A sailboat that sank in Gatineau’s Lake Leamy more than 40 years ago will finally get removed from the water and live on, partially, in a museum, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The Ville de Vanier, also known as the Jean Richard, was a large boat built in 1959. In August 1983, it sank in the western Quebec lake after a fire and has remained there ever since.
The wreck was labelled a “potential vessel of concern” in 2019 while a risk assessment flagged safety hazards for pedestrians and boaters and stated the vessel should be removed.
The Canadian Coast Guard told Radio-Canada it received permission to do that in February 2023 but was waiting on funding.
Divers from MVC Océan, a Trois-Rivières company, will begin dismantling the wreck on Monday.
The process of removing the boat is expected to wrap at or near the end of the month. (Georges-Etienne Nadon Tessier/Radio-Canada)
Some parts of the boat have been buried in the sediment over time. Those sections won’t be removed “to reduce the impact on the seabed,” according to the coast guard.
Once it’s out of the water, most pieces of the wreck will be recycled or go to certified material treatment centres, Pierre Nellis, Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s chief intervention officer, told Radio-Canada in French.
But Hubert Desgagnés, a volunteer scientific advisor at the Musée maritime de Charlevoix, told Radio-Canada he will identify a few pieces to be preserved and brought back to the museum.
Nellis said the wreck is expected to be gone by Sept. 30 but added the work could take a few extra days.