At approximately 2000 hours, operator operated his vessel from Carlin Bay to the Coeur d'Alene Resort docks at 3rd St. where he docked his vessel and he and his four passengers ended up at Splash, a bar at the Coeur d’Alene Resort on Sherman Ave.  At 0022 hours they were kicked out by the bouncers because of their high intoxication level and poor behavior.  At an unknown time, they left in Operator’s vessel and headed out from the Coeur d’Alene Resort back toward Carlin Bay.  Operator, not familiar with the area and intoxicated went the wrong way and headed toward the Coeur d’Alene Golf Course.  Operator was on plane, headed straight for the floating green. He failed to keep a proper lookout and he no one else on board saw the multiple large white buoys and cable line surrounding the floating green. Operator failed to avoid a collision and operated his vessel directly at and over the buoy cable line striking the first of two skegs under the middle of his vessel which were in-line with the propeller shaft. This collision ripped the first skeg from the hull (four bolts held it in place). The vessel ramped up slightly which allowed the vessel to clear the cable until the vessel landed back in the water with the cable between the propeller and the rudder (behind the propeller in front of the rudder). The cable caught the front of the rudder causing the boat to immediately stop. Operator, not knowing what happened and why he couldn't go forward anymore, put the vessel in reverse which caused the cable to catch and wind around the propeller and propeller shaft. Operator and his occupants tried for an hour and a half to two hours or longer to release the cable from the propeller by swimming underneath the vessel and pulling on it. While they were trying to release the cable, the vessel's motor was off and the bilge pump was running, pumping the water out that was entering the hull through the four bolt holes that previously held the fist skeg to the outer hull beneath the vessel. The tension of the cable was too tight, so they got back in the vessel and put the vessel in forward and reverse to get free. This caused the cable to wrap around the propeller multiple times. The bilge eventually stopped working and the vessel filled with water and sank within minutes.  The occupants immediately grabbed their personal flotation devices, put them on, called 911 and jumped overboard. The occupants were rescued by Sheriff's deputies within ten minutes of entering the water and were taken to a nearby CDA Resort Golf Course dock. 

The vessel sank to approximately 30 feet below the surface of the water and hung upside down from the cable. Alcohol was found floating near the vessel and on the lake bottom and the operator admitted to drinking alcohol throughout in the day (three beers). The operator and occupants misled investigators and withheld information as to the exact details as to what actually occurred that evening.
The vessel was recovered by Lake City Marine on Sunday morning, 07/28/2013. I examined the damage to the vessel once at Lake City Marine and noted the following:
The vessel had no damage or cable markings anywhere on the fiberglass hull of the vessel except a few small markings directly in front of the first skeg. This indicates the vessel was probably up on plane and not operating at the slow speed indicated by the operator and occupants. There is no damage to the second skeg which was six to eight inches behind the first skeg. This indicates the cable made no contact with the second skeg. There was no impact damage on the forward portion of the propeller shaft and propeller. This indicated the cable did not make contact with the propeller or shaft initially. There was damage to the front of the rudder, indicating the cable caught the rudder forcing the vessel to stop. There is damage on the propeller blades on the reverse edges indicating the propeller was in reverse when the cable was caught by the propeller. There is da
Coeur d'Alene