On September 4th 2011 at approximately 13:30 operator was operating a vessel on Watauga Lake in Carter County, TN.  The vessel was a 25ft Azure Registration NC8697DK.  The vessel was occupied by occupant1 and two juvenile children.   Operator was traveling upstream from the dam when he traveled to the Fish Springs Marina Side of the Big Island.  Once reaching the upstream side of the Big Island, Operator traveled between the Big Island and the marked submerged island.  At this point the vessel impacted the submerged island.  The vessel was travelling approximately 30mph at the time of impact. None of the occupants suffered any injuries.  

I, Officer, was notified by Regional Dispatch on September 6, 2011 in regards to the above accident.  On September 9th 2011, I interviewed Operator and occupant1 via a phone call.  Also on this date I located the vessel at Cove Ridge Marina, were I documented and examined the damage.  The Azure vessel was damaged on the lower unit of the I/O motor.  The lower unit was equipped with dual propellers, both propellers were damaged. The skeg of the lower unit was broken, the lower portion was missing.   The damages were conducive to striking a submerged object.


The contributing factor to the accident was operator inexperience.  This was not based on the operator''s experience operating this vessel but based on the operator''s experience on Watauga Lake.

ELIZABETHTON                  