Blog

The Keuka Maid was moved from Hammondsport, NY to the Fields Marina in Woodville, NY (click here) on January 30, 2013. From here on I will refer to the boat as “The Maid” until she has been put back together and properly renamed.

Last Wednesday was a rainy day and I became bored with myself and decided to take a ride to see if I had predicted correctly that The Maid would end up in Woodville. All of the pieces of The Maid had already arrived; some were already placed into position, while others were still on the trucks which moved them from Hammondsport to Woodville.

The second of the two pontoons which were originally WWII barges was being unloaded from the tractor trailer with a crane. The third pontoon which was under the center of the Keuka Maid was not salvageable and must be replaced. I really can’t describe the scene as it was obvious that all of the hundreds of individual moves had been pre-planned and the team of movers and riggers executed those moves just as a well coached football team executes its plays.

After the second pontoon was raised from the trailer, the tractor trailer was moved forward and the pontoon was gently lowered onto some scrap steel – I think that it was the remainder of the third float – so it can be inspected.

The whole sequence of unloading the pontoons and moving them into their final position took less than a couple of hours. I don’t think that the hamlet of Woodville has seen so much excitement in a long long time.

But the real fun is just beginning as the Fields Construction Company begins to reassemble The Maid and prepare to make her water worthy for Canandaigua Lake. Jeanette and I are already anticipating the maiden (no pun intended) voyage!