Vessel 1 was offshore of Franklin County in the Gulf of Mexico when it started taking on water. Vessel 1 lost power and captain called for help on VHF.  Good Samaritan boat responded and secured all four occupants of Vessel 1.  Vessel 1 sank and all occupants were transported back to Carrabelle.

 Once back at the Moorings Marina in Carrabelle, I conducted accident interviews with all four subjects. Operator stated that he was headed offshore when he noticed that his vessel was losing speed and eventually came off plane and settled in the water.  When the vessel leveled out in the water all four people onboard noticed large amounts of water coming up through the floor of the vessel.  Operator stated that his bilge pump was working, but could not keep up the amount water entering the vessel from an unknown location.  It was at this point that Operator realized that his vessel was sinking and called for help on the VHF radio.  Operator stated that the vessel completely filled with water and capsized within 10-15 minutes of initially losing momentum and identifying the intake of water.  The vessel completely sank approximately 45 minutes after the initial incident.  The vessel owner stated that he most likely would not make any efforts to recover the vessel because of the age and low monetary value. While the exact cause of the flooding is unknown, Operator did state that he had recently rebuilt the inboard motor at his residence and reinstalled the outdrive himself. This was the first trip Operator had made with his vessel since the repairs, and it had not been otherwise checked to ensure the outdrive was not leaking.

CARRABELLE                    