V1 was cruising northwest towards New Pass.  V1 passed through channel markers 16 and 17.  After passing through the channel markers, V1 hit a sandbar and ran aground before getting to New Pass.

The vessel aground was documented vessel "Yolo" DO1246543.  I identified the owner and operator of the vessel.  Operator told me there were three people onboard his vessel at the time of the crash. I asked Operator if he was operating the vessel at the time of the crash and he said yes.  He said he was cruising at approximately 20 mph heading northwest towards New Pass to go fishing. He said he was looking at the wrong channel marker and misjudged the channel.  He said he was talking at the time of the crash with the occupants on his boat.  From where the vessel was grounded on the sandbar it appeared Operator cut the channel short while turning west to head towards New Pass.

Operator said he had his vessel for seven months.  He said he had hundreds of hours of boating experience and took a boating safety class offered by the United States Coast Guard.

At the time of the crash Operator said he was sitting in the captains chair and his wife was sitting in a chair immediately to the left of him.  Two others were seated on a cushioned bench in a sitting area immediately in front of the helm on the upper deck of the vessel.

When the vessel suddenly hit ground and stopped Operator’s wife was thrown forward from her chair and hit the bulkhead of the seating area in front of the helm with her left side.  Operator’s wife was transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital by EMS.  At the hospital she was treated for three broken ribs on her left side and a collapsed left lung.; Subject2 was transported from the scene of the crash to Sarasota Memorial Hospital by EMS.  She was treated at the hospital for three broken ribs on her left side.  She was also treated for a collapsed left lung.  Her injuries were caused when the vessel she was an occupant on ran around.  The sudden stopping of the vessel threw her forward where she hit her left side on the front of the helm area of the vessel.; subject3 was transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital by EMS after hitting her right side when the boat she was on ran aground.  She advised she had neck and back surgery earlier in the year and wanted to be checked out as a precaution.  She was x-rayed at the hospital.  The x-rays were negative.
SARASOTA