STOW–The Bemus Point-Stow Ferry was lifted from its moorings in Chautauqua Lake by a crane on Tuesday to begin hull repairs.

Tonawanda-based Hohl Industrial organized the lift, which placed the ferry on elevated pylons near the shoreline so that crews can begin to cut away a portion of the hull.

“Everything has gone really well; we are ahead of schedule,” Dave Hohl of Hohl Industrial said. “Basically, we had to get the ferry from it’s landing point, on a set of shoring to be able to do the hull repairs that are substandard at this point in terms of thickness of the hull. The guys’ next move is to basically start cutting a section of the hull out to replace that plate.

“We were supposed to start around May 1 or so and hopefully be ready to go for July 4. Now we are hoping more for Labor Day. We should have three to four weeks of work and then we’ll do the reverse, basically put it back in the water, pending approval by New York State Parks Marine Division inspector.”