RedactedNarrative: On March 23, 2016 in the area of East Bay in proximity to the mouth of Callaway Bayou, a single vessel incident occurred resulting in the death of the Victim.   During the late afternoon hours sometime between 5:30 PM and 7:00 PM local time, Operator, borrowed his Aunt's 15' fiberglass runabout bass style boat, and with Victim along for the trip, launched in Callaway Bayou at the men's club boat ramp.  Vessel One (V1) then exited the bayou and proceeded out into East Bay toward the Dupont Bridge area. The weather at the time was clear, however windy with choppy sea condition. After several minutes of operation, the engine began sputtering and stalled out several times. The operator advised that he thought old gasoline was the nature of the fouling, so he attempted to clear the lines and restart. After several more minutes of cranking the engine, the battery would no longer turn the starter, and subsequently the boat became dead in the water and drifted slowly in a northeasterly direction.  The operator also advised that both he and Victim were working around the stern area and noticed excess water coming over the transom and engine well. They both began bailing the boat with a bucket and the engine cowling. Unable to keep up with the inflow, the boat became completely swamped and capsized. Although still floating with the bow area still above the water, the two men voluntarily elected to exit the boat and swim for shore. Personal Flotation Devices (PFD's) were onboard and accessible; however neither individual took the time to don them. As they made their way toward the shoreline, Victim began to tire and started yelling for assistance. Operator returned to his aid, however, Victim had reached a state of panic and began climbing on top of Operator. Operator advised he shoved away from his friend knowing that if he did not both would have drowned. Operator swam to shore and immediately began yelling for help. Local resident's came from their homes and 911 was summoned. ; 
  Victim was assisting his friend and the operator of V1 with testing the mechanical condition of a borrowed boat, when they became disabled and adrift.  While trying to restart the engine and bail excess water from the boat, the stern became swamped beyond capacity, and subsequently the boat filled with water and capsized. The two men abandoned the boat and attempted to swim to shore without the aid of available PFD's.  Victim succumbed to the elements and was later recovered by FWC personnel with assistance from private citizen. CPR was initiated and Victim was transported to a nearby residential dock to meet with EMS personnel. EMS attempted rescue procedures to no avail. Victim was pronounced deceased on scene by EMS and turned over to the Medical Examiner’s office.  Injuries depicted above were the result of CPR and in no way reflect an occurrence caused by the vessel incident.
  