On October 10, 2010 at approximately 11:30 pm Conservation Officer received a call from the Clatyon County Sheriffs office advising that a boat going south out of Guttenberg on the Mississippi River had hit a submerged object and put a hole in the bottom of the boat.  Officer met with the owner/operator who advised Officer that he and three companions had travelled up river on a trip.  They were in the process of returning to Dubuque and had stopped at Landing 615, a small dock & Marina, just south of Lock and Dam 10 for fuel.  They filled the boat up and had left the dock southbound on the Mississsippi River.  They had gone to the middle of the main channel and turned south.  The operator was using a GPS device to go by to determine the main channel.  Because of the river being at flood state (14.5) Operator had the passengers looking for floating and submerged debris.  Operator was operating at about 18-20 miles per hour when suddenly the prop of the boat caught something the starboard engine quit and the boat stopped.  This would have been at about mile 614.5 on the Mississippi River.  Right after the boat stopped a US Coast Guard navigation black can buoy popped up behind the boat.  Operator had his friends go below and check for damages.  The boat was taking on water; the pumps were working but could not keep up.  The shaft was pulled back and the starboard engine had been pulled from the motor mounts.   Operator started the port engine turned the boat around and under power drove the 1/2 mile back to Guttenberg.  When he reached Guttenberg Operator located the only grass strip of bank just south of landing 615 and he beached the boat onto shore.  Operator and his crew tied the boat to a shore dock anchor post and put his anchor also out to help stabilize the boat from side to side movements.  However the pumps were not keeping up with the water and the back 1/3 of the boat sank.  Officer noticed that not only was the first black buoy in the wrong place but also the first red buoy south of the lock and dam was in the wrong place.  This sometimes occurs during flood conditions with all of the debris and heavy current.


GUTTENBERG                    