Reportedly on 8/5/2012, Operator was operating vessel LA-6520-FE with one passenger on board. He was traveling downstream on the Black Lake Bayou at an estimated speed of 25-30mph. As he was maneuvering through a sharp right hand curve in the bayou his vessels stern became unstable and began to fish tail, slide and skip to port. The vessel then suddenly stabilized, leveled off and rapidly shot forward striking a large tree that was in the bayou some distance from the shoreline.
The vessel sustained a substantial amount of heavy structural damage to the bow along with possible internal damage to the engine. Operator sustained several serious injuries including a broken left knee, broken nose, numerous contusions and lacerations as a result of the impact. The passenger aboard the vessel was uninjured.
Alcohol or drug use is not suspected as a factor in this incident. The vessel was found to be equipped with all necessary/required safety equipment, including PFD’s. PFD’s were not used in this incident.

MAUREPAS                      