INITIAL CALL:

At approximately 1300 hours on 9/25/13 NPS Ranger called on the radio reporting he had just located a vessel near buoy 19 that was partially capsized near some rocks and was unsure if there were people nearby in the water or possibly under duress.  He requested backup to further investigate.

RESPONSE:

I responded in my patrol boat from Wahweap Bay and arrived on scene with Ranger at approximately 1330 hours.

ACTION TAKEN:

Upon arriving I found the PWC had somehow become unattached from a houseboat and had been blown in the strong winds to its current location.  People from the houseboat had come back on another PWC and a ski type boat to retrieve it.  I gave Ranger a ride back to where his boat was on shore and then left to clear the scene.  When the associated people got the lost PWC away from shore and tried to tow it with the other PWC they found it was swamped and they were struggling to handle it in the strong winds and large waves.

I took the swamped and partially (2/3) capsized PWC under tow behind my patrol vessel and secured it to shore on a nearby sandy beach.  I informed the people that I was going to put it on a beach so it could not sink and advised them to either hire a tow company to come retrieve the PWC or wait until the weather and waves were calmer and try to tow it with their ski boat.

I took the vessel registration and insurance documents off the PWC as they were getting wet in the glove box so I could get the vessel information for the accident report.  I intended to return those to the reported vessel owner who was on a houseboat (Dream Catcher) heading to Antelope Point Marina.  When I caught up to the Dream Catcher houseboat I was requested by NPS to respond to a medical incident and was unable to contact owner until 9/30/13 via phone.

On 9/30/13 I spoke with owner on the phone to get more information from the accident.  He informed me the PWC had been parked on a rail stand on the stern of the houseboat and that the waves had knocked it loose from the houseboat and broke the strap that attached it as they were operating the houseboat.  He stated they had been able to retrieve the PWC and it had some scratches from being in the rocks and some other minor damage but that it was OK.  I told him I would mail the registration and insurance documents for the PWC I had back to him at the address on the registration.