On october 27, 2011, at approximately 10:15am, Operator and occupant were traveling south on the icw from wrightville beach toward carolina beach.  It was a calm clear day.  The visibility was good and the temperature was about 70 degrees.  Operator was operating his 2007 21 foot carolina skiff.  Operator made a left turn near marker 135.  He thought he was turning into masonboro inlet but was turning into a small creek that he was not familiar with.  Operator was operating at approximately a 3-4 mph monitoring his gps and other navigational equipment when he struck a submerged sail boat that was just a few inches under the water.  Both people upon contact with the vessel stayed in the passenger area of the boat.  A vessel in the area assisted in pulling the boat off of the submerged boat.  As soon as their boat was freed from the submerged boat, Operator and his companion returned to wrightsville beach access area.  Operator's boat suffered several holes in the fiberglass, one of which was all the way to the insulation.  Neither the operator nor the passenger were hurt in the accident.

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Please note:  this was not a collision between two traveling vessels.  This was an accident with a "submerged object" that happened to be a submerged vessel.

WRIGHTSVILLE                  