RedactedNarrative: V1 was attempting to get on a plane after fishing on the western end of Lake Marion at approximately 11:00 AM. The vessel had been slowly taking on water throughout the day through a hole in the bilge access hatch at the vessel’s transom, directly in front of the engine. 
  
  There was so much water in the bilge that the vessel was unable to get on a plane and was plowing with the bow out of the water. The operator let off of the throttle and allowed the vessel to settle back down into the water, at this point his own wake caught up with the vessel and swamped over the transom. 
  
  The operator and occupant both moved to the bow of the vessel and donned life jackets. The stern of the vessel then sank and made contact with the bottom of the lake, leaving the bow of the vessel out of the water.
  
  
   Both the operator and occupant sat on the exposed bow for approximately 30 minutes, until the Osceola Sheriff’s Department Agricultural Unit Deputies arrived and brought both men safely on board their patrol vessel.