Sailboats return to higher waters in Utah's Great Salt Lake

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah officials have started hoisting dozens of beached sailboats back into the Great Salt Lake, two years after they were removed from the drought-stricken brine.

A wet winter raised water levels about 2 feet (60 centimeters), making the lake's marina navigable for sailboats and their keels that extend underneath.

Janet Robins with the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club says Mother Nature has been kind this year to the lake's self-proclaimed "world's saltiest sailors."

Sailors, volunteers and a crane crew started raising boats back into the water Thursday, hoping to get about 55 boats on the lake before wind or darkness ended the day's work.

Dave Shearer, the harbor master at the marina, says officials hope to get about 120 remaining boats back on the water in the coming weeks.

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