Subjects were fishing when the boat capsized and sank.  Operator was able to hang on to the boat, but Occupant was pulled away by the current.   Operator was rescued by a recreational fishing vessel.

The bow of Operator's sunken vessel was sticking out of the water where it was anchored. 

Operator was treated by the EMS, but he refused a trip to the hospital.  In  Operator's statement, he stated that he and his cousin Occupant were fishing and the boat was anchored from the stern.  When they attempted to pull up the anchor, the anchor was hung on the bottom.  The boat capsized and sank. In the process of raising the vessel from the bottom and trying to tow the vessel, the divers had to cut the anchor line.  The vessel was taken to the DNR boat shed on Skidaway Island for storage.

I arrived at the DNR boat shed at approximately 10:00hrs on the morning of 11/4/13.  I took inventory of  Operator's boat, registration # GA 6779G.  The boat was a 15.5 foot Lucraft center console. I took photographs of the boat and the contents of the boat. The boat did not appear to have any major damage prior to the incident.  The throttle control of the boat was broken, but the damage likely happened while the boat was on the bottom of the river.  The evidence that I found were two cut ropes.  One piece of rope was tied to the starboard stern of the boat and was white in color.  The piece of white rope appeared to be the anchor line. The white rope was photographed and labeled as Evidence #1.  The other piece of cut rope was tied to the stern eye of the boat and it was green in color.  The green rope was a nylon type rope and is usually not used for anchor lines.  I photographed  the green rope and labeled it Evidence #2.  

Based on interviews, evidence and witness statements, I believe the boat capsized and sank when both men attempted to pull the boat anchor off of the bottom of the river.  Operator was able to hang on to the boat.  Occupant was not able to hang on to the boat and was pulled away by the swift current and he drowned.
ISLE OF HOPE