Vessel 1 was inbound from a fishing trip.  He was coming from off of Rodriguez Key and en route to the I.C.W. via passing through South Sound Creek in John Pennekamp State Park waters.  Vessel 1 operator had GPS set to 3 mile view and daylight setting which obstructed his view and was traveling over 40 miles per hour.  Vessel 1 ran across Airport Flats, a posted no motor zone, inside of the State Park.  Vessel 1 struck a Mangrove tree island located southwest of South Sound Creek day marker 11, GPS coordinates 25'05.988 N x 080'25.154 W.  Upon striking the trees the vessel continued on to the island over 250 feet through heavy growths of Mangrove trees.  It came to rest at GPS coordinates 25'06.006 N x 080'25.116 W after being redirected to the starboard side.  Upon the initial striking of the island, operator 1 was thrown from the helm and toward the port side radar arch.  The lower back of his head struck the radar arch bimini top hinge pin as his left should blade collided with the radar arch itself.  Operator 1 was unconscious for an unknown amount of time when his dog on board woke him by licking his wounds while Operator 1 was now at the bow area of the vessel.  Operator 1 did not report the accident for 9 hours until he contacted a salvage company after spending the night on board his vessel.  Alcohol was determined to be a factor.  BAC not done because of time elapsed.   Operator 1 said he was traveling at 42 mph (3600 rpm's) at the time of the collision.  He also advised that when he came to the engines were all in neutral and all engines were fully trimmed up.

The vessel, upon being removed from the Mangrove tree island, sustained heavy damage.  Two lower units on the engines sustained large chunks of metal removed.  Both side rub rails were ripped free.  A 2 foot section on the starboard side top gunnle had extensive tears and cracks in the fiberglass.  The port side bow rail had a significant bend in it.  The port side Go-Lite remote spot light was broken off.  A dent in the center forward section of the radar arch was observed.  There was numerous gel coat and fiberglass scratches throughout the entire hull of the vessel.  The vessel was slowly taking on water through a thru-hull fitting.  The bilge pump was able to maintain buoyancy.  The helm itself had no structural damages.  After salvaging the engines all started up and ran correctly.  

On 2/19/13 Operator received his 5 infraction citations for the various violations.  A full biological damage assessment will follow soon.:Subject sustained lacerations to both the back of his head and his forehead during the boating crash.  It appears that upon impact with the Mangrove treees, as the vessel was turning in a starboard directions upon impacting with a large Mangrove tree, the subject was thrown from the helm.  The back of his head struck the side of the radar arch.  A pin on the arch punctured the lower back of his head which later required surgical staples and a catscan.  The subject only remembers waking up in the bow area of his vessel where it is assumed he struck his forehead on an unknown part of the vessel. It was unknown what amount of time the subject was inconcious for.    Subject sustained the injuries at 2000 hours on 2/11/13 and did not report the incident unitl 0700 hours on 2/12/13.  But the time law enforcement and the salvage company arrived the bleeding had stopped on its own and subject refused any medical treatment.  He did go to the hospital later on 02/12/13 where he received the staples and had some monitoring and testing done.  O  On 02/19/13 subject was still complaining of headaches and a sore left shoulder blade area.  This area most likely struck the radar arch.
KEY LARGO