On 6-26-2011, S/A received a call concerning a sailboat which struck another sailboat which was docked and unmanned. Agents responded to the scene, Bonfouca Marina, and were met there by Sgt. Once here, both parties involved were found and told agents what had happened.

As the sailboat that was maneuvering out of the canal (vessel 1) neared the sailboat which was docked (vessel 2), the operator of vessel 1 said he looked down for just a second to light a cigarette and when he looked back up, his starboard side cable caught a wooden beam on vessel 2, which was docked in its slip. This piece of wood was cracked in two but no other significant damage was seen by agents. The boat’s owner said there was some other minor damage, but agents were unsure if it was caused by this incident or not. The boat operated by Operator1 received no damage as a result of this incident.
Due to the fact that Operator1 failed to keep attention as he was operating this boat, he struck and caused damage to another boat. Therefore he was cited for reckless operation of a watercraft. Operator1 had wearable PFD’s on board for he and his three passengers (5 type II’s and 1 type III), but did not have a throwable device. His boat registration was also expired (5-29-2010). He was cited additionally for both of these boating safety violations. Drugs nor alcohol were a contributing factor in this incident.

BONFOUCA                      