fishing boat Brightside which slipped under the water at Flatt's inlet sometime late on Tuesday night or early yesterday morning.

Traffic on North Shore Road yesterday morning between Jennings Land and Flatts Hill was diverted while a crane from Island Construction was parked across the street to help in salvage operations for the cabin cruiser, which was found lying on its side and half under water.

The boat's dock lines were intact and Brighstide was lying almost at a right angle to her normal position, with her starboard side resting on the bottom.

"I actually went by the dock at about 11 o'clock last night and she looked all right,'' said Island Construction boss Allan DeSilva, who was coordinating the lifting of the boat, and liaising with Fire Services staff who were in charge of the salvage operation.

"She appears to have sunk sometime during the night or early morning. I went on board and all the clocks in the cabin are stopped at ten to four, so maybe that's when she went down,'' Mr. DeSilva said.

Although the cause of the sinking is not yet known, one of the stuffing boxes -- part of the housing for the propeller shaft where it comes through the hull of the boat -- seems the most likely culprit.

"After we got all the water out, we found one of the stuffing boxes was leaking, and yes, that could fill the boat up enough over time to make her sink,'' Mr. DeSilva said.

Two fire trucks and six firemen were called to assist in the salvage effort along with staff from Island Construction who supplied the crane.

BOATING BTG SAIL BOAT SAILING SLG