These were young men, 21 and 23, and should have had the vigor and strength to make it through a "soft grounding", besides the fact of how stupid they were. The problem was, there were 9 people on a pontoon at night in an area of sand bars, stumps and record low water...with no life jackets on board! How stupid and irresponsible!! Just another example of why not to boat on Lanier. I gave up Lanier several years ago because of this reason. It's the busiest lake in the U.S. and the largest percentage of ignorant boaters. It takes more than "daddy's Money" and a flashy vessel to make a safe boater. The majority of "boaters" on Lanier do not have navigation aids, radios or even charts of the lake. They don't understand the basics of navigation rules and think a large wake is a funeral for a poplular person. They're idea of a good day on the water parallels with their idea of a good night in a bar. This ignorance, mixed with too much alchohol breeds disaster, as often happens on Lanier. With this said, drop the lake 17 feet, expose all of the bottom hazards and you're a fool to risk your life by mixing it up with these idiots...especially at night! Who even let these people leave the dock? Oh, don't bother trying to call the DNR and report any thing like this...they don't care. I've tried. Lake Lanier Sucks!!