On the morning of September 4th, 2011 at approximately 12:30 AM, Operator and six other passengers loaded on to his 2001, white in color, 30 foot long, Chaparral cabin boat docked at the Canyon Lake Marina on Canyon Lake, public water, in Comal County, TX. Once onboard, they decided to head over to the dam where they could listen to their music without disrupting anyone else.  According to Operator, he consumed four alcoholic beverages throughout the day, prior to departing the marina.  Once they were underway, Operator did not consume any more alcohol, however, the other occupants did.    

After approximately two hours of listening to music and drinking (approximately 2:30 AM), they decided to head back to the marina.  As the operator of the boat, Operator stated that the visibility was good, but the moon was not completely up, therefore, he was using an onboard spotlight and his GPS to assist with navigation.  According to Operator, he had just put the boat on plane and was traveling at approximately 30 MPH for approximately 45 seconds, when he misinterpreted the point at Jacob’s Creek Park as being covered with water, and he ran the boat on to the rocky shore line at the park.   

Upon impact, the boat launched out of the water and skidded along the shore line on its keel, cutting a trail through the rocky surface.  Once the boat stopped, it fell over on to the starboard side.  The boat came to rest approximately 175 feet up on the shore.  Everyone remained in the boat during the accident, but two of the occupants were thrown from their seats on to the floorboard of the boat.  None of the boat's occupants were wearing PFDs during the accident.

After the accident, Operator and all of the passengers got out of the boat and checked themselves for injuries.  According to Operator, no one sustained any serious injuries that would require medical treatment beyond first aid; therefore, he did not call 911 to report the accident.  One of the passengers contacted their friend and asked him to come pick them up.

After approximately 1/2 hour of surveying the damage (approximately 3:30 AM), the group walked away from the crash site through the campsites towards the park entrance gate.  As they passed by one of the campsites, three witnesses in a tent that observed the entire incident could hear them talking about the accident.  According to these witnesses, one of the female passengers was laughing about the accident.  Once they reached the gate, they met with the friend who transported them back to the Canyon Lake Marina.  

At approximately 7:00 AM, Airman of the USAF Security Forces located Operator’s abandoned boat while he was patrolling the area.  Airman contacted the Comal County Sheriff’s Office, who in turn, dispatched deputies to the crash.  

At approximately 7:23 AM, Comal County Deputies arrived on scene and identified the owner of the boat.  At approximately 7:40 AM, deputies contacted Operator and requested that he return to the scene.  Game Warden was contacted, and he arrived on scene to investigate the accident.  At approximately 8:32 AM Operator returned to the scene of the accident.

SATTLER                       