The vessel, a small jet boat, was just getting underway. It was overaloaded with 2 more occupants than recommend and over the max weight. The seating configuration of passengers and additional weight caused the bow of the vessel to submerge. At this point, the passengers shifted positions and water continued to enter the vessel. The operator then made a turn back to the dock in order to return to it. Additional water entered the vessel at this point. The operator felt the vessel was going to sink and now saw either smoke or steam coming from the engine compartment and ordered everyone to jump overboard. In the process of doing so the operator jumped overboard as well. The operator failed to shift the boat to neutral, shut off the boat, or pull the kill switch (which was not attached to his person) before leaving the vessel. The vessel then took off at full throttle across the lake and hit a docked boat then ramped up and landed in a gazebo on land. There were no injuries. Operator 1 was issued an infraction for reckless boating and recieved several verbal warnings for insufficient PFDs and overloading.
Wolcott                       