The “Handicaptain” was put in by a team led by Adam Begley, owner of Handicaptain Brands, LLC. Begley said the device was the first they’ve installed, and there was a slight delay as workers polished it for its photo opportunity, then installed the chair and pulley system.

Begley was the first to test the system, successfully using it to get in and out of a boat that had pulled up the Pier.

He said there are different sized slings and chairs that can be used depending on the size of the person.

The slings and the lift motor are “hospital grade,” he said.

City of Dunkirk, Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation, Revitalize Dunkirk, and Handicaptain officials pose with the city Pier’s new lift system for mobility-challenged boaters.

Begley added that the device should not be used in wet weather. The chair and pulley equipment will be stored inside during winter.

“I’ll be using it every week the weather’s decent,” Irving Smith told the OBSERVER from the shade of a minivan where he observed the installation ceremony.

Smith, an avid walleye angler, has to use a wheelchair. He said the Dunkirk Marina has always led the way locally in helping boaters with mobility issues, stating he started going there when Sturgeon Point Marina wouldn’t let him modify a dock with a handrail.

Smith was allowed to do so in Dunkirk and later helped push for a chair lift on the Marina’s Dock B. However, that one is wobbly and in a very narrow space.

“This one is much more stable. I’ll be able to come in out of the north wind,” he said, explaining that he finds the Dock B lift unsafe when the wind is blowing out of that direction.

Dunkirk’s new Handicaptain lift system gets its first successful test Thursday with Adam Begley, owner of Handicaptain Brands, LLC aboard.

The city spent no taxpayer money on the Handicaptain, city Planning and Development Director Vince DeJoy emphasized. He thanked Revitalize Dunkirk and the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation for offering grant funding.

Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz showed up to thank Begley and his crew.

“Everybody deserves access to the water,” she said during her brief remarks. “Thank you for this. We truly appreciate it.”