On 5/12/2013 at approximately 1350, I Ranger received a call from dispatch in my truck about a boating incident involving a sailboat and a dock at a house near Sunrise Cove Marina on Lake Lanier. I responded. When I arrived at the address of the incident at 14:32pm I found the witness who called in the incident, standing in her neighbor’s drive way. She informed me that she was in her home when she heard a loud bang and that when she went to investigate she heard someone calling for help.  I went down a hill into the back yard of the residence where I saw a sailboat tied up against a dock. The sailboat was being continually pushed by the wind into the dock resulting in damage to the roof of the dock and the boat’s sail. When I got down to the dock I spoke to officer who was already on the scene; he showed me to the operator of the sailboat. I gave a witness statement form and told her to write down everything that happened up until my arrival. I then took pictures of the damage to the boat and dock.  Then I led Operator up to my truck where I spoke to her about what happened. She stated that as she was coming out of the cove toward the open water, the wind started to blow so strongly that she lost control of the boat and it blew her into the dock. After she wrote down everything she said to me I took her statement and began to write my report.  *** On May 13, 2013, I contacted the owner of the boat dock. After obtaining his contact information and informing on the status of the investigation, I concluded that Operator lost control of her vessel and slammed into dock all of which is concurrent with the witness statements and the damage done to both the dock and the sailboat.
OAKWOOD