Dramatic tale surfaces after sunken boat retrieved from Lake Powell 30 years later

When Paul Cox saw the May 2022 photo on social media of a boat that emerged from its watery resting place in Lake Powell after nearly three decades, he immediately thought it looked like an interesting job.

It was a different type of off-road recovery than he was used to. The challenge of getting to the boat, combined with his desire to clean up the popular outdoor recreation spot, was motivating. There was also potential for interesting content on his YouTube channel.

Cox had no idea at that time how the story would unfold over the next few months. Nor did he know what emotions and stories would surface along with the boat for the Georgia family it belonged to.

Cox owns Fab Rats, an automotive fabrication and off-road wrecking company based out of southern Utah. Cox started tinkering on minibikes and go-karts as a kid. His attention shifted to larger vehicles as he got older. Though Cox enjoys crashing cars in demolition derbies, making "junk" run again is where his true passion lies. Fab Rats builds off-road rigs, hot rods and other customized rides.

Paul and his wife started a YouTube channel for Fab Rats in March 2020. They've since hired more people, but Michelle Cox initially acted as the videographer, editor and director. "She told me everything I was doing wrong," Paul Cox joked.

Without missing a beat, his wife laughingly replied, "Someone had to!"

At first glance, you'd never know that YouTubers with more than half a million subscribers lived in the Cox family home, or that a bustling business was run out of the large garage in back. Throughout the course of a recent interview with KSL.com, however, people from all over the country kept dropping by. They were driving out of their way to see the shop in rural Utah where all the automotive magic happens, as well as to get some official Fab Rats merchandise.

Timing is everything

Rising temperatures and a weather pattern described by experts as a mega-drought had caused Lake Powell's water level to recede for years. In February 2022, the water was at the lowest level it has ever been since the reservoir was created in 1964. Besides the boat Cox and his crew had in their sights, several other vessels had become visible on the rocky shores.

Just because the lake bed is exposed, however, doesn't necessarily mean anyone can drive up to a sunken boat to retrieve it. Though the surface is crusted over, the bed underneath is often still saturated. The thick mud acts like quicksand to an ill-placed hiking boot or tire tread.

"Dry lake beds are sketchy," he said.

"We've had to do multiple recoveries in 'dry' lake beds," Michelle Cox added.

Hunter Cox, a Fab Rats employee and fan fave, accompanied Paul Cox on the initial reconnaissance for what they dubbed Operation Yellow Submarine. They waited for the right conditions and drove to Lake Powell to find the speedboat. Cox had a general idea of where it was in Wahweap Bay from online research, but didn't have the exact coordinates.

The pair "did some wheelin' in the Toyota" to get to the boat. Cox's definition of four-wheeling is a little different than the average driver's. Sections of the road were washed out, with significant drop-offs. The departure angle of his truck getting down some of the obstacles would be enough to make most people turn around.

For him, it was just another day on the job. He'd been in the area before, rescuing a Jeep that drove too close to the water and became buried. Cox knew how dangerous parts of the drive could be during and after rainstorms. He watched the weather and planned the recon trip accordingly. He was prepared with everything he needed to assess the conditions and formulate an exit plan.

Well, almost everything. When the pair got to the boat, Cox measured off the length using his stride instead of his tape measure.

"Usually I pack a tape measure with me everywhere," he said. "For some reason, that day I didn't have one. And I know how long my feet are, so I just stepped it off, because we needed a trailer long enough that the back of the boat wouldn't drag. We knew all the washes were really deep and we wanted the trailer to drag through the washes, not the boat."

Since the recovery in September 2022, Lake Powell's water level has risen — and continues to do so — because of heavy runoff from a series of late winter storms that left the Rocky Mountains with deep snowpack. Boat ramps previously closed to large vessels are operational again.

"Where we recovered the boat from is currently underwater," Cox said. "We hit the perfect window."

The story unfolds

The group worked with the local sheriff's office to find the boat's owners, Brian and Bobby Ogan. It was a fairly simple task since they had the Arizona boat registration sticker from 1993 and an old medical card they found on the boat.

The owners had also seen the social media post that initially piqued Cox's interest and contacted a salvage company in Utah to retrieve the boat. It was not financially feasible for them to hire that company, however. Paul and Michelle Cox obtained the owners' permission and filed the paperwork necessary to remove the sunken boat from Lake Powell. They did not charge the Ogans.

On recovery day, the plan was for Paul Cox to tow the boat out after his crew hoisted it onto the trailer using his wrecker. The boat seemed sturdy, but everyone had some concerns that it would snap in half when it was lifted up.

Before they could find out for sure, the group had to shovel sediment out of the boat. As they sifted through the remnants of the fiberglass vessel — which was remarkably well preserved considering it had been underwater for nearly 30 years — they were able to piece some of the story together.

The jet drive was still sealed, indicating that a severe weather event caused the boat to sink rather than a mechanical malfunction. It was clear the boat wasn't tied off and didn't just drift out during the storm. People were on the boat when things went awry.

