Operator launches his vessel on saturday morning august 4th, 2012, from harkers island nc and intended to cross over to the east side of the shoals near cape lookout and shark island in order to go fishing.  Operator stated this is a route he has traveled hundreds of times, and he had a track saved on his gps.  Operator stated the conditions were clear with choppy waves in the range of 2 feet and winds of approximately 7-14 mph.  This is consistent with the reported weather conditions for the day.  Operator was also carrying two sons on board.
 
When nearing the shoals at around 8:00am, the gps on board the vessel lost is data/sattelite connection.  Operator stated he then backed off the shoals and began trying to get his gps back to normal functioning.  The vessel then began to drift into shallow water.  Operator, unable to restore his gps's functioning, said he then attempted to navigate through the shoals without the aid of the gps and ran aground while traveling between 10 and 20 mph.  While aground, the boat began to take on water.  Operator then contacted the uscg and towboat us for aid.  Towboat us retrieved the vessel which was moved to the boat house marina in beaufort, nc.
 
No injuries/fatalities resulted from the boat accident.  There was minimal damage to the vessel's fiberglass hull.  However, both engines suffered electrical damage due to partial submersion resulting in a total loss of both engines.  The reason for the gps's failure is unknown, and operator stated he had never had any issues with the gps before.  Operator reported extensive boating experience (100+ hours of boat operation experience and a captain's license) as well as familiarity with the waters he was navigating.  The accident is most likely the result of a combination of factors including shallow shoals, the gps's failure, and poor discretion on part of the operator in attempting to make the pass through the shoals in what he realized was already shallow water without the aid of gps navigation.

HARKERS ISLAND                