On 7/11/11, operator was cruising down the main channel of lake norman near governers island, and the mecklenburg iredell county line where he stated he struck a channel marker pole.  Upon impact his head was thrusted forward striking the left portion of the driver side windshield frame causing a cut to his forehead.  He stated the events happened so quickly and due to his injury to his head, he could not remember details clearly.  Another boat passing by towed him and his boat to his landing.  He does not recall who the other driver of the boat that towed him in was.  He said when he got home he went to bed and the next morning to his doctor.  The doctor just cleaned the cut but it did not need stitches.

Operator stated the marker's light was not working that night and at first did not know which marker he struck.  I made several attempts to locate any channel marker in the area that had damage to it with no success.  Operator took the boat to the boat body shop of cornelius to have the damage estimated.  It was there i examined the boat and found extensive damage to the port side bow, consistent with a pole like strike, and the damage to the outsdirve.  I also found wood in the screw heads of the rub rail on the boat that also is an indication of a strike to an object made of wood.  The outdrive appeared to have struck an object from the port side, and i also found dried blood on the driver side windshield frame.  The boat had been cleaned out of all personal belongings and safety equipment.

The boat was considered totaled at a value of $12900.00 in repairs.  Operator went on vacation and upon return he studied a map and said it was the d1 marker he had struck.  I inspected the d1 marker on 7/25/11, the day after operator stated that it was the marker he hit, and found no damage, transfer marks, or scratches indicating it had been hit by a vessel.  Located 20 to 30 yards was a research bouy that did have damage but was made out of plastic.  I made contact with the boat body shop and they said there was wood in the screw heads, around the impact area of the rub rail, which in his opinion indicated that the object that operator struck was made of wood and not plastic like the research buoy.  I met operator later that day and asked him if it was possible that it might have been the buoy he hit?  Operator said no that he remembers seeing the channel marker upon impact and the boat turned to the right and hit the outdrive.

The evidence does lead me to believe operator did strike a fixed object such as a wooden marker pole, but not the d1 marker, or another known marker in the area of stated operation south of #1 marker.  Operator stated that the accident occurred at 9:00pm, and legal sunset was 8:40pm.  Having only to go on the known evidence, operator' statements, and no known stressers, the only factors that could have contributed to the accident are possible limited visibality and excessive speed for conditions.

CORNELIUS                     