Spirit Of The Rivers Sinks May 19 2008

Lake Brazos Steakhouse Spirit Of The Rivers Sinks in the Brazos River

A Waco Texas river paddle boat, the Spirit Of The Rivers sunk in the Brazos River May 19, 2008.

The paddle boats was owned by the Lake Brazos Steakhouse and offered scenic cruises on the river near the restaurant.

There were no passengers aboard the Spirit when the sinking took place.

The vessel left several days a week at about 1900 hours for dinner cruises at a cost of about $25 per adult and was scheduled to depart the next evening for the next cruise.

The ship held 70 passengers on the cruises.

Reports say that the vessel had accumulated some rain water and a crew member, Shane Morgan decided to hook up a pump to removed the water. He started the pump then left the vessel unattended.

The problem arose though, when the pump began pumping water from the river INTO the vessel, not pumping water out into the river.

When the crew member returned, the ship was sinking. He grabbed the pump and got off Spirit, right before she sunk.