On 05/21/2011, Approximately 13:42 hours a 911 distress call was in progress.  The owner and operator called 911 and said he has struck bottom and is taking on water inside the hull.  I, Officer immediately responded to the call.  Once I arrived on scene, Operator said he turned at channel marker 16 and struck bottom several times before his vessel lightly grounded on the area known as Rocky Reef.  I notified Tiger Towing and they said they will bring out a water pump.  Operator denied towing from Tiger Towing due to no financial income.  Operator also refused to leave his vessel and insisted on getting it back to Clewiston to get the damaged hull repaired.  Operator and I were able to free the vessel and he was underway with no assistance heading towards Clewiston on the Okeechobee Waterway.  At this time I was following the vessel and Operator notified me that his motor is flooded and all pumps shut down.   I decided to perform an emergency tow to get the vessel out of the navigation channel (Okeechobee Waterway) and get it to shallow waters.  Once I got the vessel to 4'-6" of water outside of the navigation channel the vessel was stable on lake bottom steadily taking on more water. Tiger Towing arrived with the bilge pump and began to assist.  The bilge pump was not able to keep up and the vessel had already taken on to much water.  Once the water level inside of the vessel became level with the outside, the vessel rolled to the starboard side and approximately 60% submerged.  Operator did not have any knowledge of the area and did not have any navigation aids to assist him through Lake Okeechobee.  Operator improperly navigated outside of the Okeechobee Waterway and grounded his vessel.
SOUTH BAY                     