On 08/19/2012 at about 1550 Hrs., I was on water patrol in Apalachee Bay when I was advised by dispatch that a vessel had sunk in the Wakulla River. I arrived on the scene at about 1620 Hrs. and found a white vessel capsized in the river. On shore nearby I found Wakulla Sheriff's Deputy \ who advised me that all the other occupants had been transported to the Lower Bridge boat ramp. I went to the Lower Bridge boat ramp and made contact with operator who advised me that he was the vessel's operator. He told me that they were idling up the river when the vessel began taking on water. He attempted to activate the bilge pump but it failed. The vessel quickly filled with water, swamped, and capsized. All occupants made it to shore with no injuries. Operator told me that he was not the vessel's owner and that he had borrowed the vessel from Brett's Mobile Marine in Carrabelle in order to test drive it before purchasing it. Operator said that he was waiting for a friend to come with another boat and that they would recover the vessel then. I gathered what information I could and departed at about 1700 Hrs. 
On 08/31/2012 at about 1230 Hrs. I made contact with the owner of Brett's Mobile Marine Service at his boatyard. Owner said that Operator was a former employee who asked to borrow a vessel for the day. Owner said that he had just completed some repairs on the subject vessel's engine and told him that he could take it out and make sure that the engine was working properly. Owner assumed that Operator would be using the vessel by himself in the vicinity of Lanark or Carrabelle. He did not know that he would be taking the vessel to Wakulla County and said that there was never any talk about buying the vessel. He said that Operator did not inform him that the vessel had sunk and when he returned to work Monday he found it parked in the boatyard in its current state. He further stated that Operator had yet to call him to tell him what had happened. Owner said that the vessel's owner lived in Georgia and that he had been unsuccessful in contacting him. Owner said that he could not find any reason that the vessel had taken on water, but that the plug was missing. He surmised that Operator never put the plug in place and that is what caused the boat to sink. I took some photographs and went back into service at about 1300 Hrs.

CRAWFORDVILLE                 