Fishing boats Karaka and Michelle were salvaged from Breaksea Sound seabed in Fiordland on Wednesday after nearly two weeks under water.
The boats were hoisted using air bags, a helicopter and a dive team from Tauranga, salvage master Craig Harpur said yesterday. The operation took 11 days, two of which were ruled out due to "atrocious weather in the sound".
The boats were being towed to Bluff where they would undergo analysis for insurance purposes, and the owners would then decide whether they were worth repairing and making seaworthy.
Salvaging the two boats had cost $400,000.
On September 7, the former oyster boat Karaka and former fishing boat Michelle, which were rafted up together in Beach Harbour, sank at their moorings.
It is believed one of the vessels had become weighed down by rainwater and sea spray and pulled the attached vessel under with it.
Several years ago, Karaka sank at its mooring in Deep Cove and was salvaged.
Air vents of the two sunken vessels had been closed, which stopped diesel seeping into the sea.
Meanwhile, 32km from where the two boats were salvaged, lie the remains of Governor, which ran into trouble on Saturday with Kevin Cosgrove (60) and Nirvana Reynolds (16) on board.
The two men were announced missing on Saturday, but bad weather has prevented any dive search of the wreckage.
The police dive squad plans to travel to Milford Sound tomorrow to assess conditions for a search of the wreckage site and its surrounds.
The search is scheduled for Sunday. Any search activity will depend on the weather and sea conditions.
Police launched a full-scale search after the boat was reported missing, and on Monday found what they believed to be wreckage of the vessel 2.5km off Yates Point in 50m of water.
Senior Sergeant Cynthia Fairley, the Western Southland police sub-area commander, said with the tide and wind at the time of the tragedy, police doubted the men had made it ashore.
