Treasurer Betsy Palko, were timing the process to see how long it took to lift each boat.

Hesse said that the costs are shared amongst the members. “We already sort of know what each boat will be allocated but if by fluke something takes longer than usual they might have to pay a little more and if they're actually really speedy they might see a little bit of money back.”

Hesse's own boat, Orion, was one of the 39 being lifted out. “The average time is 6, 7 or 8 minutes ... in the spring it's much faster because there's no finesse,” she explained, adding that rather than having to align boats with the cradle, they can just place them in the water.

Hesse said that in a typical year, boats are lifted back in on Mother's Day Sunday.

 Check out the video HERE