Sunken boat recovered from Lake Michigan after Fourth of July weekend accident

CHICAGO - A sunken boat was recovered from Lake Michigan near Chicago's 31st Street Harbor on Wednesday morning following a Fourth of July weekend boating accident. 

The recovery took several hours as crews carefully lifted the boat to the surface before towing it to a local yacht yard.

Sunken boat in Lake Michigan

The backstory:

The 38-foot motor yacht was recovered from Lake Michigan early Wednesday. SkyFOX was over the boat around 7 a.m. where the outline of the vessel could be seen beneath the water. 

TowBoatUS was hired by the boat's owner to recover the vessel in a highly technical process that involves sending divers into the water.

"When a boat sustains bottom damage that is more than you can just lightly patch and pump, it comes back on bags," said Richard Lenardson, owner & operator of TowBoatUS Lake Michigan. 

The five-man crew attached large, orange airbags to the sunken vessel — bringing the boat to the surface before towing it more than 10 miles to Crowley's Yacht Yard. 

"In open water, you definitely have to have your ducks in a row so that you don't tip the boat off the bags or flip it over. You've got guys down there working, and on the surface, you need to make sure nobody gets pinched or trapped in between any of the rigging," Lenardson said. 

FOX Chicago cameras were at Crowley's Yacht Yard near 95th and Ewing as the boat arrived following a slow journey — towed at approximately four to five miles an hour.

Dig deeper:

The privately owned boat sunk on Sunday, July 5, about a quarter mile from the shore in roughly 30 feet of water. The accident was tied to inclement weather and low visibility. 

U.S. Coast Guard Public Affairs said all four people on the boat at the time were rescued by a nearby Good Samaritan.

Lenardson says changing weather can quickly turn dangerous on a lake that's already challenging to navigate — even for experienced boaters.

"Both days, there were two sets of storms that came through. We did a dozen boats either on the beach or sank in a matter of about 30 hours. By the time the storm's there, they can't get off the lake quick enough is what happens to a lot of people," Lenardson explained. "Chicago is really a challenging place for boaters. There are a lot of old walls, old piers. There's underwater walls that will break the surf before they hit the secondary wall that's above water. A lot of that's on charts, but a lot of people don't use their charts or know their charts. There's a lot of underwater obstacles to get hit along the city and most underwater obstacles are concrete."

What's next:

Now that the recovery mission is complete, an insurance company will conduct an official damage assessment. However, because of the significant water damage, Lenardson says the vessel is likely a total loss.

ChicagoNews