BOAT SALVAGE & TOWING
Red Cap Marine has over 40,000 lbs of lift bag capacity (with more available) & has salvaged powerboats & sailboats up to 55' length in Lake Champlain. We have also salvaged vehicles from various lakes & rivers, including ice recovery.
Our 24' 300hp work boat is available for rapid-response emergency towing & salvage, as well as scheduled non-emergency towing.
We are a towing provider for GEICO/BoatUS, Progressive Insurance, & other insurance services.

We have several hundred feet of containment boom available to deploy immediately & have worked with the VT Dept of Environmental Conservation on fuel & oil spill management.
Recent salvage/refloat jobs:
2023
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19' Yamaha jetboat beached high & dry on Colchester Point
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22' Pro-Line partially sunk at a dock in Keelers Bay
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26' Sea Ray soft grounding near Thayer Beach, Colchester
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17' bass boat swamped at Rt 78 bridge access ramp, Swanton
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34' Sea Ray hard aground on the reef off Marble Island Marina
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Honda CR-V sunk in the Winooski River
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19' powerboat swamped & wrecked against the Sandbar causeway
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Polaris Ranger 1000 UTV through the ice in Swanton near Sandy Pt.
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Polaris Ranger 1000 UTV through the ice in Keelers Bay
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CanAm 650 ATV through the ice at Woods Is, west of St. Albans.
2022
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38' Hallberg-Rassy sailboat sunk & broke apart, Red Rocks Point
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21' MacGregor sailboat sunk on a mooring, Isle La Motte
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18' Boston Whaler Ventura hard aground, Outer Malletts Bay
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31' Four Winns aground at customer slip, Apple Island Marina
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31' Four Winns aground at Savage Island
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21' Sea-Doo Challenger beached at North Beach, Burlington
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27' Dufour sailboat soft grounding SW of the Cut, South Hero
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26' Pearson hard aground on Allen Point reef, South Hero
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24' sailboat hard aground on Allen Point reef, South Hero
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36' J/111 hard grounding on Crab Island reef, NY
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1960 Chris Craft sunk west shore of Grand Isle
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55' Carver Marquis hard aground on Rocky Point reef, NY
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Beneteau 311 hard grounding on Jackson Point reef, South Hero
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39' Mainship hard aground with severe rudder damage, Otter Creek
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18' Bayliner Capris sunk in Paradise Bay Grand Isle
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21' Skeeter bass boat soft grounding at Mississquoi River mouth
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41' Gulfstar ketch soft grounding SW of the Cut, South Hero
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32' Catalina hard aground in Shelburne Bay
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21' bass boat soft grounding at Rt 2 Sandbar bridge shallows, South Hero
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32' Catalina hard aground in Shelburne Bay
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27' Ranger Tug aground at Crescent Bay, South Hero
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18' bass boat washed ashore in Alburgh
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20' Sun Chaser pontoon boat w/ sea legs, flipped upside down, Alburgh
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32' Beneteau with heavily compromised keel/hull joint, Otter Creek
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Sea-Doo RXT jet ski sunk with cracked hull, Malletts Bay
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20' jet boat sinking at the Malletts Bay boat ramp
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19' Sea Pro sunk on a mooring in Corlear Bay, NY
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24' Regal Valanti sunk on a mooring in Turtle Bay, South Hero
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J/24 sunk at 85' depth near Beer Can Island
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Sport Craft 240 sunk on a mooring near Bayside Park, Colchester
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Jeep Gladiator through the ice off Missisquoi River mouth
2021
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27' Pacific Seacraft Orion sailboat hard aground NW of Valcour Island
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36' Tartan sailboat hard aground on Colchester Shoal
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24' Cobalt bowrider sunk on a mooring in Shelburne Bay
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22' Cobalt bowrider sunk on a mooring in Appletree Bay
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34' Silverton Express beached in Cumberland Bay, NY
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21' bass boats stuck on Sandbar bridge shallows (4 of 'em & counting)
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Sea-Doo sunk & pinned under dock, Grand Isle
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Cal 39 sailboat aground, west shore of Schuyler Island
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19' bass boat swamped with hull damage, Grand Isle
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25' Chaparral w/ hull damaged by breakwater at McGregor Point, Alburgh
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19' Rhodes sailboat sunk in Converse Bay
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24' South Bay pontoon boat hard aground in South Hero
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Cobalt 282, sunk at a marina dock in Keelers Bay
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34' Hunter hard aground on Colchester Shoal
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18' daysailor swamped/turtled & adrift in Willsboro Bay
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Polaris Ranger side-by-side, through ice in Isle La Motte
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2018 Ram 1500 crew cab pickup, through ice near Malletts Bay Boat Ramp
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Polaris RZR 1000 side-by-side through ice at Coates Island, Malletts Bay
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Honda Pioneer 1000 side-by-side through ice, Nelson Pond, Woodbury VT
2020
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25' Bayfield sailboat sunk in Inner Malletts Bay
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34' Sea Ray hard aground, Outer Malletts Bay
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36' Regal Commodore soft grounding, Inner Malletts Bay
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18' Prindle turtled & partially sunk, Inner Malletts Bay
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37' C&C soft grounding NW of the Outer Malletts Bay Cut
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32' Westsail soft grounding SW of the Outer Malletts Bay Cut
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28' Albin hard grounding on Allen Point Reef
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20' Sport Fisherman capsized & sunk near North Harbor/Mile Point
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23' Wellcraft sunk in St. Albans Bay
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34' Sea Sprite hard aground in Shelburne Bay
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36' Hinckley Picnic Boat soft grounding at Winooski River mouth
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32' Catalina hard aground in Shelburne Bay
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38' C&C hard aground on Colchester Shoal
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21' Four Winns beached on west shore rock ledge, South Hero
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24' Sylvan pontoon boat wrecked against cliff near Appletree Point
2019
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36' houseboat sunk in Malletts Bay
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37' Tartan sailboat aground in Charlotte
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31' sailboat hard aground in Isle La Motte
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28' Bayliner beached on Colchester Point
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27' Pontoon boat, boat lift & dock in North Hero
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25' Bayliner sunk in 80' depth near Stave Island
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31' Bayliner swamped north of the Grand Isle Ferry
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27' O'Day sailboat, aground south of Burlington Harbor
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2008 Ford Ranger in Lake Memphremagog, Newport
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2010 Chevy Equinox in Missisquoi River, Swanton
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24' Hurricane bowrider sunk off South Hero
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2001 Dodge Dakota sunk in Orwell, VT
2018
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36' Beneteau sloop sunk in Rouses Point
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36' Bayliner powerboat hard aground on Allen Pt Reef
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36' Gibson houseboat sunk in Malletts Bay
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30' Carver powerboat sunk in Otter Creek
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44' Bluewater houseboat aground at North Beach


We've also salvaged many smaller boats not listed, & can be somewhat flexible on price if you do not have boaters insurance -- please contact us for rates & details.
Please note that as of May 2018, Vermont passed a law that makes boat owners legally responsible to remove sunken vessels from the water, regardless of whether they are leaking fuel/oil.
Here is a timelapse of a 31' sailboat salvage. We used 10,000 lbs of lift bags to protect the hull & the boat was refloated successfully with no additional damage.