Baby on board

There were moments of levity as the group made bets on what cassette was in the tape deck. Hunter Cox, the youngest of the bunch, was lovingly ridiculed for throwing Taylor Swift's name in the mix of metal and grunge bands. Merlin Johnson had the winning guess: Van Halen.

Though everyone kept smiling for the camera, there was a different vibe as they found a baby bottle with milk still in it, a teething ring, baby medicine and a vintage Happy Meal toy.

"What happened with this boat?" Michelle Cox recalled wondering. "I was hoping, as a mother … that something nontraumatic had happened to them, but that wasn't the case."

Johnson had similar emotions from a parental perspective. He had also been on Lake Powell in some pretty bad situations and knew how quickly the weather could turn.

When Johnson lifted the boat onto the trailer, it was noted that the plug was still in the bottom of the boat. This confirmed their earlier speculations that a storm producing large waves was to blame for the accident.

Everyone involved with Operation Yellow Submarine hoped restoring and returning the boat to the owners would be a welcome surprise that would bring both closure and pleasure to the family.

Hope floats

The boat was transported to Lake Havasu, Arizona, where Johnson lives. "We knew if anyone could get it fixed, he would have the resources and all the people around him to make that happen," Paul Cox said.

The original seats were in good shape, as was the carpet. The motor was encrusted with everything you'd expect to find under 100 feet of water, but somehow the crew was able to get it running. That was another one of the challenges that drew Cox to the job in the first place. Still, they wanted the boat to be reliable so they put in a new motor. After gutting and refurbishing the boat, it was time to see if it floated.

Paul Cox confessed, "We'd never tested the boat — ever. Merlin backed it onto the water once and that was it. Our test drive was from where we launched the boat (on Lake Havasu), around the point to where we met (the owners)."

'Nobody would stop and help us'

Though everyone involved with Operation Yellow Submarine had an idea of how the boat sank, none of them had talked to the owners about the actual events until the day they met in person at Lake Havasu.

"The story was more dramatic than we ever thought it would be," said Michelle Cox, who teared up as she recalled the story Brian Ogan told them that day.

The couple were attending a family reunion at Lake Powell in 1993. Their two toddlers and a niece were on the boat with them.

"We turned the point to Wahweap and it was a monsoon right there. Just a solid wall, 40 mph winds and 4-foot swells. I made a run for the boat launch … and the motor went dead right at the buoys outside the boat ramp. Nobody would stop and help us," Ogan said during the fourth YouTube installment of Operation Yellow Submarine, visibly choking back his tears.

"I signaled up to 10 boats and everybody just went by. Nobody would stop. The dinner cruise boat out there with all the tourists taking pictures of us in our worst moment ever," he continued.

The tour boat operator called the Lake Powell salvage crew, but they were unable to get there because he was already out on another call. The tour boat went down and around an island. When it circled back, the Ogans' boat had floated into its path.

Brian Ogan told them, "I'm taking on water. I got the kids. You've got to take them."

But he said the crew member refused to take the kids.

"So I said, 'If anybody's gonna die that day it's going to be me,' and I took my life jacket off. I took all the life jackets and stacked them around her (his wife) and the kids. She was holding our youngest in her arms — he was 10 months old at the time."

"I grabbed our youngest son and I just picked him up and I just threw him at the deckhand … so he had to catch him."

Ogan managed to get the other kids and his wife off the boat. In the process, however, a deckmate on the tour boat got tangled up in the ski rope.

"I went back to try and tie off the back of the boat and as soon as I stepped back off the deck into the bottom of the boat, the back end went underwater," Ogan said. "At that time, I just turned around and the back end went under and the boat rolled straight up, and as it rolled straight up, I ran up the deck and leaped over the deck of the boat and landed onto the dinner cruise boat," Ogan recalled.

"Then I started yelling at the deckmate to get out of the rope because it was cinching down on his leg and it was going to pull him down with the boat. The other deckmate pulled me up and then we got that guy unwrapped out of the rope and I said, 'Let it go,' and it went under."

A few things floated to the surface of the lake — the engine cover, ice chest and seat cushions. Everything else got sucked up into the bow of the boat, where the items were preserved for nearly 30 years.

A happy ending

Brian and Bobby Ogan were moved by the kindness of everyone who played a part in Operation Yellow Submarine. Though it was difficult for them to speak about their experience, they were pleased the boat had been retrieved.

Brian Ogan said it was difficult going home with an empty trailer. "Better an empty trailer than no kids," Bobby Ogan said.

"The Yellow Submarine is, so far, one of my favorite series we've ever done on our YouTube channel," Michelle Cox said. "The story was amazing and we made some friends in the process."

But the story isn't quite over yet. The Coxes have a road trip to Georgia planned. "You're going to get to see us take it back and give it to (the Ogans) in the end," Paul Cox said.

Watch the full Operation Yellow Submarine series on the Fab Rats YouTube channel.